This netbook is preloaded with Windows XP home edition and the first time you boot the machine, the built in Samsung software backup programs takes over and backups the system and install the required software’s and drivers for the machine, I found it to be a bit frustrating as it took almost 25 mins and a couple of reboots to do the entire backup and other stuff which again did not even give me an option to skip the same, it’s only a one time issue after that the netbooks boots and works perfectly, BTW Samsung doesn’t give you the XP install discs only one disk is provided that has the drivers required by the netbook, the XP install is loaded in an hidden partion which can be used to recover the system to factory state in case you need to re-install the same by just hitting F4 when the booting Samsung Logo appears, This netbook comes in 2 colors the black and white, I opted for the black one.

Performance

This netbook performance is comparable to other netbooks in the market as most of them use the Intel Atom N270 processor, I was able to work comfortably with 2-3 apps running simultaneous, it can handle office suite without problem browsing the net with it is not a problem, I was able to watch youtube video normal and High Quality (HQ) without any problems but had problems with (HD) High Definition videos of youtube due to the crippled graphics accelerator found on the netbooks, on the other hand I had no problem playing an HD downloaded clip from the media player, I also installed the Reliance netconnect plus broadband USB card and was able to surf the web via this machine without any problems, the Wifi range of this netbook is also very good, it gave me range beyond my earlier netbooks and laptops thought it supports only the Wifi b/g standards, This netbook also dosent heat up a lot while working which is a good thing, It has a heat vent below the left side shift and the tab keys and you can sometimes feel warm air blowing out of the sytem but its not hot which is  much better than other netbooks that I have used in the past, the transfer of files was also quick thanks to the 5,200 rpm hard-disk, booting XP was fairly quick I also did install Windows 7 on it and it ran without any problems, but the battery life was around 1.5 hrs less with windows 7.

iMac 24 compared to Samsung N120

Sound

This netbooks incorporates the 2.1 sound system enhanced by SRS sound again a first in a netbook, due to the extra speaker this netbook gives a much better sound and adds much more depth to the sound output than other netbooks found in the market, but don’t expect it to put up heavy bass or pumping sound, I found the max-volume to be pretty adequate and it was quite loud in a quite room, I did not have to use my headphones while listing to music and podcast ‘s.

Battery Life

This netbook has a 6 cell battery by default and it gives an awesome battery life, in my unscientific testing which is browsing the net via wifi (bluetooth off) and listing to music for sometime It gives me between 6.5 – 7.5 hours of battery life, I suppose if you shutdown the Wifi it should give you more battery life, I used the customize profile in the samsung battery manager with the CPU set to auto mode to conserve power. In India Samsung is providing the 5200ma battery with this netbook and in Europe the same netbook is sold with 5900ma battery which should give around 7.5 – 9 hrs of battery life.

Weight

This netbook weights 1.26 Kgs (2.8 pounds) with the 6 cell battery, again the netbook doesn’t feel heavy to use coz of the excellent weight distribution.

Conclusion

Samsung N120 is one of the best netbook in the 10″ netbook with a roomy keyboard and a very good battery life without you cannot go wrong with the same, some other netbooks that are also very good are ASUS 1000HE, ASUS 1008HA, ASUS 1005HA and the 10″ HP Mini.

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