3. Samsung N510

The Samsung N510 is the first netbook we’ve had for testing that uses the NVIDIA Ion technology. This platform includes a GeForce 9400M GPU, which provides good enough 3D performance for playing games and watching video in high definition. Samsung’s new netbook is built around the Ion chipset and also marks the return of the matte LCD panel!

First impressions, design

The Samsung N510 is typical of current netbooks. It’s nicely finished and put together with quality plastics. Our test model’s white color has a slight mother-of-pearl look, which gives it an extra touch of luxury.

The keyboard is wide, even though it doesn’t take up all the available space. There’s around 15 mm – ½” or so – on each side, and you can’t help thinking it would have been possible to put in an even wider keyboard. But this one’s already very comfortable, and that free space on each side is probably used to fit in the connectors without increasing the thickness of the machine. And given a choice, we prefer to keep the thinness.
The click buttons have been joined together in the same button.

The touchpad is wide, as wide as the ones on quite a few notebook models. It has a matte surface and a nice feel and is fast and accurate. While you end up using a mouse with some models because of a slow, imprecise touchpad, with the N510 you can do without it from time to time.

The Webcam displays a fluid, good-quality image. The colors are fairly accurate overall, and the contrast is satisfactory. The adaptation to varying brightness is good. But in low light, we noted a loss of fluidity and the Webcam showed its limits.

The Samsung N510 is quiet. A slight whoosh could be heard in a quiet environment, and got a bit louder when the machine was under load (when running games, for example). But it was still very reasonable.

The connectors are arranged along the edges of the netbook. On the front is a 3-in-1 memory-card reader. On the right side are the headphone and microphone jacks and two USB 2.0 ports, the power connector, and an anti-theft connector. On the left are a third USB port and the famous HDMI port, plus VGA and RJ45 connectors.
Samsung has gotten into the good habit of marking the type of connector with logos along the sides of the keyboard. They come in very handy.

Under the computer is a wide panel for access to the RAM and hard disk.

Processing power

The N510’s processor is the now-familiar Intel Atom N270. While its performance figures are low – with an index of 19 –, they’re near the top of the heap for a netbook. An index of 100 corresponds to our reference computer, the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi3650 (which uses an Intel Core 2 Duo T9400). The N510 has enough power for use with office applications and for Internet browsing. It’s a shame, though, that it’s not a dual-core, which would have given it better performance for multitasking and running games. A version using an Intel ULV processor along with NVIDIA’s Ion chipset would be very interesting indeed.

High-definition video (HD 1080p, Blu-ray equivalent) plays perfectly thanks to the Ion chipset. The GeForce 9400M GPU takes over hardware acceleration, which takes the load off the processor (which wouldn’t be up to handling HD in any case). When playing a 1080p HD movie, the processor use was 100% without the Ion’s hardware acceleration (power consumption 23.5 Watts) and an average 20% with it (for a power use of 22 Watts). So it’s obviously an effective solution. At idle, the machine consumes approximately 15 Watts with the display’s brightness set to maximum and most of the power-saving options disabled.

Games

No current netbook can match this one’s 3D performance. It’s finally conceivable to do a little gaming on a netbook thanks to the GeForce 9400M GPU built into the NVIDIA Ion chipset.
But don’t get too excited. While it’s a sight better than built-in Intel graphics (like the GMA 950 you find just about everywhere), it’s not up to running recent games. Race Driver: GRID, for example, was limited to approximately 14 frames per second with the detail level set to Low, and Half-Life 2 (EP2) did no better, with an average of about 10 FPS with all the details set to minimum in native definition (and lowering the definition didn’t make much of an improvement).
But you can play older titles, like Quake 3, with no problem.

Audio

The sound from the speakers is okay in terms of what you usually hear coming from netbooks. The maximum volume isn’t enormous, but it’s loud enough for decent listening without making you and those around you cringe. The sound from the headphone jack is fairly clean, though we noticed a slight lack of preciseness.

Mobility, Battery life

At 4 hrs. 06 min. playing continuous video (Wi-Fi disabled, headphones plugged in, and brightness set to 100 nits), the Samsung N510’s battery life is good. But it’s far from what the current champions – the Samsung N110 (6 hrs. 04 min.), Toshiba NB200 (6:10), and Wind U115 (between 7: and 9:52) – offer.

The machine is fairly light at 1.4 Kg (3.1 lbs.), and its 25-to-30-mm thickness is about average.

Pros	Cons
- Design and finish - Fairly good battery life - HDMI out and HD video decoding - Matte-surface panel - Occasional gaming possible	- Processor holds back 3D performance - Poor-quality LCD panel
The Samsung N510, highly awaited as the first netbook with the NVIDIA Ion platform, is no disappointment when it comes to playing HD video. For running games, however, it comes up a little short, with fairly poor performance, undoubtedly due to the Atom + 1 GB pairing. But we’re very happy to see a matte-surfaced LCD panel, even though the quality of the panel itself could be better.