The N150 does exactly what it is designed to do: provide wireless internet access in a nice portable device with a keyboard not nearly as cramped as on a cell phone and a much larger screen. It’s not going to replace an eReader or a full-size laptop,
It runs Windows 7 Starter edition and it’s perfect for web browsing, word processing and even for watching standard definition videos. However, it’s a netbook that also delivers a frustrating user experience from the start, and in our opinion there is too much preloaded software that display annoying popups that require user intervention in order to stop them appearing.
Despite its size, the keyboard on the netbook is far easier to use than I expected and didn’t feel at all cramped. If you need to download Microsoft Office 07, that will add to the overall price. I suspect, though, many people could install Open Office for free instead of buying another copy of Office 07.
The reminders and notifications from McAfee Antivirus, Samsung Update Plus, Samsung Recovery and Samsung FailSafe software pop up while you’re trying to access a web page to load or when you’re in the middle of writing a Word document. You have to either activate the McAfee Antivirus software or uninstall it.
Samsung FailSafe software can be used to track and possibly retrieve the netbook if it’s ever lost or stolen, but it’s a 30-day trial so you can either activate it or click ‘no thanks’ to stop the reminders from popping up. Samsung Update Plus can be configured to check and install updates automatically, or you can tell it to never check for updates.
Funnily enough Samsung Update Plus tells you that you might be required to update it before it can be used to update your system. We think you’re better off just using the Windows Update.
The netbook is about the size and weight of my little portable DVD player. You can cart it around with little trouble and effort. It even fit into my larger purse and no doubt would fit fine in a backpack without any special cushioning. It has up to seven hours of battery life, meaning it will last almost a full day away from home or the office.
Despite my highly detailed issues with PCs and the Vista operating system, I have no complaints about the Windows 7 system that runs this netbook. There were no crashes and Internet Explorer didn’t jam once. I also installed Mozilla Firefox and also had no problems with that. The video does come across as a bit jerky. A clip that ran perfectly on my MacBook Pro (Saturday Night Live’s Timecrowave) had problems on the netbook. On the other hand, my MacBook Pro was $1200. I wouldn’t expect the same performance from a netbook that is about one-third of its cost.
I discovered yet another way to distract my kids with the built-in webcam. They loved being able to make videos of themselves or whatever was around them instantly. It’s true that you have to be right in front of the netbook to use the webcam, so it makes an awkward personal camera, but they liked hamming it up.
Additionally, the preinstalled software can slow down the system’s performance, which can become frustrating. As it only has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU and 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM, multitasking isn’t one of the netbook’s strong points; it performs at its best when performing only one task. In our performance tests, the N150’s results were solid.
The N150 probably won’t satisfy if you’re looking to buy it as a primary computer. And the screen isn’t satisfying to use as an eReader. But as a portable computer, I could find few flaws.
Resources :review.techworld.com,wired.com
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