We don't know what it is, but there's just something a bit too "netbook" about Samsung's netbooks. We took a look at the
new N210, NB30 and N150 models that Samsung is showing here at CES, and while there's nothing precisely wrong with any of them, they just felt a little uninspired. Like almost everybody these days, Samsung has moved to chiclet keys, which would be alright if they were as quality as previous generations of Sammy's netbook keyboards, but they just felt a little plastic and shallow. At least the NB30 has an excuse, with its water-resistant keyboard tray, and to the lineup's credit, there was very little flex to any of the keyboards -- a common netbook problem. The durable, ridged plastic that encases the NB30 is also pretty nice, but nothing to make our heart aflutter. We spied the NB150 sporting a rather unique pink shell and accents, but apparently the final model will come in a rather more tame black. Interestingly, the most inspired netbook in Samsung's lineup was the N127 (pictured), which they aren't even planning on bringing to market (yet). The unit runs
Moblin at a lightning fast pace, has the old school "good" Samsung keyboard, and if it came to retail would likely undercut its Windows brethren by a nice margin. We're not sure if Moblin is ready for the mass market, and obviously Samsung isn't either, but it would be a fun experiment from our perspective. After all, if you're going to bother building three formulaic netbooks, what's the harm in cutting a little loose on the fourth?
posted January 9th 2010 6:15PM
Yep, looks your standard netbook(s) right there. Their chicklet design is a bit different though, but from the sounds of it not for the better.
Look like every other netbook. It'll be a long long time for me to see some keyboard lighting being adopted by lowered end stuff :(
I thought the N127 was gonna be shipping in India and Russia, although that doesn't really help us consumers in the US.
what does "ready for the mass market" even mean? (re: Moblin). I hate these vague condemning statements
And, isn't "Moblin" an enemy in The Legend of Zelda games? I'm sure it's copyrighted already.
Samsung produced the nicest and best netbook ever : the N310 (specially the orange and mint blue ones) , then apparently, since everybody liked it, they stopped making it and went back producing the same boring fare as everybody else.
Koreans are now producing some of the coolest gadgets on the globe, but to me it seems like they still have something to learn about marketing.
Hmm that's dissapointing, they have the perfect netbook keyboard in the NC10 - I can type just as fast as on my desktop. I'd love them to make essentially an NC10 with a better CPU and a higher res screen!
Having stickers on the palm-rest looks uncomfortable as hell
@bjs
yes, but it makes it go faster.
You know, the only thing I really cannot stand about pretty much every netbook is the gigantic bezel... is that really necessary? They could fit a much larger display if they could get rid of those huge bezels...
Moblin.. Hmm. Is it any good?
Wait, wait, wait.
"very little flex to any of the keyboards -- a common netbook problem."
Isn't "very little flex" supposed to be good?
The picture says a lot about how useful the new engadget webpage design is on a netbook.