Samsung N140 First Impressions ...

After the NC10 I am now on the Samsung N140. Ok here goes quick summary:

Pros

Great keyboard but not for people with really big hands;
Great screen just like on the NC10
Runs even cooler and quieter than NC10
It's snappy and I have not put the 2GB RAM module in it
Stylish though I miss the on/off button where it was on NC10
Battery life is nothing short of amazing (7 hours without really trying too much)
Bigger and better mouse pad than NC10
Super light
250GB HDD

Cons

A few less vertical lines on screen because of 16/9 screen
Windows Starter instead of Windows XP
Screen does not tilt as far backwards as NC10, this may be an issue for some but it does not interfere with normal usage
HDD makes a few more clicking noises than the one on NC10. Again not a real negative point unless you are sensitive to that particular sound
ENTER key could be bigger
Wish it had an E-sata port, or does it ?
Webcam is slightly better on the NC10 but OK.

Remarks

If you want to run the old Skype on Windows 7 and you do not like Skype version 4+, the older 3.6.0.248 version works in Windows 7. For some reason all other including 3.8 do not. Here is the link:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_skype/3767/

If you make the Windows Taskbar auto-hide you get those few extra lines in which makes the screen just about right.

All in all a great little addition to the netbook world. Will enjoy travelling with it.

 

Thanks for the update. Is the PSU cool enough for your liking?

You have me confused about the display. As far as I can see from the specifications, both the NC10 and the N140 have a 1024 x 600 display. What is the make / model of the HDD? eSATA on a netbook would be unusual but a charging USB port would be useful.

John

 

John the N140 is a 10.1 inch screen and the NC10 is a 10.2 inch screen ... The N140 is very silent and very cool to the touch, much cooler than NC10, it's a brilliant little machine though I would have preferred XP instead of 7 Starter. I had a quick query for one problem.

I have disabled my Wifi in Windows 7 but when the machine starts up it has the Wifi always back on which is a pain for air travel. I have no clue how to fix this one since there is no external button to have all radio signals off all the time. I don't use Wifi unless there is no other option. Any idea on hw to avoid it coming on again?

 

For the wireless, go into the BIOS (press Esc or F2 when the Samsung logo shows on bootup) then have at look at the options on the Boot menu. There's probably an entry for the wireless offering always on / always off/ last setting.

Have a look at the other BIOS options (eg the fan settings) while you are there. They aren't very well documented in the user manual.

John

 

True ... I will have a look. My NC10 did not have this behaviour disabled meant off ... even on reboot. This must be a Windows 7 thing ... I am waiting for a light matte screen 13 or 14 inch notebook from Samsung. They can just make this netbook bigger and keep same quality ... that would be great

 

I've temporarily got hold a refurbished N140. It's a stylish little machine and, when I pulled out the power plug, Windows 7 forecast 10 hours and 17 minutes of run time.

To answer the question previously raised in this thread, one of the boot options in the BIOS is Wireless Device Control which can be set to Always On (the default), Always Off, or Last Status.

John