Notebook Review Spec : HP Pavilion dv6z Review

BY: JerryJ, NotebookReview.com Editor

The newest 16-inch notebook from HP promises to deliver great performance at a low price and might be very popular in 2009. The HP Pavilion dv6z features the latest AMD dual-core processors, your choice of integrated or discrete graphics, and all the ports and features you need. At a starting price of just $599.99 it might just be the most competitive desktop replacement notebook on the market. Keep reading to find out if this notebook is as impressive as it sounds.

Our HP Pavilion dv6 (dv6z) has the following specifications:

• Processor: 2.1GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 dual core processor
• Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4530 512MB
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium with SP 1 (32-bit)
• Screen: 16.0" diagonal High Definition HP Brightview Display (1366x768)
• Memory: 3GB DDR2 (up to 8GB configurable)
• Storage: 250GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
• Optical Drive: Lightscibe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Wireless and Communications: 802.11b/g WLAN with Bluetooth
• Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion (10.8V, 47Wh)
• Dimensions: 14.9" (W) x 10.2" (D) x 1.4" (min H)/1.7" (max H)
• Weight: 6.36lbs
• Warranty: 1-year
• Price as configured: $774.99

Build and Design
The dv6z has a glossy, modern design that is essentially a larger version of the dv4 and dv5 series notebooks. The display cover has the durable plastic "Espresso Black" Imprint finish which holds up quite well to minor abrasion without scratching. The body of the notebook is smooth with rounded edges, making it extremely comfortable in your hand while carrying it around. The screen also sports a latchless design, making it easy to open the notebook with one hand. Pressing firmly onto the back of the screen cover will produce some ripples on the screen ... but you must apply significant pressure to cause this. Overall, the design is very attractive, but the glossy plastics are very prone to collecting fingerprints.

Build quality is above average with solid plastic used throughout the notebook, which helps reduce flex and protect components. The palmrests have good support and only flex under strong pressure from your hands. Under normal activity it feels rock solid. The keyboard is the same, with just a little flex around the "F" key when heavy pressure is applied.

As mentioned above, our dv6z features the "Espresso Black" Imprint Finish which looks like a glossy black plastic with a silver bubble pattern on the lid and left palmrest. The Imprint Finish on the dv6z isn't as subtle as the pattern on the HP Pavilion dv2. I suspect many average consumers will find the bubble pattern on the lid a little too "splashy" for a workplace environment, but it still looks very attractive and I'm sure it will be popular among younger shoppers.

The bottom of the dv6z is pretty simple with several heat vents located in strategic positions to help keep the laptop cool. The two access panels on the bottom of the notebook make it easy to upgrade RAM, replace the hard disk drive, or access the wireless card. This arrangement makes it simple for the novice user to make upgrades, but more serious users will have to remove the entire base of the chassis in order to access the rest of the motherboard.

Display
The 16” display is above average in terms of overall viewing quality, but resolution is only average. Sure, the 1366x768 resolution provides more horizontal screen space than the 1280x800 resolution common to 14-inch and smaller notebooks, but we would have liked to see the option for a 1920x1080 screen. When manufacturers stick with lower resolutions on larger panels pixels become more apparent and screen real estate seems unusually limited. Overall the panel looks good with excellent color saturation and contrast levels thanks in part to the glossy surface.

Screen brightness is fine for viewing in a bright office environment ... even at lower brightness settings. Outdoor viewing wasn't as impressive, but the screen is still visible outdoors if you can find some shade. Vertical viewing angles are normal, having a narrow viewing sweet spot before color starts to wash out or invert. Horizontal viewing angles are much better and staying true even at extreme angles.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The full-size keyboard with number pad on the dv6z takes advantage of all of the space provided by the wide 16” chassis. In previous years the keyboards on 15-inch and 17-inch HP notebooks suffered from at least some flex under typing pressure. Thankfully, the keyboard on the dv6z is remarkably firm and quite comfortable to type on. The only area that suffered from flex was around the "F" key, but we had to apply significant pressure for the flex to become visible. Individual key action is smooth with a light audible click when pressed. The glossy key texture is prone to picking up fingerprint smudges (like everything else on the notebook) but it's a minor annoyance.

HP includes a moderately-sized Synaptics touchpad on the dv6z which feels very responsive with little lag. The entire touchpad surface is made of a high gloss plastic, and can sometimes be hard to use depending on how dry or oily your fingertip happens to be. The surface needs to collect some of your finger's natural oils to allow for easy movement on the touchpad. While the reflective touchpad surface looks cool HP probably would have been better off using the same type of textured touchpad surface used on the HP Pavilion tx2500 and TouchSmart tx2. The touchpad buttons are in a great location and are easy to control with your thumb. The buttons provide mild feedback with a shallow movement that gives an audible click when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the dv6z is better than average, and there seems to be a good balance of ports on the left and right sides of the notebook. Then right side includes the optical drive, two USB ports, spaces for the optional TV tuner and modem, as well as a security lock slot and the power jack. The left side of the notebook contains the VGA port, docking station connector, Ethernet, HDMI, eSATA/USB combo port, USB port, FireWire, ExpressCard, and media card reader. The remaining ports include audio jacks for headphones and a microphone on the front of the notebook next to the IR receiver for the remote control.

Performance
HP offers the new Pavilion dv6z with a range of AMD processors, including Athlon X2 dual-core processors and the Turion X2 Ultra dual-core processors. You can also configure the dv6z with your choice of integrated or discrete graphics. Since the dv6z can be customized based on your needs, we decided to configure our review unit with the low-priced AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 processor and the mid-grade ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 discrete graphics card.

The 2.1GHz AMD processor might be the entry-level option, but it provided perfectly adequate performance in all of our tests. The wPrime synthetic benchmark showed the 2.1GHz QL-64 processor is just a little slower than a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but the PCMark05 synthetic benchmark wasn't quite as impressed by the processor's performance. Bottom line, this value-priced AMD processor is perfectly capable of providing all the performance average computer users need.

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 graphics with 512MB of dedicated RAM performed reasonably well and had no problem playing 1080p video files over HDMI to a HDTV. Gaming performance was good, but certainly not as impressive as what you're likely to find in gaming notebooks priced at more than $1,000. Still, considering the budget price of just $775 for this configuration, we were more than impressed with how the dv6z preformed.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Sony VAIO FW (Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz)	30.373 seconds
Dell Studio 17 (Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.50GHz)	31.574 seconds
Dell Studio XPS 16 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	31.827 seconds
ASUS F50SV-A2 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	31.857 seconds
HP Pavilion dv6z (AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 @ 2.10GHz)	38.519 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 512MB)	6,303 PCMarks
ASUS F50SV-A2 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia GeForce GT 120M 1GB)	6,005 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470)	6,002 PCMarks
Dell Studio 17 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650)	5,982 PCmarks
HP Pavilion dv6z (2.10GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB)	4,119 PCMarks

3DMark06 graphics comparison against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
ASUS F50SV-A2 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia GeForce GT 120M 1GB)	5,152 3DMarks
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 512MB)	4,855 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv6z (2.10GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB)	3,254 3DMarks
Dell Studio 17 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650)	2,974 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470)	2,598 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Speakers
The performance of the Altec Lansing branded speakers is well above average with strong highs and midrange with adequate bass. Peak volume levels are very good and capable of filling a small room with sound. Still, headphones or external stereo speakers are ideal for audiophiles. The speakers are mounted above the keyboard and direct sound up and toward the user for a great listening experience.

Battery
Battery life is limited by the AMD Athlon series processor (35W TDP) in this configuration and the ATI Radeon discrete graphics ... both of which consume a large chunk of power. With Windows Vista power management set to the "power saver" mode, screen brightness set to 50%, and wireless turned on, the dv6z lasted 2 hours and 12 minutes with the 6-cell battery. On the "high performance" power setting, with screen brightness turned up to 100% the battery life dropped to 1 hour and 36 minutes.

While this is "acceptable" battery life for a desktop replacement with discrete graphics, we would have liked to see at least three hours of battery life in the "power saver" mode with the standard battery.

Heat and Noise
The Pavilion dv6z does a reasonable job keeping heat under control, but there are still some hot spots to watch out for when using this notebook on your lap. The system fan and heatsinks in the notebook do a great job managing heat when the system is under load but the bottom corner near the heat exhaust can get uncomfortably hot ... as we discovered when we ran multiple benchmarks back to back. Below are images with "average" temperature readings listed in degrees Fahrenheit ... the notebook can get cooler or hotter depending on use.

Noise was likewise a mixed blessing on the dv6z. The fan moved a significant amount of hot air and the fan noise was reasonably quiet at idle. However, when the system was under stress the fan became as loud as a quiet hair dryer. Of course, the manufacturer of the cooling fan in your notebook might be different and the dv6z should produce less heat if you configure it with the integrated graphics card, so your mileage (or decibels) may vary.

Conclusion

If you're currently shopping for a full-featured desktop replacement notebook at a reasonable price then the HP Pavilion dv6z deserves your consideration. The HP Pavilion dv6z came extremely close to winning an Editor's Choice Award because of the solid build quality, great port layout, fantastic range of configuration options, and low price. However, the limited battery life, limited screen options, and hot spots on the bottom of the notebook prevented it from earning top honors. If you can live with the flaws I just mentioned, then the HP Pavilion dv6z makes an excellent choice for a desktop replacement notebook.

Pros:

• Good value
• Excellent selection of ports
• Nice design and build quality
• Good speakers

Cons:

• Average battery life
• Low screen resolution for a 16-inch screen
• Heat exhaust can be extremely hot on the bottom

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Notebook Review Spec : ASUS F50SV-A2 Review

BY: Kevin, NotebookReview.com Editor

The ASUS F50SV-A2 is a midrange gaming notebook that offers an Intel P8600 Core 2 Duo Processor and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120M 1GB graphics card in a 16” shell. The notebook also offers a built-in Blu-ray drive for watching movies on the 16:9 display or outputting them through HDMI to your home entertainment system. Priced at $1,149 ASUS has this F50 competing against the HP dv6t, Gateway MC series, and Dell Studio XPS 16. Is the ASUS F50 worth checking out? Read our full review to find out.

ASUS F50SV-A2 Specifications:

• Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
• Chipset: SiS 671DX+968
• Memory: 4GB DDR2-800 (2GB x 2GB)
• HDD: 320GB 7200rpm
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120M 1GB GDDR2 VRAM
• Display: 16.0” WXGA 1366x768 Color-Shine (Glossy)
• Optical Drive: BD-ROM + DVDRW+/-
• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64 bit)
• Wireless: Atheros AR928x B/G/N Wifi and Bluetooth 2.0
• Battery: 6-cell battery
• Dimensions: 14.96" x 10.43" x 1.4" ~ 1.64"
• Weight: 6lbs 5.9oz, 7lbs 5.2oz travel weight
• Warranty: 2 year global, 1 year accidental damage
• Price as configured: $1,149

Build and Design
The ASUS F50 has a slick design that looks clean and very modern. In a way you could easily compare it to the look HP uses in their notebooks having most of the surfaces color-matched and glossy. The palmrest and touchpad surface share the same design, with the pattern flowing seamlessly through both surfaces. Above, the keyboard keys are matte black with glossy black trim bordering the keyboard. The F50 lacks touch-sensitive multimedia keys, instead having only quick access buttons for Instant-On, power switching mode, Web browser, touchpad disable, and power.

Build quality is above average with solid plastic used throughout the notebook, which helps reduce flex and protect components. The screen cover gives adequate protection against impacts and the display shows no ripples when you press firmly on the back cover. The palmrest has good support and only flexes under strong pressure from your hands. Under normal activity it feels rock solid. The keyboard is the same, with minimal flex under heated typing.

ASUS gives quick access to user-serviceable components through two access panels on the back of the notebook. One bay houses only the hard drive, while the other has the processor, memory, and wireless card. No “warranty void if removed” stickers were present on the covers, but one was stuck to one of the processor heatsink screws.

Display
The 16” display is above average in terms of viewing quality, but I really wish ASUS could have included a higher resolution panel. When manufacturers stick with lower resolutions on larger panels pixels become more apparent and screen real estate seems wasted. The panel is a Samsung model, with the part number being 160At01-A05. Overall the panel looks good with good color saturation and contrast levels thanks in part to the glossy surface.

Screen brightness is fine for viewing in a bright office environment ... even at lower brightness settings. Outdoor viewing is limited by glare off the glossy surface, but it might be usable if you found a big tree to sit under with lots of shade. Vertical viewing angles are normal, having a narrow viewing sweet spot before color starts to wash out or invert. On the F50SV you have about 10 degrees forward or back before you start to see colors changing. Horizontal viewing angles are much better, staying true even to very steep angles.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the F50 is full-size with numberpad, using all of the space provided by the wide 16” chassis. It is comfortable to type on, but the key shape might take a bit to get used to. Individual key action is smooth with a light audible click when pressed. Most keys are shaped with a cupped surface on top and wide sloped edges. The F50 is designed with more of a flat top and narrow sloped edges. If you are used to sliding your fingers across the keyboard to other keys, you will catch your fingertip on the edge of each key. After typing for a couple of hours you get used to it, but it does feel weird if you aren’t expecting it. One odd feature of the F50’s keyboard is a rather large right-side control key, which is wider than the shift key on that side, coming in at 33mm wide.

ASUS includes a large Synaptics-based touchpad on the F50 which is comfortable to use and quick to respond to finger movements. The texture of the touchpad surface is matte and was easy to slide your fingertip across even when moist. The touchpad surface is recessed from the palmrest, and defined by a smooth ridge, making it hard accidentally slip off the surface. The touchpad buttons are operated through a seesaw-style button which requires a solid press to activate each side. It has a shallow throw with minimal feedback.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the F50 is adequate, but the layout seems awkward for a notebook of this size. No ports are located on the right side, reserved only for the optical drive. three USB ports are on the left side and one additional port on the back. No eSATA port is included, limiting fast external storage, which is odd considering many new notebooks include them. The remaining ports include LAN, VGA, HDMI, and audio jacks for headphones and a microphone.

Included with the purchase of the notebook are a wired USB optical mouse and carrying case. The mouse is average, but works great in a pinch when gaming. The carrying case provides some mild protection for the notebook against drops, but more importantly it keeps the new finish free from scratches right out of the box. If you plan on buying a new case anyway, it can be a temporary case to protect the F50 in the meantime.

Performance
System performance is very good for a midrange multimedia notebook, thanks in part to the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT 120M graphics card. The system was able to easily play games like Call of Duty: World at War and Left 4 Dead at native resolution and high settings without drastically slowing down or inhibiting gameplay. In Call of Duty with settings maxed, resolution set to 1366x768, and 2X anti-aliasing the game ran at 24-25 frames per second (FPS) under light action and dipped to under 20FPS under heavy action. With some mild tweaking it wouldn’t be hard to bump framerates even higher. Left 4 Dead at max detail settings, 1366x768 resolution, and anti-aliasing set to 2X ran above 30FPS throughout most of the game, only slipping to around 28FPS under heavy action.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Sony VAIO FW (Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz)	30.373 seconds
Dell Studio 17 (Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.50GHz)	31.574 seconds
Dell Studio XPS 16 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	31.827 seconds
ASUS F50SV-A2 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	31.857 seconds
HP Pavilion dv6z (AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 @ 2.10GHz)	38.519 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 512MB)	6,303 PCMarks
ASUS F50SV-A2 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia GeForce GT 120M 1GB)	6,005 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470)	6,002 PCMarks
Dell Studio 17 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650)	5,982 PCmarks
HP Pavilion dv6z (2.10GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB)	4,119 PCMarks

3DMark06 graphics comparison against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
ASUS F50SV-A2 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia GeForce GT 120M 1GB)	5,152 3DMarks
Dell Studio XPS 16 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 512MB)	4,855 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv6z (2.10GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB)	3,254 3DMarks
Dell Studio 17 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650)	2,974 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FW (2.53GHz Intel T9400, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470)	2,598 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Speakers
Speaker performance is average, with sound lacking low and midrange frequencies. Peak volume levels are decent for watching a movie or listening to music in a small room, but headphones or external stereo speakers would really be best. The speakers are mounted below the palmrest and lap-firing, which may get blocked by clothing if you have the notebook placed on your lap.

Battery
Battery life is limited by the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120M graphics card, making the notebook draw 29 watts at idle even when it lowered its clockspeed. With the system in balanced mode, wireless active, and screen brightness set to 70% the ASUS F50SV-A2 managed to stay on for 1 hour and 36 minutes with the 6-cell battery.

Heat and Noise
Noise under normal use is minimal or completely silent. Under light activity surfing the Web or typing a document the fan spins down and off, only spinning up to occasionally cool the system back down. Under heavier loads when gaming the fans stayed on constantly at a lower speed, which was audible but nothing that you could hear from across a room. External thermal performance was very good, with the system keeping its cool around the keyboard and palmrest. Under a full load the exhaust temperatures peaked at about 110F, with internal GPU core temps reaching 150F. Another source of heat was the power brick, which reached almost 120F when the notebook was under high load.

Conclusion
The ASUS F50SV-A2 gave strong performance in our benchmarks and real-life game tests, thanks mostly to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120M graphics card. When not gaming though the graphics card had an abnormally high power consumption rate, making the system draw almost 29 watts at idle. For users who might want to take the notebook to class, it barely made it above 1 hour and 30 minutes in our tests.

I really enjoyed the design and great build quality, which should allow the notebook to last until it is no longer fast enough to run the latest software. Overall I think a perfect change might be swapping the Blu-ray drive for a higher resolution screen, but I may be biased already owning a Blu-ray player. If you are in the market for a higher performing multimedia notebook, check out the ASUS F50SV, but make sure you are always within range of a power outlet.

Pros:

• Good performance
• System able to keep its cool under heavy CPU and GPU loads
• Nice design and build quality

Cons:

• Mediocre battery life
• Very high power consumption at idle

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Notebook Review Spec : Samsung NC20 Review

BY: Kevin, NotebookReview.com Editor

The Samsung NC20 is a 12.1" netbook and larger brother to the 10" NC10. The NC20 offers a larger nearly-full-size keyboard, large 6-cell battery, WXGA resolution display, and the VIA Nano platform. Since the last VIA-based netbook in our office was the Everex CloudBook with less than stellar performance, the biggest thought on our minds is if the VIA Nano can compete against the trusted Intel Atom platform. In this review we see how well it compares against its netbook brethren, and if it changes our thoughts about VIA processors in notebooks.

Samsung NC20 Specifications:

• 1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250 (800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache)
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (2GB Max)
• Windows XP Pro w/ SP3 (Ships with Windows XP Home)
• 12.1" WXGA LED-Backlit Widescreen Glossy Display (1280x800)
• 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• VIA Chrome9 HC3 Integrated Graphics
• 802.11b/g and Bluetooth
• 3-in-1 card reader
• 6-Cell Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: (LxWxH) 11.5 x 8.5 x 1.2
• Weight: 3lbs 5.8oz (4lbs 3.4oz travel weight)
• Price as configured: $549

Build and Design
The design of the Samsung NC20 is very clean with a consistent color scheme inside and outside the netbook with a thin border of chrome around the edges. The pearlescent white on our review sample has the same almost-dirty appearance that the original ASUS Eee PC 701 had. I think a pure white looks better or even better would be going all black. The black configuration of the NC20 looks stunning from the samples I have seen and if I were buying one that would be my only choice.

Build quality is above average with durable feeling plastic throughout the body. Flex is minimal on the lower half of the notebook, usually an added perk of having such a thin frame packed with components. Flex under the keyboard structure is non-existent which adds a level of quality that you notice while typing. The screen lid has some minor flex that when squeezed shows some distortion on the panel.

User upgrades to the NC20 are limited to swapping out the RAM or hard drives. Samsung has a single panel on the bottom of the it that gives quick access to the hard drive bay and single memory slot. No “warranty void if removed” stickers were over the cover or screws.

Display
The 12.1” WXGA display on the Samsung NC20 is above average compared to most notebooks. The LED-backlighting is very even across the screen with barely any backlight bleed around the edges. Image quality is excellent thanks to the glossy surface, with vibrant colors and nice contrast levels. Vertical viewing angles are average with a narrow viewing sweet spot where colors are not washing out or inverted. Horizontal viewing angles are better, staying true at steeper angles. Screen backlight brightness was good for viewing in a bright office setting, but you would be pushing the limits trying to use the NC20 outdoors on a sunny day.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The Samsung NC20 has an almost-full-size keyboard that is comfortable to type on and very easy to transition to from larger notebooks. Compared to other netbooks the keyboard is very good, but notebooks still have an edge on it. Business notebooks in the 12-inch form factor have been able to incorporate completely full-size keyboards, but they are generally higher priced. Individual key action is smooth with no sound emitted when clicked. The ability to type covertly in a quiet classroom or office meeting could easily be added as another feature.

The NC20 offers a Synaptics touchpad that is nicely sized for a netbook. Measuring in at 2.75" x 1.63" it is larger than the touchpad on my Lenovo ThinkPad. The surface texture is a fine matte finish that is smooth to slide your finger across even if your hands are moist. Sensitivity is excellent once adjusted, since the default driver settings put the "PalmCheck" adjustment at max, which made movement very twitchy. The touchpad buttons are controlled through a bridged button that connected the left and right side. Feedback from it is shallow with a mild click noise when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection is average compared to most netbooks on the market, offering three USB ports, VGA, LAN, audio jacks, and a 3-in-1 multi-card reader. With the increased real estate of the 12.1” frame I think Samsung could have easily fit an additional USB port on without any problems.

Front: Indicator lights and 3-in-1 multi-card reader

Rear: Screen hinge and battery

Left: LAN, one USB, VGA, and audio ports

Right: Two USB, AC power, Kensington lock slot, and power switch

Samsung includes an imitation-suede netbook sleeve with the NC20. It works very well to keep the netbook smudge and scratch-free during transportation, but does little to pad it from impacts. I like the suede appearance of it more than the neoprene slip cases, which have that Spandex-vibe.

Performance
Compared to the last VIA-equipped netbook in our office the VIA Nano was a huge improvement. System performance of the NC20 was in-line with the Intel Atom platform, above in some areas and below in others. Day-to-day use the system handled tasks like web browsing or typing documents with ease. Entertainment use was limited to older games or less tasking modern games with the integrated graphics. Standard definition videos played smoothly without any hint of lag, but when you try to play HD movies the limits of the processor were noticed. Standard 720p x264 content played at 15-17FPS on scenes with little motion, but slowed down to 5-10FPS under panning or action. With enough tweaking HD content might be playable at full frame rates, but you would have to ask yourself if it would be worth it. In our synthetic benchmarks the VIA Nano platform scored lower in wPrime and PCMark05, but slightly higher under 3DMark06. Still nowhere near as fast as a full-size notebook with integrated graphics though.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	32.119 seconds
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.60GHz)	103.521 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	114.749 seconds
Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	125.812 seconds
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	126.406 seconds
Samsung NC20 (VIA Nano ULV U2250 @ 1.30GHz)	173.968 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (2.40GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, Intel X4500)	4,298 PCmarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,851 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege R500 (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	1,839 PCMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,555 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,535 PCMarks
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,478 PCMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	1,441 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,520 3DMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,417 3DMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	151 3DMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
HP Mini 2140 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	118 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	92 3DMarks
Sony VAIO P (1.33GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 500, Windows Vista)	88 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Speakers
Audio performance was limited by the small size of the drivers located on the bottom of the NC20. Bass and midrange were completely lacking and peak volume levels were under similarly sized notebooks. For viewing YouTube clips or watching streaming TV shows this might not be a problem, but I would still highly recommend a nice pair of headphones.

Battery
Battery life was good compared to most notebooks, but when compared to the latest netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE, it was hindered by the larger screen. The Samsung NC20 with the processor set to adaptive, screen brightness set to about 70%, and wireless active managed 5 hours and 55 minutes before it went into standby at 4% remaining. A larger battery would definitely improve the runtime, but then you would have to deal with an extended battery sticking out the bottom of the notebook to allow the screen to still pivot.

Heat and Noise
Thermal performance is normal compared to other small netbooks, where the body tends to warm up over time, and develop some hot spots under heavy use. Under light activity temperatures around the palmrest and bottom of the notebook were within reasonable levels and very lap friendly. The left side of the palmrest was higher than the rest, which might be explained by a wireless card located in that region. Fan noise was minimal when browsing the web, but when you tasked the processor it would ramp up to whisper levels.

Conclusion
The 12.1" Samsung NC20 is a netbook that is just on the fringe of being the same size as regular notebooks. It offers a large keyboard, higher resolution screen than most netbooks, and long battery life that you would expect from a ULV platform. With a retail price of $549 it is set to compete against the Dell Mini 12 and HP Pavilion dv2. Overall we were pleased with the performance from the VIA Nano platform, which was a massive step up from the lackluster performance of the older C7 we saw in the Everex CloudBook. My only complaint with our review sample was it not being the much better looking black model, but that can be easily fixed by buying that version instead.

Pros:

• Nice display
• Keyboard is excellent for a netbook
• Modest battery life
• Great performance from a VIA platform

Cons:

• Poor speaker performance

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