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Samsung N150-11 review: Samsung N150-11

Samsung N150-11

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
5 min read

While its components inside may be the standard configuration for stock Netbooks, Samsung's new N150 version of its minilaptop line at least stands out from the crowd with a unique design. The back of its lid--a deep red that fades to black at the edges--calls to mind a sunburst guitar finish and is a nice chance of pace from the basic black we're used to seeing in most Netbooks.

7.3

Samsung N150-11

The Good

Sturdy design; cool color palette; matte screen.

The Bad

Narrow touch pad with flimsy buttons; cramped keyboard; merely average battery life.

The Bottom Line

Samsung's solid N150 Netbook feels very roadworthy, but other Netbooks have a longer battery life.

At $349, The N150 falls into the same price range as other retail fixed configuration Netbooks we've reviewed. It costs about $50 more than entry-level $299 models, but for the same price, you can also get the Asus Eee PC 1018 that offers similar components, but a slimmer profile and a more upscale brushed-metal look, as well as more than 30 minutes of additional battery life.

Despite its price, if the bold colorful design of the N150 appeals to you, this is a perfectly capable Netbook at a reasonable price.

Price as reviewed $349
Processor 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
Memory 1GB, 800MHz DDR2
Hard drive 250GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Intel NM10
Graphics Intel GMA 3150 (integrated)
Operating System Windows 7 Starter
Dimensions (WD) 10.4x7.4 inches
Height 1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 10.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter 2.6/3.2 pounds
Category Netbook

In a world where most Netbooks are glossy black bricks, the Samsung N150 at least tries to look a little different. Mixing black and burgundy, the lid reminded us a bit of the sunburst finish found on many guitars. The interior is less interesting; everything is a simple matte black. Compared with slimmer Netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC 1018, it looks and feels thick and bulky. However, with that you also get the sense that this is a solidly built laptop that can stand up to some serious road abuse.

The keyboard has wide, flat-topped keys, packed tightly together, which is a change from the more common island-style keyboards we've seen on most new Netbooks. The keys themselves are a good size, but the lack of space between them led to plenty of typing mistakes when we first started using the keyboard. The all-important right Shift key is fortunately a good size, but the four arrow keys are shrunk down quite a bit.

It has a decent size touch pad, but it's not as wide as the one of the Asus Eee PC 1018. The left and right mouse buttons are less impressive, relegated to a thin one-piece rocker bar that is far from our favorite way to control a mouse pointer.

The 10.1-inch wide-screen display has a 1,024x600-pixel native resolution, which is standard for nonpremium Netbook screens. One of the best features of the N150 is its matte screen finish, which is a rarity on Netbooks (or consumer laptops of any size), so if you're very sensitive to screen glare, it could be a deal clincher.

  Samsung N150-11 Average for category [Netbook]
Video VGA VGA
Audio Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data 3 USB 2.0, SD card reader 3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion None None
Networking Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive None None

As with most of the fixed configuration retail Netbooks we've seen recently, 802.11n Wi-Fi is standard, while Bluetooth gets skipped. Other than that, you're not going to find any high-end extras, just the usual combo of three USB ports, a VGA video out, and an SD card reader.

While all of our back to school 2010 retail Netbooks essentially use the same combination on an Intel Atom N450 CPU, Windows 7 Starter, and 1GB of RAM (the HP Mini 210 has a variation N455 CPU and a faster hard drive), the Samsung N150 was actually faster then the competition by a few seconds in each of our benchmark tests.

Before you get too excited about that, the difference is literally just a few seconds in each case, and you're very unlikely to be able to tell the difference in everyday use. We'd say the N150 has typical Netbook performance, which means it's fine for basic Web surfing, office productivity, and light multimedia playback--HD streaming video is definitely iffy. The key to Netbook satisfaction is keeping one's expectations modest, and not trying to completely replace the full-size, full-power computer you already have.

Juice box
Samsung N150-11 Average watts per hour
Off 0.43
Sleep 0.7
Idle 7.75
Load 14.29
Raw kWh number 26.10
Annual power consumption cost $2.96

Annual power consumption cost
Samsung N150-11
$2.96 

Where the Samsung N150-11 was weakest was its battery life. While Netbooks with Intel's low-power Atom CPUs can run for 6 hours or more, this model only ran for 4 hours and 40 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included six-cell battery. That's still plenty of time, but it was the shortest of our four retail back-to-school Netbooks. Compounding matters, the system's battery is very large, sticking out significantly from the bottom of the chassis.

Samsung includes an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system. Support is accessible through a toll-free phone line that's open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, and a very well organized custom support page for each specific laptop model with online knowledge base and driver download links.

Jalbum photo conversion test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Samsung N150-11
3,217 

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Video playback battery drain test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:
Asus Eee PC 1018PB-BK801
Windows 7 Starter; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450; 1, 024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 3150; 250GB Western Digital 5,400rpm

Dell Inspiron Mini iM1012-1091OBK
Windows 7 Starter; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 3150; 250GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Samsung N150-11
Windows 7 Starter; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 256MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 3150; 250GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

HP Mini 210-1199DX
Windows 7 Starter; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455; 1,024MB DDR3 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 3150; 250GB Seagate 7,200rpm

7.3

Samsung N150-11

Score Breakdown

Design 8Features 7Performance 7Battery 7Support 7