It is clear that when Samsung set out to design the Samsung NF310 A01 they intended to make a sharp, eye catching netbook. It measures 10.8 inches, 7.4 inches, 0.99 to 1.21 inches and weighs in at 2.8 pounds. This netbook will get a lot of attention with its glossy cover and curved lines when you use it, but does this netbooks appeal end with its good looks or does the Samsung NF310 A01 bring home the performance? Please read on to find out.
The Samsung NF310 A01 is a 10.1 inch netbook packing an Intel Dual Core Atom N550 (2 X 1.5 Ghz) CPU, 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and a now netbook standard 250 GB hard drive. The Samsung NF310 A01 scored very well in Cinebench R10′s multi-core bench mark, with a scored or 1322 points. In comparison, the netbooks with a 1.66 Ghz Intel N455 scored only 840 points and a 1.66 Ghz Intel N450 equipped netbook scored 938 points. As you can see the Samsung NF310 A01′s Intel N550 CPU is the real deal, brining big muscle to this netbook.
What does the Intel N455 CPU mean for performance in everyday tasks? Well, in short, just about any program you might want to use on a netbook will run buttery smooth and the CPU is capable of running multiple programs at once.
Unfortunately, the Samsung NF310 A01′s computing prowess falls short of graphically intense games due to the integrated Intel GMA 3150 GPU. While the Samsung NF310 A01 is capable of playing 720P high definition video, most graphically intense games and even some older titles are unplayable. If you want to play more graphically intense games it is absolutely necessary to buy a netbook with discrete GPU, like the Nvidia Ion or ION2.
Samsung NF310 A01 has an HD ready 10.1 inch WXGA (1366 X 768) matte panel. We are extremely pleased with the inclusion of the matte LCD. Finally, the manufacturers are starting to listen to user complaints about glare from glossy LCDs! The LCD is extremely bright, clocking in at 246 cd/m2 and the screen is illuminated evenly across the whole of the screen.
Indoors, the high brightness of the screen is overkill. Most users will want to lower the brightness while working in darker environments. While outdoors the high brightness of the screen is a godsend and makes viewing the screen in brightly lit situations immensely easier. This is where the matte screen shines or doesn’t if you know what I mean. The matte screen is great under low light conditions, because it does not create reflections on its surface. This means that viewing the images on the screen is less obstructed by reflections.
The Samsung NF310 A01 comes with a 6-cell battery that bulges the bottom of the back of the netbook. The bulk is put to good use, by tilting the keyboard ever so slightly, making typing more comfortable. The 6-cell battery coupled with the energy efficient Intel N550 allows the Samsung NF310 A01 to operated for up to 9.5 hours, but under everyday use (e.g., with WiFi on constantly) the netbook has a good 5.42 hours of battery life. Samsung has even packed a small light weight (173 grams) power supply with the netbook, making it even more portable.
The Samsung NF310 A01′s keyboard is a step up from your standard netbook affair. The keyboard is 95% of full size (larger than the typical 92% sized keyboard typically found in netbooks) and has a large, raised, island-style keyboard. The keys are widely spaced apart, making typing much more comfortable. The Samsung NF310 A01′s keyboard, is coupled with a very generous palm rest that users with large hands will appreciate.
The Samsung NF310 A01 comes with the standard ports and connectivity options, such as three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, a headphone output port, a microphone input port, a webcam, and SD card slot, an Ethernet port, 802.11 b/g/n WifI, and even Bluetooth.
The great features of the Samsung NF310 A01 are hampered by the inclusion of Windows 7 Home Starter. However, users can upgrade the software quite cheaply if they aren’t happy with Windows 7 Home Starters features. Overall, the Samsung NF310 A01 is an excellent netbook, which offers great performance at a very affordable price.
