When it comes tothe N130, Samsung isn't trying to dazzle you with fancy extras. Instead, it'slooking to get the basic netbook ingredients right, while keeping the pricedown to an affordable level. Our model was supplied by Laptops Direct, where you can buy it for a shade under £230.
Samsung N130
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Just round the corner
TheN130's design is quite reminiscent of Samsung's older N310 thanks to its veryrounded corners and tapered edges. However, it lacks the N310's funky rubberisedfinish, making do with a pretty standard matte black paint job. Unfortunately,this makes it looks a tad plasticky and means the design falls flat.Nevertheless, the netbook feels quite solid, especially as there's very littleflex in either the lid or the keyboard. Its petite dimensions and lightweight bodymake it ideal for computing on the move.
The10.1-inch screen is obviously quite small, but its resolution of 1,024x600 pixelsis fairly good for a display of this size. Samsung has decided against using aglossy finish, so instead you get a matte display that's much better atreducing glare. As a result, the screen is a great deal easier to read whenyou're using it outdoors under direct sunlight, or indoors with bright lightsoverhead. The LED backlighting helps the screen look bright and, althoughcolours aren't quite as in-your-face as some glossy displays, they do look verynatural. The viewing angles are rather wide, which comes in handy if you wantto share a movie with a friend while travelling. As with most netbooks, theN130 has a webcam perched above the screen and a built-in microphone, so youcan use it to make video calls with software such as Skype.
Key to a good netbook
Samsungwas one of the first companies to create a decent netbook-sized keyboard, andit's obviously put its experience to good use here. Despite the small size ofthe chassis, the keyboard has reasonably large keys and the layout doesn't feeltoo cramped. The tapered keys have a fast and responsive action, so with some practice you can quickly reach a normal typing speed. The trackpad is a little on the small side, but it does support multi-touch. This means you can use multi-touchgestures, such as pinch-to-zoom and swivel, for zooming or rotating pictures inWindows Photo Gallery and other applications.
TheN130's line-up of sockets is pretty run of the mill. It has three USB ports, noneof which are enabled for sleep-and-charge. There's only a VGA port and noHDMI socket. Naturally, there is Ethernet on board as well as 801.11n Wi-Fi, butthe netbook lacks Bluetooth. The only other sockets are the usual mini-jacksfor a microphone and pair of headphones. Nevertheless, Samsung has provided areasonably roomy 160GB hard drive that provides plenty of space for storing files,and there's a handy SD card slot on the front lip beneath the trackpad.
No surprises here
As with the vast majority of today's netbooks,the N130 runs Windows 7 Starter edition. Its internal hardware is in line withother netbooks in that it's based on a single-core Intel Atom N270 processor that runs at 1.6GHz.This is helped along by the netbook-standard 1GB of RAM. In the PCMark05benchmark test, it returned a score of 1,285, which is no better or worse thanthe vast majority of netbooks out there. This means it's fine for day-to-daytasks like browsing the Web or working on Office documents, but it's sluggishwhen it comes to multitasking -- something most netbooks struggle with. As theN130 relies on integrated Intel 945 graphics, it's not much cop when it comesto 3D performance, either. It only managed to post a lowly score of 137 in3DMark06. But again, this is no different to other netbooks in this price range.
Where the N130 really impresses is when itcomes to battery life. In our intensive Battery Eater test, it managed to keeprunning for a marathon nine hours and 44 minutes before it ran out of juice.This makes it one of the best netbooks around for battery stamina.
Conclusion
The Samsung N130 certainly isn't a flash netbook, andits specification isn't much different to its rivals. What sets it apart fromthe competition, however, is its extremely long battery life and superbusability thanks to an excellent screen and keyboard.
Edited by Emma Bayly