Netbook Reviews : Best Price : Best Buy

Product Description

Life happens in places other than home. And life happens in colors other than shades of gray. That’s why we created the Samsung Go™ netbook. The Samsung Go is a compact, lightweight netbook computer that’s ready to go whenever, wherever. Feel like working at the park? You’re there. Think you’d be more inspired at the lake or beach? Get going. Just want to work in the backyard? That’s okay too. And since your life is fun and exciting, the Samsung Go netbook comes in four fun and exciting colors: Sunset Orange, Midnight Blue, Mint Blue and Jet Black. In fact, everything about the Samsung Go says fun and easy. Smoothly rounded corners simply look and feel better. A pebble-textured keyboard facilitates flying fingers, even those slippery from suntan oil. A spacious hard drive lets you bring along all your favorite music, photos, videos and movies. A 10.1″ wide LED-backlit LCD display is brighter than ever. And with a 10-hour battery, the Samsung Go is always ready to go, go, go. Are you ready to go? The Samsung Go ntebook makes the journey more fun.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186 in Personal Computers
• Color: Jet Black
• Brand: Samsung
• Model: NP-N310-KA05US
• Dimensions: 7.30″ h x 10.30″ w x 1.10″ l, 2.70 pounds
• CPU: Intel Celeron 1.6 GHz
• Memory: 1000MB SODIMM
• Hard Disk: 160GB
• Processors: 1
• Native resolution: 10.1
• Display size: 10.1

Features

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
• 1GB DD2R RAM
• 160GB Hard Drive
• Windows XP Home, Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (6 Cell 8850mAh)
• 10.1″ wide LED-backlit LCD display

Amazon.com Product Description
Weighing just 2.9 pounds, the Samsung GO N310 netbook is one of the lightest netbooks in its class and it’s loaded with the latest technology for maximum performance. Distinctively styled, it’s designed by award-winning Japanese artist Naoto Fukasawa and features smoothly rounded edges that resemble a pebble that’s been worn down by wind and waterfall and its cover has a rubberized surface that more durable and easy-to-grip. In addition to this model in jet black (N310-13GBK), it also comes in three other colors: midnight blue, sunset orange and mint blue.

Customer Reviews

Nearly Perfect
Fantastic machine. It feels a bit weighty for a netbook but not near as heavy as the laptop I replaced it with. The case feels slightly rubbery and very comfortable to carry and hold. The entire machine feels incredibly well built. There is no latch for the display but it stays closed and opens with excellent resistance. The screen opens up to about 135 degrees from closed and stays exactly where it’s placed all along the path. The screen is very very bright when turned all the way up. With a touch of the FN-UP or FN-DN button the brightness can be changed to 8 different levels. I stay between level 4-6 depending on light conditions. Even level 1 and 2 can be seen clearly even outside. The colors are incredibly vibrant and gorgeous. I thought the shiny screen surface was going to produce too much glare but rarely do I notice it. The glare is most noticeable outside in bright light. I was also concerned about the single bar track pad button. But it works just fine. I generally just tap the pad for my buttons anyway. I only ever use the bar for dragging files and such. The track pad is a little on the short side so I increased the speed of the pointer to a more comfortable level. Also I was about to turn off the scrolling feature of the right and bottom edge of the track pad to give me more room but I’m starting to like it so I left it on.
Now to the good stuff. The keyboard is perfect. Each key is on an island with good spacing. All the keys are normally proportioned and well placed. The arrow keys are in the perfect position. I have very large hands and do a lot of typing on this machine. I’ll say again. I don’t just surf and check email. I do a lot of typing and the keyboard feels incredibly comfortable. Not just comfortable for its size. But just plain comfortable. I would have to go out of my way to hit the wrong key. The keyboard is fantastic. It was also the main reason I bought this particular netbook. The built in network has great range and has worked flawlessly with my WEP protected G network. It found my network on boot. I put in my key and it connected immediately. I have never had to mess with it again. The FN-F9 Key toggles the Wireless on and off and I use it all the time. As soon as I enable it again I’ve got a connection within just a few seconds and am surfing again. The range of the card is better than my laptop using its external Belkin PCMCIA card. And while that card seemed to prefer certain angles to my router this built in wireless doesn’t seem to care. No mater what orientation I’m at even at significant distances it just keeps chugging.
I was ready to uninstall all the default software as soon as I got it but Samsung did a great job of just installing what is needed. I did however uninstall the McAfee Security Suite. It ran fine and worked pretty fast with a lot of features. But I like Avast for my antivirus and Sunbelt for my firewall. They both installed perfectly and run great. I pretty much just left everything else installed as received.
The little guy boots fast. The fan is so quiet I’ve never even heard it run. I can at times feel some heat coming out the left side so I know its churning in there but I can’t hear it. The bottom of the machine doesn’t get hot like my laptop did. Just on the extreme left side toward the back can I feel some warmth but only if I’m really pushing it. When I say pushing it, I’ll have Chrome running with GMAIL, Facebook and Google in each tab, Winamp Lite v5 playing some music, Yahoo Messenger running with the built in webcam and YWriter5 open just typing away. The computer doesn’t even stutter. Sometimes I’ll stop Winamp but leave it running and watch an episode of friends over the network on Media Player Classic decoding with ffdshow. It runs as smooth as can be. Unbelievable. The screen is half height and full width but honestly I don’t notice too much. Haven’t really messed with the resolution though beyond the default. I have at times hit FN-ESC to put the thing in standby. Then I press the power button after a while and in a few seconds I’m back and running again. I’ve also used hibernate with no problems though it takes longer to come back than standby. But honestly the battery life is so long that I really don’t need to do either. I generally just close the lid and walk away. The thing runs forever on a charge. I mean forever.
For sound I use headphones. The jack is on the left in front. The volume is on the well placed arrow keys using the FN key. In fact the most used functions are screen brightness and volume. All four are on the arrow keys front right. Thank you Samsung. The mute key though is FN-F6? I may remap that to another key. I expected nothing from the speakers but I told Windows XP they are speakers in a keyboard and turned on the included SRS utility. They sound quite decent but almost no bass at all. Still though, not near as bad as I was expecting. They don’t distort or rattle. They just don’t give any low end.
I bought a 2GB memory module to upgrade the memory. But now seeing how fast it runs with the installed 1GB I’m wondering if it’s even necessary. I’ll edit this later if I notice any difference. I may also upgrade the hard drive though I still have a lot of room left. The default install asks for the drive to be partitioned to hold a backup of the default install. I went ahead and let it do this but if I find myself running out of drive space I may just delete that partition. I prefer to use Drive Snapshot for my backups anyway.
Also the fist thing you should do after getting yours set up is go into system bios and change control of Screen Brightness from Auto to User Selected. That way it will remember what your brightness setting is instead of it going back to default on every boot.
I think I covered most of it. A little more expensive than most other netbooks but absolutely worth every penny. Great job Samsung.

***EDIT***
I did upgrade the memory from 1GB to 2GB using Crucial Technology CT25664AC800 2GB 200-pin SODIMM DDR2 PC2-6400 Memory Module. Actually the CT25664AC667 would have worked too for about $3 less. After running it through it’s paces I’ve concluded that I don’t see much of a performance increase. If I used more memory intensive apps that require a lot more swap memory on the hard drive then maybe I’d see a more dramatic improvement. On the other hand the 2GB module is only about $20 so still glad I did.
I also disabled the scrolling feature on the track pad. I wanted the extra space and I kept hitting the scroll area by accident. Instead I added two tap zones on the left side of the track pad. One for Right Click and one for Mute.

***EDIT***
I did upgrade the hard drive to a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 2.5 Inch, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM SATA II WD5000BEVT. The Hitachi I pullled out used about 700ma where this new WD uses about 450ma. The WD is supposed to be absolutely silent though I never really heard the Hitachi run either. And although I don’t ever hear the drives heads, I can hear the drive spinning if I press my ear up close to the computer. Sounds like fan noise. The Hitachi may also have sounded like this. I don’t remember but it’s still very quiet and doesn’t bother me. If you’d like to compare the acoustical or thermal specs before purchasing a new drive the one that came with my Samsung was Hitachi Travelstar 5K320 2.5″ Mobile 160GB SATA Hard Drive, 5400, 8MB. I used Drive Snapshot to backup the Recovery partition and the C and D partitions onto an external USB drive. Then I changed out the hard drive and booted ERD Commander on my old Targus external USB CD/DVD drive. I used Drive Snapshot to restore all three partions in the correct order. 1)EISA Recovery (around 6G) 2)C Drive 3)D Drive. Be aware that all three partions are Primary (no extended partitions here) and the second one (C Drive) is the one marked Active. When I restored the D Drive I just let it take up all the rest of the hard drive space.
There is no compartment door to change the drive. The bottom cover of the computer must be removed. But it is thankfully very easy. Remove the battery. Remove all 11 grommets (4 feet and 7 small plugs) by sliding something sharp and tiny past the grommet and hooking under and pulling up. I used a dental pick. Remove all 11 screws under grommets (phillips). Remove SD dummy card. You do not have to remove memory cover. Pry bottom cover off using fingers only by gently working around the edges with gentle pressure. No need for guitar pick or anything else to pry. The bottom cover comes off very easy. Hard Drive is next to memory module on the bottom of the computer. Remove 3 tiny screws (phillips) from drive caddy. Pull up slightly on front of drive enough to clear plastic tray and slide out of connector. Should come out very easily. Remove 4 screws (phillips) from drive caddy and swap drives. Put caddy screws back in to new drive. Lay drive and caddy back up against connector holding the other end of the drive up slightly to clear plastic rim. Push drive back onto connector good and tight. Lay drive back down and make sure all 3 tiny screw holes are alligned. If not cinch the drive up into the connector better. Put 3 tiny screws back in and tighten. Place the bottom cover back over the unit sliding the VGA connector in first. It should snap back in place easily. Put all 11 screws (all the same size) back into the bottom of the unit. Do not over tighten. Replace all 4 rubber feet and 7 plugs. The plugs are actually tappered to the shape of the cover and are keyed to fit only one way. All except the middle one. Put the battery and SD dummy card back in and you’re done.

Fantastic!
Got this to travel with. Surprised it works so well. No problems with powering up and using. Lots of “functions” you need to access the Samsung help guide to learn about and use. LONG battery life. Got the Samsung external DVD reader/writer here on Amazon (about $52.) Easiest installation. Can watch three movies on a flight. Bottom of netbook has little feet so that there is air circulation under it and I have not had a problem with overheating… but I generally put a little something under the netbook to make sure there is more air under there. Hard drive is partitioned so you have a C and D drive.. save to D just in case things crash. Put it in my purse everyday. Lifesaver with the Goggle maps.

Love it.
I love this little laptop. I’m a writer and I was looking for something with a long battery life and this is it. I can use it all day without plugging it in. They keyboard isn’t so small that it’s a pain to type. I’ve already written a screenplay using it. It’s slick looking and draws a lot of attention which is nice. Packed full of features with a bright screen. Can’t go wrong. I love this laptop!

Product Description

Life happens in places other than home. And life happens in colors other than shades of gray. That’s why we created the Samsung Go™ netbook. The Samsung Go is a compact, lightweight netbook computer that’s ready to go whenever, wherever. Feel like working at the park? You’re there. Think you’d be more inspired at the lake or beach? Get going. Just want to work in the backyard? That’s okay too. And since your life is fun and exciting, the Samsung Go netbook comes in four fun and exciting colors: Sunset Orange, Midnight Blue, Mint Blue and Jet Black. In fact, everything about the Samsung Go says fun and easy. Smoothly rounded corners simply look and feel better. A pebble-textured keyboard facilitates flying fingers, even those slippery from suntan oil. A spacious hard drive lets you bring along all your favorite music, photos, videos and movies. A 10.1″ wide LED-backlit LCD display is brighter than ever. And with a 10-hour battery, the Samsung Go is always ready to go, go, go. Are you ready to go? The Samsung Go ntebook makes the journey more fun.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43 in Personal Computers
• Color: Mint Blue
• Brand: Samsung
• Model: NP-N310-KA07US
• Dimensions: 7.30″ h x 10.30″ w x 1.10″ l, 2.70 pounds
• CPU: Intel Celeron 1.6 GHz
• Memory: 1000MB SODIMM
• Hard Disk: 160GB
• Processors: 1
• Native resolution: 10.1
• Display size: 10.1

Features

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
• 1GB DD2R RAM
• 160GB Hard Drive
• Windows XP Home, Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (6 Cell 8850mAh)
• 10.1″ wide LED-backlit LCD display

Customer Reviews

One amazing little netbook!
I chose the Samsung GO because I like the layout of the keyboard, and I liked the ease of slipping in the 2GB memory upgrade. Undo one screw, open the door at the bottom of the case, unlatch two clips and slip the memory board out of the netbook. The upgraded memory board slipped right in, close the latches, close the little door and replace the screw that holds the door closed. Easy, simple, quick. Upgraded memory works great!

One small note: the photos show a soft, pastel mint blue case. Not so. The actual color is a vibrant, eye-popping turquoise that you’ll either love or not. It’s distinctive, it’s unusual, and it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Those who like it (like my wife) really like it a lot. Others think it’s a bit on the wild side. But whether or not you may like the color, there’s just no denying that this is a great little netbook. Keyboard feels solid and sturdy, and is a bit bigger than the keyboard found on most netbooks (92% of full size as opposed to 89% as found on most). The difference is in the key spacing, and it is noticeable. Typing on the Samsung GO is easy and comfortable.

This is an easy netbook to like. A lot. It fires up in seconds, connected perfectly to every wireless system where I’ve tried to use it, gives a bright, clear display that’s far easier to read than you might expect, and packs in all the features I really need when surfing the internet. The Bluetooth connectivity is great, and I do use a Bluetooth enabled mouse when I’m working on projects using this netbook. Otherwise, I use the touchpad, which is sufficient for surfing the internet or just sending emails.

Feel of the netbook is amazing, sturdy and solid and very well built. Nothing flimsy about this machine. It comes packed with software, and you may want to remove some that you might not use often. I download files to a memory key that I can transport from computer to computer, so the 160 GB hard drive is more than sufficient for my purposes. And the battery life is awesome … I do get nearly nine hours when using it in battery-saver mode. Almost six in the faster normal mode. That’s plenty of time for most of my purposes.

Compare this to the others and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. There are many good netbooks out there, all are small and convenient. The Samsung GO is more expensive than most of the others, but it just feels more solid and better build than most. It is incredibly lightweight at less than 3 pounds, and comes in a variety of striking colors for those not afraid to be noticed. Burnt Orange, Midnite Blue, Black and the “Mint Blue” which is anything but a subtle pastel … all but the Black case will stand out in a crowd, and even the Black Samsung GO is distinctive. If you have a chance to touch one on display somewhere, check this netbook out. It is as different from the others as it would appear to be in the photos with this article.

I give this one five (5) stars. It’s a keeper!

A solid performer
After quite a bit of looking around, ended up with the N310 for a variety of reasons. I have a three year old notebook but it’s a pain to lug around. Made sense when I first got it (big screen, plenty of power) because I was consulting (after retirement). Now smaller makes sense since the netbook will be used primarily as a communications device when we’re on vacations.

First, went to retail stores to see netbooks. In general, all available there (ASUS, Acer, HP) looked flimsy at best. Most of the demos had keys missing already. Keyboards (and I don’t have big hands) didn’t seem that good. Second, we have other Samsung products in the home – it’s a brand I’m likely to buy because our experience with it. Third – the N310 looked to be pretty solid (and it seems so now – much more of a solid feel than any I saw in retail) with a rubberized cover and a chiclet keyboard. Fourth, my wife – who is not too technology oriented – liked the look of this netbook (she suggested the mint blue). While she’s unlikely to use it, she’s into what technology looks like. I considered the Toshiba and the ASUS models, but in the end chose Samsung. I can’t say I was able to compare them side by side.

One question was whether it made sense to wait til Windows 7. It is likely that it might have. But then again these machines are matched to a pretty specific need – and it’s not necessarily high tech. For me it’s e-mail and occasional Office work. I put OpenOfficeo on and the VLC media player in addition to Firefox. Net there’s a lot you can do with XP and are likely to be able to do for quite a while. That and XP is familiar.

Had it running in no time (although 48 XP updates had to be applied). I did upgrade the memory – trivial. Don’t think I had to but it seemed to make sense given the life cycle. I ordered from Crucial rather than Amazon after using Crucial’s wizard – it’s recommendation didn’t match the Amazon Crucial part. So far (a week+) very happy. Really appreciate the solid feel. Doesn’t appear to have a lot of junk software that has to be removed. Battery looks to be impressive. No real problem with the keyboard. I guess it’s also fair to say that cost wasn’t a major factor – this is a bit more than alternatives but given the prices for netbooks, plus or minus 10% isn’t a issue factor for me. I know it is for others. I’d suggest durability may justify the extra cost and who knows what people will pay for “style”.

cutest, most portable thing out there!
I love just about everything about I’ve experienced with this ‘mint-blue’ netbook since I received it a few weeks ago. I only have a couple complaints, which are really more like slight annoyances. For one, I’ve noticed that when using Wi-fi, I get about 1 bar less than any other laptop right next to me. I’ve compared it to 4 other laptops of various ages and abilities and they all get better reception. The only other thing that is really quite minor, is that when i;m using the netbook unplugged and the screen dims after a period of un-use, the screen will flicker slightly. It really shouldn’t bother anyone but people like me who get annoyed by very minor things, but I thought I should point it out.
Other than that, I have found my Samsung N310 to be quite the companion, and it really hasn’t left my side since I got it. I really enjoy the long battery life and still haven’t quite gotten used to not having to plug it in every couple hours. Its so freeing!
Also, if I weren’t so dependant on internet, I would give it 5 stars, but it has become a bit of a hindrance.