The Samsung N140 – Samsung Gives Up The Battery Life Crown

Remember the European Samsung promo video that had us all confused and amused for a few days. Well, the netbook featured alongside the heartbroken Maria was an N140, if you recall. And now it has finally made its way across the pond. The Samsung N140 is the newest update and replacement for the NC10 — still one of our favorite netbooks. Though the chassis is a bit different, the keyboard we love and the matte screen we prefer remains. And in this update we also get the larger touchpad than on the N110 and the NC10 Special Edition (seen in the photos). Inside there’s a faster processor, an update to Windows 7, and SRS Sound for some of the best audio we’ve heard on a netbook recently. We like everything about the N140… except the battery life. I realize how strange it is for us to be disappointed in a netbook that lasts over 6 hours. After all, that’s plenty of time for most mainstream users, and means the netbook can probably last all day if used intermittently. But it’s hard to ignore that other 6-cell netbooks left 6.5 hours in the dust long ago, and 7, 8, even 9+ hours is par for the course on good netbooks. Even the N110, the first update to the N series, lasted an hour longer. That’s because Samsung gave the N110 a 5,900 mAh capacity battery while the N140 has the same battery the NC10 did: 5,200 mAh. Given that battery life is pretty important to netbook shoppers, and that the Toshiba NB205 costs about the same amount, it baffles us why Samsung went with this battery. Maybe they’ll offer a higher capacity config down the line. Beyond that (admittedly minor) issue, the N140 delivers on everything else. We’re particularly fond of the price, which is currently below the $399 MSRP at Amazon and some other sellers. Click here to read our full review for performance scores and more. If you’re interested in just how easily the N140 fits into your life (if you live the life of a model in Barcelona) check out the video below.