Samsung NC20 > Reviews (3)

Samsung Nc20

I have a Sony Viao laptop but i wanted something lighter and more portable for travelling so I thought about getting myself a netbook. I had a look round the shops but they all just seemed too small and I had trouble even reading the text on the screen but then I seen an article on the Samsung nc20 which is the upgrade of the nc10 which I had looked at and thought was nice but too small. The big difference between them was that the nc20 had a 12 inch screen instead of the usual 9 or 10 inches. After reading reviews I decided to buy it.

The nc20 comes with 1GB of RAM and 160GB of hard drive. It also comes with a via nano processor instead of the usual Intel atom one and this is supposed to make it quicker.
I want to state that I am not an expert on computers and use mine mainly for entertainment so please do not expect me to be able to answer all the technology questions, I will review the netbook as to how I use it.
I got the white version and I love the look of it, it is quite matt and it has a silver trim round it. It's really thin and light, about an inch thick due to it not having a disk drive.
The keyboard is nearly the size of a normal keyboard so is much easier for tying on than the smaller netbooks but a couple of the buttons are in an awkward place so takes some getting used to. The track pad is quite easy to use and the left and right button is on one single bar but it doesn't really pose a problem.

I upgraded the memory to 2Gb which was really easy to do even for me and I expected this to make it run as smooth as a laptop but I was disappointed in this.
I added Microsoft office and vlc player and I only use it for internet, watching videos and for word documents. Surfing the internet is fine and the pages look good but sometimes when I have a few tabs open then it does go a little slower than I would like. Youtube is especially annoying and the videos take ages to load and then they are jumpy.
Watching videos on the vlc player look nice and the screen has a resolution of 1200 x 800 but it is forever stalling and switching itself off and stalling which is annoying. With the upgraded 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive I expected it to run so much better than it does.

As it doesn't have a disk drive it comes with 3 usb ports, Bluetooth and a 3in1 memory card reader. I've never really missed the disk drive as I download all my movies and software so for me it's an unnecessary extra. The memory card reader is a good bonus and so easy for adding my pictures.
The battery is 6 cell and this is where this netbook excels. My Sony is lucky to get an hour of use before I need to plug in the charger but my little Nc20 manages about 4 hours of constant use surfing the internet and watching movies on its highest power so I imagine you could get about 6 plus if you changed the energy efficiency settings. This makes it ideal for travelling on the train or taking it to a coffee shop etc.

Another thing that disappointed me was the fact it still comes with a power brick albeit a smaller one. I was really hoping it would be able to forego this to bring the weight down when in my backpack.
The white gets so dirty really easily but a quick wipe of a cloth will bring it back up gleaming.

I do like my Nc20 but at nearly 400 pounds I expected a little bit better performance than I got but for someone who wants a nice light netbook that offers a proper sized keyboard and a larger screen then this will be a good choice, just don't be expecting laptop power.