Samsung GO N310-13GB 10.1-Inch Midnight Blue Netbook – 9 Hour Battery Life
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at
8:38 am
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User Reviews
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- 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
- 1GB DD2R RAM
- 160GB Hard Drive
- Windows XP Home, Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (6 Cell 8850mAh)
- 10.1" wide LED-backlit LCD display
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Video Reviews |
 No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
 First Impressions |
| Review Date: August 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mike Krath, Keller, Texas |
I own and use both a Toshiba Satellite notebook for windows applications and a Macbook Pro for apple applications (I prefer a separate windows machine over rebooting into boot camp and also for the additional hard drive space for my multimedia applications).
Recently I saw the netbooks at a local department store, and asked myself why I would want one. The reasons boiled down to:
1. Long battery life.
2. Portability.
3. Light-weight.
4. Ability to play Netflix on-demand movies.
5. Ability to play Real Arcade games (or similar web-based games).
6. Solid build.
7. Somewhat decent speakers for listening to Rhapsody or other subscription based music programs.
8. Responsive speed for Microsoft Word 2003 (not 2007).
9. Chatting with my children who are away at college.
I then went on a week-long research into the different machines, read the reviews, played with them at the store, typing to see which one would fit my large hands, listening to the sound, picking them up to see how they felt in my hand, and how much they weighed. I didn't care if they had the Atom N270 or N280 processor as long as they met my criteria listed above. At first, I didn't care if the 10.1" screen was at 1024 x 600 or 1366 x 768. But after a bit, I began to prefer the 1024 x 600 resolution over the reduced, but sharp, images of the 1366 x 768. With the 1024 x 600, I didn't have to get close to the screen to see what was being displayed. And since I have a tendency to write short paragraphs when composing my next trash-can masterpiece, I preferred seeing part of the page of Microsoft Word over the whole page.
I finally settled on the Samsung Go (Midnight Blue) mainly due to form and the fact that I like Midnight Blue. And the reviews I read seemed to indicate that it would meet all the criteria I listed above.
The first thing I noticed when I lifted the unit out of the box was the way it felt. It has a slight rubber feel to it, and it was a little heavier than (as my wife pointed out) her Macbook Air. But for what I was used to carrying around, it felt great. The keyboard was also large enough for comfortable typing, although, I kept hitting the "=" key instead of the "Back Space" key when I want to correct my spelling errors. This is something that I know I'll get used to -- not correcting spelling errors -- but learning where the keys are when I am typing on a smaller keyboard.
The first thing I did was charge the battery up to 100% as instructed. It didn't take long as the battery already had a charge when I received the unit. I then begin to redownload my Real Arcade games to test them out. So far Luxor 3 and Rebound Lost Worlds have run like a charm. I also installed Starcraft, and didn't have, or expected, any problems running it. I installed Yahoo Messenger and chatted with my children. Made a YouTube video with the included CyberCam. Installed and played around with Microsoft Office 2003 Professional without any problems. I watched two Netflix movies and noticed only a slight stutter in some frames, probably due to the wireless connection (how far I was from the router). When I plugged in the Ethernet cable from the router, I had no problems at all watching the movies. But it wasn't enough of a performance difference that I wouldn't be just as satisfied watching movies using only the wireless connection.
All in all I'm quite pleased with the purchase, and am happy that I selected this netbook as my first netbook.
Now to my only quibble, and it isn't really much, but the sound is...well...tinny. But with headphones, it is quite nice and bearable. I installed SRS Audio for additional enhancement, and although it helped some, for a netbook, I felt it was the best I could do. For watching YouTube videos or chatting or casual game playing without headphones, the audio is adequate. And since I wasn't expecting an audiophile experience when I bought the Samsung Go, I am more than pleased with what sound quality it musters.
So far, my rating is five stars. If anything changes, I'll come back and revamp my review.
And one last thing -- the battery life is amazing. I have seen five hours so far, and I keep running the cursor over the battery icon to see how much more battery life is left. It's more than enough battery life for my portable needs.
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Just the Ticket for Travel
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| Review Date: September 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Thomas Pitts, Cuyahoga Falls, OH USA |
This is the third netbook our household has purchased. The Samsung is far and away the best of the lot (previous: Asus and Lenovo). The keyboard is outstanding and the main reason I selected this model. There is a Ctrl button on both sides. The keys are fully separate from one another. This is as close to a full-sized keyboard I've used. Very little hunt and peck, unlike the previous machines.
The Samsung is unbelievably quiet. Even when the fan runs it is virtually inaudible. This is a big plus for me. I disagree with criticism offered by some others of the display. Even though it isn't non-glare there is very little reflection in the glass; there is actually more in the black plastic surrounding the display. The image is crystal clear and doesn't have the fuzziness sometimes associated with non-glare glass. Very bright and sharp.
I upgraded the memory to 2 gb and this is a modest cost that is well worth it. A simple exchange of modules does the trick. Overall the machine is quite speedy for what it is; I use a Verizon modem when away from home or a free WiFi site and get very good results. The internal WiFi card is very fast.
All in all, exactly what I was hoping for: a very light, compact, well-designed machine with an excellent keyboard, to take on my trips out of town one or more times a month. The overall performance is very good.
Highly recommended. |
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Tagged with: 10.1inch • asin • battery • blue • hour • life • midnight • n31013gb • netbook • ReviewAZON • samsung
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