I had read reviews on various netbooks – I had read varying views about netbooks and notebooks.
Some good, some bad – as expected. I wanted an easily portable machine for viewing documents and running basic document preparation programs – wordprocessing, spreadsheets and some DTP.
Eventually I decided upon this Samsung N145.
It arrived very promptly (beating the memory upgrade I ordered at the same time).
Out of the box, quick charge and switch on. The process to complete the setup was straight forward. Then I plugged in my mobile broadband dongle – again installation was straight forward and I was on the Internet.
My initial thoughts were “this is a bit slow”. Web pages were sometimes rather hesitant to load. After a while I realised this was due to Windows 7 updating itself. Once the updates were done all was well.
I have used the N145 for about a month now and am happy with it. The only real downpoint is it’s speakers. At first I noticed the sound was very choppy. This was cured by disabling the ‘SRS Premium Sound Panel’. This program attempts to improve the sound but seems to destroy it instead – probably too much drain on the processor. With this disabled the sound was ‘OK’ – tinny, but at least playing properly – a bit like the ‘trannie’ of the sixties, rather nostalgic! However, use headphones – then the sound is fine – this is a transportable Netbook afterall! On battery power the sound will occasionally falter.
If you want to play the latest games or play HD videos buy a PC or fast laptop! However Youtube videos and many games run very happily on this machine – just remember it is a 1.6GHz processor.
I downloaded a little program to enable me to change the wallpaper on Windows 7 Starter. Now it is MY netbook.
As I mentioned earlier I upgraded the memory to 2GB. There was a noticeable improvement over the standard 1GB.
So all in all it does what it says it would – this is not a games machine or ‘hi-fi’ system. If you accept it’s limitations you may be as happy as I am with it’s operation – and portablility.

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http://rhumarina.com/uk-cheap-samsung-n145-plus-10-1-inch-netbook-intel-atom-n450-1-66-ghz-1-gb-ram-250-gb-hdd-wlan-webcam-win-7-starter-black-for-sale.html#comment-140 M. Kelly Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:32:27 +0000 http://rhumarina.com/uk-cheap-samsung-n145-plus-10-1-inch-netbook-intel-atom-n450-1-66-ghz-1-gb-ram-250-gb-hdd-wlan-webcam-win-7-starter-black-for-sale.html#comment-140 <div style="margin-left:0.5em;"> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> 112 of 112 people found the following review helpful: </div> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <span style="margin-left: -5px;"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-4-0._V192197091_.gif" width="64" alt="4.0 out of 5 stars" title="4.0 out of 5 stars" height="12" border="0"/></span> <b>Solid Netbook - Some negatives</b>, <nobr>23 Feb 2011</nobr></div> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <div><div style="float:left;">By </div><div style="float:left;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pdp/profile/A4VNZMDBF3Q36?ie=UTF8&tag=uknb03-21&linkCode=xm2" target="_top"><span style="font-weight: bold;">M. Kelly</span></a> (Ireland) - <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A4VNZMDBF3Q36?ie=UTF8&tag=uknb03-21&linkCode=xm2&sort_by=MostRecentReview" target="_top"></a><br/><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/reputation/c7y_badge_rn_1._V167143935_.gif" width="58" align="absmiddle" alt="(REAL NAME)" height="15" border="0"/>    </div></div><div style="clear:both;"/> </div> <div class="tiny" style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <b><span class="h3color tiny">This review is from: </span>Samsung N145 Plus 10.1-inch netbook (Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, WLAN, Webcam, Win 7 Starter) - Black (Personal Computers)</b> </div> Great netbook with a few negatives - first off it was quite apparent on first use that 1GB RAM is nowhere near enough for hassle free web browsing so I immediately upgraded the Ram to 2GB. The performance boost was amazing and I strongly recommend others to do the same - it really transformed the machine in terms of start times when opening software, minimising windows etc <br/><br/>In terms of battery life the "up to 10 hours" claim is just that an "up to" figure! In reality when browsing the web via a wireless connection you are VERY lucky to get 5.5 - 6 hours out of it. I don't know where the 10 hour figure comes from but it certainly doesn't apply in most cases. <br/><br/>Despite these two minor issues I am more than happy with this machine - it is very well put together and the keyboard is surprisingly usable despite its miniature nature! <br/><div style="padding-top: 10px; clear: both; width: 100%;"> <div style="float:left; padding-right:15px; border-right:1px solid #CCCCCC"><div style="padding-bottom:5px;"><b class="tiny" style="color:#666666;white-space:nowrap;">Help other customers find the most helpful reviews</b> </div><div style="width:300px;"> <a name="R21PXI2DG6SRT1.2115.Helpful.Reviews" style="font-size:1px;"> </a><span><span class="votingPrompt">Was this review helpful to you? </span><a rel="nofollow" class="votingButtonReviews" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R21PXI2DG6SRT1/Helpful/1?ie=UTF8&token=FA09082C9A022DFE6968FBD48AD1FA0CAC47FB8C&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY28udWsvcHJvZHVjdC1yZXZpZXdzL0IwMDQ5VTVaRUk_X2VuY29kaW5nPVVURjgmc3VtbWFyeT0wJmFsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImdGFnPXVrbmIwMy0yMSZ2PTImbGlua0NvZGU9eG0yJmFzaW49QjAwNDlVNVpFSSZ0cnVuY2F0ZT01MDAwJmFraWQ9QUtJQUpCU1E1WkhXVlRTR0lCVUEmc2lnPUYlMkJRQXh6bkV3JTJCWFVGT2dNUyUyQmtYNGhWbERneG10U2c5ODNpJTJCalkwSzgzUSUzRCZleHA9MjAxMi0wMS0yOFQxOSUzQTMwJTNBMjFaJmF0YWc9dWtuYjAzLTIx&voteAnchorName=R21PXI2DG6SRT1.2115.Helpful.Reviews&voteSessionID=000-0000000-0000000"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/reviews/btn-yes-sec-md._V192192904_.gif" width="35" alt="Yes" style="vertical-align:middle;" height="18" border="0"/></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="votingButtonReviews" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R21PXI2DG6SRT1/Helpful/-1?ie=UTF8&token=6C0596F1B937A48A347DAA0AE60994BCFCAA77D1&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY28udWsvcHJvZHVjdC1yZXZpZXdzL0IwMDQ5VTVaRUk_X2VuY29kaW5nPVVURjgmc3VtbWFyeT0wJmFsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImdGFnPXVrbmIwMy0yMSZ2PTImbGlua0NvZGU9eG0yJmFzaW49QjAwNDlVNVpFSSZ0cnVuY2F0ZT01MDAwJmFraWQ9QUtJQUpCU1E1WkhXVlRTR0lCVUEmc2lnPUYlMkJRQXh6bkV3JTJCWFVGT2dNUyUyQmtYNGhWbERneG10U2c5ODNpJTJCalkwSzgzUSUzRCZleHA9MjAxMi0wMS0yOFQxOSUzQTMwJTNBMjFaJmF0YWc9dWtuYjAzLTIx&voteAnchorName=R21PXI2DG6SRT1.2115.Helpful.Reviews&voteSessionID=000-0000000-0000000"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/reviews/btn-no-sec-md._V192192932_.gif" width="35" alt="No" style="vertical-align:middle;" height="18" border="0"/></a> <span class="votingMessage"/></span> </div></div><div style="float:left;"><div style="padding-left:15px;"><div style="white-space:nowrap;"><span class="tiny"> <a name="R21PXI2DG6SRT1.2115.Inappropriate.Reviews" style="font-size:1px;"> </a><span class="reportingButton"><nobr><a rel="nofollow" class="reportingButton" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R21PXI2DG6SRT1/Inappropriate/1?ie=UTF8&token=56D4F6A50FB3D9C425BDD61AAB4D8BC435FDF30A&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY28udWsvcHJvZHVjdC1yZXZpZXdzL0IwMDQ5VTVaRUk_X2VuY29kaW5nPVVURjgmc3VtbWFyeT0wJmFsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImdGFnPXVrbmIwMy0yMSZ2PTImbGlua0NvZGU9eG0yJmFzaW49QjAwNDlVNVpFSSZ0cnVuY2F0ZT01MDAwJmFraWQ9QUtJQUpCU1E1WkhXVlRTR0lCVUEmc2lnPUYlMkJRQXh6bkV3JTJCWFVGT2dNUyUyQmtYNGhWbERneG10U2c5ODNpJTJCalkwSzgzUSUzRCZleHA9MjAxMi0wMS0yOFQxOSUzQTMwJTNBMjFaJmF0YWc9dWtuYjAzLTIx&voteAnchorName=R21PXI2DG6SRT1.2115.Inappropriate.Reviews&voteSessionID=000-0000000-0000000"></a></nobr></span> </span> <span style="color:#CCCCCC;">|</span> <span class="tiny"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R21PXI2DG6SRT1" target="_top"></a></span></div><div style="white-space:nowrap;padding-left:-5px;padding-top:5px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R21PXI2DG6SRT1" target="_top"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/comment-sm._V192198744_.gif" width="16" alt="Comment" hspace="3" align="absmiddle" height="16" border="0"/></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R21PXI2DG6SRT1" target="_top">Comments (10)</a></div></div></div><div style="clear:both;"/> </div> <br/></div>

112 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

Solid Netbook – Some negatives, 23 Feb 2011

By 

M. Kelly (Ireland) –

  

This review is from: Samsung N145 Plus 10.1-inch netbook (Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, WLAN, Webcam, Win 7 Starter) – Black (Personal Computers)

Great netbook with a few negatives – first off it was quite apparent on first use that 1GB RAM is nowhere near enough for hassle free web browsing so I immediately upgraded the Ram to 2GB. The performance boost was amazing and I strongly recommend others to do the same – it really transformed the machine in terms of start times when opening software, minimising windows etc

In terms of battery life the “up to 10 hours” claim is just that an “up to” figure! In reality when browsing the web via a wireless connection you are VERY lucky to get 5.5 – 6 hours out of it. I don’t know where the 10 hour figure comes from but it certainly doesn’t apply in most cases.

Despite these two minor issues I am more than happy with this machine – it is very well put together and the keyboard is surprisingly usable despite its miniature nature!

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