I added a USB-CD/DVD drive and a USB-mouse (although it has built-in Bluetooth), and these work great. When purchasing I thought about upgrading the memory to 2GB but decided to wait and see. Now that I have it, I see no need for this currently (but it's nice to have the option for the future).
My NC20 is currently sitting on my kitchen table, running Microsoft Office just fine and accessing my emails and the internet like a champ! If you're looking for a secondary computer, laptop or netbook for doing simple tasks and travel like I was, I would highly recommend the NC20.
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 Terrific Netbook |
| Review Date: July 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: R. Seigel, MD |
I have now ordered and tested six different netbooks (via my university). This includes two different ASUS models (1002HA,1002H) the MSI Wind, the HP Mini, the Samsung NC10, and, last, the NC20. All have delivered fine performance and various members of my department are very attached to each. For me, however, the NC20 is my clear favorite and the one I will be using from now on.
The reason is simple; the extra size of the screen and the keyboard makes the NC20 much more usable to me than the others. Given my aging eyes, that is hardly surprising. What was surprising to me was that the extra size did not make the NC20 any more difficult to travel with than the others, nor was there any appreciable difference in performance or battery life.
I just came back from a week-long research/conference trip and used the NC20 every day and on a 4+ hour plane trip. I barely used 50% of the battery power on the flight (WiFi off) and found the screen and keyboard to be delightful. I also had zero issues running MS Office 2003 with some moderately large data sets and everything ran just fine.
So, as much as I like my previous netbooks, this is the one that I will be carrying with me from now on. |
A great option
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| Review Date: June 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Rodolfo Arias, Central America |
A 10.1 inches monitor was definitely something too small for my eyes, now I am 53... and for a 12.1 monitors you had to choose one of those expensive notebooks. But this Samsung NC20 appeared and I simply went for it without waiting for other customer reviews. I read some reviews on other sites, all of them OK, and followed my daughter's advice: she has a 10.1 NC10, the pink one (perfect for a young girl) and is always telling marvelous things about her tiny netbook
Well, now I can start doing the same. It's a great computer, perfect for what it is meant to.
The chasis is solid, the system keeps cold, has long battery life (5 hours or so, I am not enough disciplined to measure it with minutes and seconds), a clear and comfortable keyboard and a silent processor/disk
Two small cons:
1. The monitor is too glossy for my taste.
2. The cover traps all your fingerprints, mercilessly.
Best regards
Rodarias |
Solid
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| Review Date: October 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: 53 yr. male/international law, Oceanside, CA, and Heidelberg, Germany |
Overall, I rate this product (NC20) as excellent for my purposes. My requirements were: 1) Portable (light weight, small size) 2. Purpose: simple, inexpensive notebook to do word processing, powerpoint presentations, and internet (email, research, skype and other communication options, shopping etc.). I do not need 500+ GB of storage, nor complex game requirement graphics and response time.
The NC20 does exactly what I want, and what I have wanted for years. I have long desired a portable 12-13 inch screen that does not cost $900+. My only question is why did it take so long for the companies to realize that the demand is high for this notebook niche. There are so many business people, like me that only need word processing and the internet without the more costly bells, whistles, and GBs. OK another question is why does it have to cost more than $400. A great machine for the above cited purposes, but cheaper cost (e.g., $400) would be fair for what you get. To charge $480 (what I paid), Samsung should have included a 2GB RAM instead of the 1GB, and 400 GB HDD instead of 160 GB. I purchased a Western Digital My Passport 500GB as a peripheral for video and photos (that stays home while traveling), but the 160 GB are more than enough for programs and work.
If you are not sure about screen size, try out the 10 inch screen versions for a couple of hours. I did this and found that 10 inch screens are too small for my eyes. My eyes are 53 years old with near-sightedness. I travel internationally often (1 week per month), and therefore do a lot of computer work on the road/in the air. This 12.1 inch screen size is great for these purposes. Both the 12.1 inch screen, and the almost full size keyboard are just right for the "keep it small and portable, but as fully practical as possible" trade-off. Any smaller on both the screen and keyboard, begins to detract from the practicality I want.
Actual weight comes out at 1.5kg (3.3 lbs.).
Of course you probably know (or should know) there is no CD/DVD drive in the NC20.
I use an external drive, downloads, and network imports to compensate.
I have used expensive Dell travel notebooks (1.7-2Kg, 12 and 13 inch screens)for 20 years, and this NC20 is just as good for my purposes (better in some respects) without the higher cost.
Final Note: Don't spend a lot of money on Microsoft office - Home and Student. I use Open Office (free download) which is very similar, works great, and creates documents that are fully compatible/interchangeable with the microsoft office program, e.g., when using other PCs.
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Samsung NC20
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| Review Date: June 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ivan Di Stefano, Los Angeles |
| I will compare to the NC10, the NC20 is bigger, heavier, less battery life but still good around 3:30 of regular use maybe more if you change the brightness on the screen settings, excellent screen resolution (1280 x 800)for 12.1" !and better/higher sound for sure. Just be aware that the left side of the laptop generate a flow of mildly hot air. Of course the screen is the main thing here and I think is worth it if you want to use the laptop to see movies or read Open Office documents. It is very easy to open and upgrade the hard drive or the memory 2GB max. The trackpad has the same size of the NC10 black special edition but bigger than the regular NC10. The keyboard is great as the all NC10. note: They changed the position of the windows icon on the keyboard. The VIA Nano performs very similar to the Intel Atom. |
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