Samsung NC10 Reviewed: 7hr Battery & Great Keyboard Make It A Winner

Hopes have been high for the Samsung NC10, with preliminary feedback tipping it for top spot in the netbook pile.  After the last round of hands-on feedback we knew it could perform and that the keyboard was exemplary; now, Laptop Mag have delivered both a full review and confirmation that the NC10 may just be the best netbook option around.  Battery life, screen and, of course, keyboard all come in for lashings of praise.

In fact, in tests with the six-cell battery pack, the NC10 lasted 7hrs and 34 minutes with the LED backlight at 50-percent, WiFi turned on and with continuous web browsing.  That's more than two hours over the MSI Wind, which managed a still-impressive 5hrs 13.  With the backlight ramped up to 100-percent the Samsung lasted for 4hrs 48.

Despite what must be some fiendish power management, WiFi strength was still top of the class and Skype video calls performed simultaneously with web browsing resulted in nary a stutter.  The NC10 lagged only behind the Lenovo S10 in file transfer performance, and ousted its rivals with the quality of 1.3-megapixel snaps from the webcam.

It's always tricky to say "this is the best machine", especially with new netbooks being announced seemingly every day, but Laptop Mag are calling the Samsung NC10 "the most well-rounded 10-inch netbook on the market."  It undercuts the MSI Wind for price and only lags behind it on trackpad size; for the moment, the NC10 is where the sensible 10-inch netbook money must go.