10. Samsung NC10

The NC10 from Samsung represents the companys first netbook product. While Samsung has come out with other offerings like the N120, the NC10 is still widely available (and usually a little less expensive).

It's a ten-inch model, as is increasingly the case, and includes a hard drive that comes loaded with Windows XP. As such, it's in direct competition with other netbooks with (very) similar profiles like the Asus 1000H or the MSI Wind U100. The Korean manufacturer's publicity claims a battery life of up to six hours, thanks to the six-cell battery.

Handling & Connectivity

Three colors are available: Black Gloss, Pure White(which we tested and you can see in our pictures here) and Metallic Blue.

The whole thing is nicely finished and feels solid, and large keys make using the keyboard comfortable.

As is often the case, some of the punctuation keys on the right hand side are slimmed down, which isn't really annoying, but the fact that the Tab key is the same size as all the others can be a bit frustrating.

Much more irritating when you're typing is the touchpad underneath the keypad which is very stumpy and hard to use. We can only recommend you use a separate mouse if you have one handy.

A bit like the new MacBooks, a single bar acts as both the left and right click button, depending on where you press it.

A webcam built into the case above the screen gives good results, even if it does add a decidedly blue tinge to things.

Using its default configuration, the images can flicker a lot, but if you reduce the refresh rate to 50 Hz then the quality is vastly improved.

The microphone, meanwhile, is lower than usual, beside the keyboard, which means it can pick up the sound of your typing during VOIP conversations.

Along the sides, all the usual ports are there, including three USB ports, one Ethernet port, a VGA output, a pair of mini-jacks and a card reader that can handle SD, SDHC and MMC.

As we've found on several other netbooks, the sound quality from the built-in speakers is very weak. At full volume, you can only just make out the dialogue in a movie, even in a quiet room. As with every other netbook in this roundup, headphones are a must.

If you flip the NC10 over, you can open a flap that gives access to the single memory slot (which by default is occupied by a 1 GB DDR2 RAM chip), that you can replace yourself if you want to upgrade to 2 GB.

It's also possible to reconfigure the hard drive, although this requires removing up to fourteen screws and putting them all back again in the right place.

The two mini-jacks and one of the USBs	The microphone is right next to the keyboard
The touchpad is very small next to the keyboard	Webcam

Processor Power

Here, the NC10 doesn't deviate very far from any of the other netbooks manufactured using Intel's omnipresent Atom processors. There are no problems starting the machine up and applications launch quickly too, although the most complex of our tests--file compression--did take around three times longer than on a 'regular' notebook like the Asus M51VA, for instance.

Perfectly capable of handling video, netbooks generally tend to reach their limits when it comes to huge HD content, and that was the case with the NC10.

Battery Life & Portability

Tipping our scales to 2.87 pounds, this Samsung offering shaves almost 5.3 ounces off the weight of Asus' 1000H, but things even out when you include the weight of the charger. Samsung's 10.23 ounce power adapter is heavier than the one included with the 1000H, which is only 7.06 ounces.

All told, assuming the same accessories, when the weight of the two computers and chargers is taken into account, the NC10 is only around 1.77 ounces lighter than its competitor.

Despite having less weight on board, the NC10l manages to match the excellent battery life results of the 1000H. Looping a video in our standard conditions (headphones plugged in, brightness set to 100 cd/m²), the NC10's battery lasts for an excellent 4 hours 49 minutes.

With great battery life and a computer that's lighter than Asus 1000H, Samsung is definitely on to a winner with the NC10. Its two weak spots are its tinny speakers and small touchpad, both of which can be remedied with external peripherals, although that's not really very good for mobility.

• NC10-14GB Blue Netbook...
• • ElectronicsPLUS
  • $399.00