Looking at the Samsung N230, you could be forgiven for thinking it's yet another cookie-cutter netbook. And you'd be right -- there's not an awful lot that separates this machine from its numerous rivals. Still, at least it's not one of the rubbish netbooks. The N230 has an easy-to-use keyboard, a great, non-glossy screen and tremendous battery life, so it's worth its £330 price tag.
Deja view
The N230 isn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but it looks much the same as any of the Samsung netbooks currently on the market. It sports a familiar glossy black lid, the main function of which seems to be to attract fingerprint smudges. Samsung's used a slightly more attractive, matte black finish on the keyboard section, though, and a black, brushed-metal effect on the wrist pad, so it's not all bad news.
Key features
Keyboards are a real source of disappointment on many netbooks. Luckily, Samsung's fitted the N230 with a top-quality keyboard. It uses isolated keys, with each button surrounded by a small sea of plastic. There's plenty of room between every key and its neighbours, so it's easy to hit each button without striking adjacent ones.
Any port in a storm
The N230 doesn't pack many surprises as far as connectivity is concerned. It has one VGA video-output port, an Ethernet port, and headphone and mic jacks. Samsung's also thrown in an SD memory-card reader on the front edge, which works brilliantly for copying pictures over from a digital camera or mobile phone.
The machine's USB ports are arguably the most interesting aspect of its connectivity. It has three of these but one can be used to charge your USB devices -- mobile phones, iPods and so on -- without the laptop being switched on. As you can imagine, this comes in handy when travelling, or when you don't want to have your laptop switched on simply to charge a gadget.
Panel beater
The Samsung N230 has a 10.1-inch display, which is the netbook norm. It's one of relatively few netbook screens to come with a matte finish. As a result, pictures and videos don't look quite as sexy, but you'll be able to use the netbook in just about any lighting conditions. Because the matte screen isn't highly reflective, it's even possible to use the N230 in direct sunlight.
Lights, camera
Just above the screen, you'll find a small webcam. That means the N230 can be used for video calling via applications like Skype or Truphone, or simply for taking emo-style MySpace self-portraits.
Samsung's also bundled the CyberLink YouCam software, which can be used to record YouTube clips. The software features augmented-reality effects that allow the user to overlay cartoon graphics on a video. We're not sure why, but you can have lightning bolts coming out of your face, water droplets falling down the video frame, or random birds flying across your path. Each to their own, we suppose.
Performance junkie
The N230 uses an Intel Atom N450 CPU and 1GB of RAM, which is today's netbook norm. As a result, it offers performance in line with just about all of its rivals. It's quick enough to handle day-to-day tasks such as Web browsing, playback of YouTube and BBC iPlayer videos, and document editing, but more demanding tasks (video editing or serious multitasking, for example) may cause it to struggle. It scored 1,458 in the PCMark05 benchmark test.
The netbook offers excellent battery life. Its six-cell battery lasted a very respectable 6 hours and 57 minutes in the Battery Eater Classic test, which runs the netbook's CPU at 100 per cent to simulate a worst-case battery-life scenario. With less intensive use, it should be possible to get somewhere close to Samsung's claimed 13-hour battery life.
Conclusion
The Samsung N230 is a decent all-round netbook. It doesn't hold many surprises, but its excellent keyboard, screen and battery life make it a real winner.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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mark3008 30 October 2010
Bad: Samsung battery life - many times not as advertised
Comment: I had a Samsung nc10 which had a screen problem (screen became blanc from time to time - rarely, it's true; somebody else I know experienced the same problem) and I returned it. Instead of this I got a n220 as nc10 was discontinued.
Make sure you test your Samsung product to be according to what adevrtised when you buy it, especially the battery life. If you do not get the time they say, or a close fugure - return the product! Many Samsung laptops come with imperfect battery. They work, but not as long as advertised.
My laptop's battery lasts 7 hours when running nothing but Windows (with no application on top, and reduced screen brightness) and about 4-5 hours when using it with internet browising, text editing, etc - the usual applications. The laptop is advertised with up to 11-12 hours battery life. I returned the laptop for repair to a company Samuel King which does product repairs for Samsung (strongly recommended to avoid!!), and they said everything is OK, and that they do not replace the battery as ... it works. I cannot get a refund as 2 months passed since I got the machine.
So make sure you test your Samsung battery (and the whole machine) within the grace period, when you can still return the machine and get your refund, otherwise you are likely to get a frustrating experiece with Samsung's repair service, if the machine still works but poorly. If your battery would last 30 minus, well the laptop works so do not expect any repair or replacements from Samuel King & Samsung.
One intelligent lady from Samsung Custemer Service said, when I called them, that their advertised 11 hours of battery life is just an estimate, that's why I do not get the same figure with my 5-7 hours battery life. If 5 to 7 can be approximated by 11, a figure that is more or less the double, then Samsung definitely needs more intelligent employees, for sure ...
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