SamsungGo
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Samsung Go N315 grabs a Pinetrail processor
Samsung hasn't yet abased itself to competing head-on with the lowest price netbooks out there, but its Samsung Go can at least vaguely keep up with the times spec-wise, notching up from the N310 to the N315 model name in the process. The $429 rubber-clad netbook has been bumped to an Atom N450 processor, along with Windows 7 Starter, 1GB of RAM and Intel GMA 1350 graphics. Just in case you were scared of getting bored, Samsung and The New York Times are keeping up with their chummy relationship, pre-installing Times Reader 2.0 on the laptop.
Samsung Go netbook gets $100 cheaper with one-year Times Reader 2.0 subscription
Publicly, at least, The New York Times has seemed perfectly kosher with the way things are moving in the newspaper industry. Rather than freaking out and wondering why they didn't make the move to digital earlier, it's apparently looking to push the digital distribution of its content via discounts and partnerships with hardware providers. In a rather unique and unprecedented move, the paper has today announced that prospective readers can receive $100 off of a Samsung Go netbook if they subscribe to Times Reader 2.0 for a year. The machine will come pre-loaded with the Adobe AIR-based application -- which pushes published content to one's machine on the double -- and will be sold exclusively through J&R Music and Computer World. Of course, NYT wants $179.40 for a one-year sub, so the deal's not exactly awesome or anything, but the offer stands for first-time subscribers until March 2010 if you're interested.
AT&T adds Samsung Go to netbook lineup, dumbs it down with Windows 7 Starter
AT&T just added a pair of Windows 7 Starter netbooks to its stable, and while we've got nothing against the Samsung Go and the Acer Aspire One, we just can't help but feel preloading 7 Starter makes the already-dubious subsidized netbook value proposition even worse. Let's break it down: both the Go and the Aspire One will set you back $199 upfront (well, after mail-in rebate), and then you're on the hook for two-year data contract, which will cost you either $35 a month for a 200MB cap or $60 a month for a 5GB cap. Now, $35 a month for 200MB of data is basically worthless for a netbook -- that's what, a half-day of watching YouTube? -- so assuming you do what most people do and buy the $60 plan, you're out at least $1,639 over two years for last-gen netbook hardware running a gimped OS that doesn't even let you change the desktop wallpaper. Not exactly a screaming deal. We'd say you're much better off finding a netbook with XP on sale and just getting a regular free-on-contract USB data card, which you'll be able to use on multiple machines -- or, if you absolutely must have Windows 7, holding out for the coming flood of Pine Trail netbooks at CES, which we're hoping will come preloaded with 7 Home Premium.
Samsung N310 renamed Go, befriends bacteria
Pre-order availability of this netbook has turned into a full-blown US-wide shelf invasion. BestBuy and Newegg are ready to ship you one right now, with the latter offering the better price at $449. Now known as the Samsung Go, the N310 pimps the oh-so-standard Atom N270, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD internal spec with a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 resolution display. There's also a 1.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, MMC/SD card reader, and a pebble / chiclet / isolation keyboard. What seems to be missing from the Euro version is the anti-bacterial keyboard coating, which may be an accidental omission or it may indicate that using Silver Nano Technology proved more costly than a gimmick ought to be.[Via Portable Monkey]
