Netbooks need to rock 10–inch screens right? Wrong. The Samsung NC20 is the latest in a growing line of netbooks that are kissing goodbye to screens that cause dangerous levels of squinting. The NC20 rocks a 12–inch screen and makes looking at the web a far tastier affair all round. But isn’t it just a small laptop rather than a netbook? Read our full Samsung NC20 review to find out.
You can pick up countless netbooks these days and you’ll struggle to stand out from the crowd. Just like a drunk geezer at an Oasis gig. So the Samsung NC20 is definitely one for those who like to look a tad different.
Rocking a 12–inch screen, it’s closer to a proper laptop than the slinky machines that were the first netbooks. But don’t be fooled. Under the hood there’s the requisite 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD and pared down processor. In this case it’s the VIA Nano U2250. That’s because Intel won’t play nice with netbooks over 10–inches.
It all means that things are very much stuck in the middle. On the one hand, you have a netbook in the NC20 that can handle full web pages without you having to scroll left and right to see what’s going on. That 1280×800 screen really does make a difference.
Read our Samsung N310 review now
However, the CPU and memory mean that Windows XP takes an age to get going. And once it does finally get moving, boy does it feel slow. It takes time to respond and loading up just a few apps means you’re handling something more akin to a milk float than a Ferrari.
There’s no denying that the Samsung NC20 is a capable netbook. But it’s easy to see where confusion can arise. Punters keen on a cheap laptop will be disappointed by its average performance, lack of optical drive and limited ports. Netbook fans will moan that at 1.6kg, it’s just too bulky to cart about. Sometimes, it’s best to stick with one or the other and not try and be clever.
