The prototype at hand is kept in the color Diamond Black. A white alternative can already be seen on Samsung's German homepage, but isn't listed at any retailer yet. The display lid's glossy coated surface isn't continued on the interior work area or on the sub tray of the notebook. The user is therefore confronted with a rather insensitive, slightly roughened case surface, which is considerably easier to take care of. A chrome colored strip, that nestles itself narrowly and elegantly around the case sides, gives it a sophisticated touch.

The case has, as many current Samsung notebooks, a Duracase construction, which allegedly provides for an exceptional stability. In fact, the case has been manufactured to have quite a torsional stiffness and to be very strong. Even the display lid, often a minor weak point, seems very stable and leaves no doubt about its protection task. The display hinges also keep the display tight in place and only allow a slight shaking at strong base vibrations. The only small drawback of the hinge construction is that the display, also due to the weight distribution of the sub tray, can't be opened single-handedly and the maximum opening angle is somewhat restricted.

The case is elevated a bit in the rear area by the battery and bids a slightly tilted input field. The N510 has a plane stance when the battery is removed and doesn't teeter, as additional feet on its sub tray provide for stability. The case doesn't appear to be as slim as some competitor models with 30.3(h) x 289(b) x 199.5(d) mm, but is, with a weight of 1.4 kg, very light for a 11.6" netbook and therefore has good mobile case characteristics.

Aside from the usual netbook connectivity, the Samsung N510 has a HDMI connection as the most noteworthy innovation in this field. On the one side, this is needed to output image and sound contents with only one cable to an LCD TV with HDMI-in but it can be used just as good for connecting an external display (HDMI or DVI via an adapter). The first option is especially interesting for movie rendering. The N510 is supposed to render FullHD material especially good and have a big advantage to the conventional Atom competitor. But more to that in the performance test. Despite the HDMI-out, Samsung hasn't foregone on the otherwise common analog VGA-out, which bids a welcome support for older displays that only have an analog input, allowing for further use of these.

Apart from that, the connectivity doesn't differ from most netbook opponents and should be more than familiar for most potential customers with its 3x USB, LAN, cardreader, Kensington lock, audio ports, power socket, WLAN and Bluetooth. The basic distribution of the connections on the sides is netbook typical and doesn't provide for many surprises in this device, either. Only the multi-memory slot (cardreader) has been placed on the front.

Whilst basically there's nothing speaking against a lateral interface accommodation, its actual positioning isn't perfect, in our opinion. Particularly, the USB and HDMI interface placed too far front on the left can quickly lead to obstructions when peripherals are connected and even make mouse usage problematic for lefties. The same applies to the audio ports placed too far front on the right, which we would find more practical on the front, as in many other competitors. At least, this restriction isn't so big, as audio cables are generally quite flexible. In return, the other USB ports, Kensington preparation, power socket, VGA and Ethernet are well positioned. One of the three USB ports (front left, marked with a lightening sign) can also be used for charging USB devices, such as MP3 players, in a deactivated state. After activation in the bios, this worked perfectly with an iPod and cell phone in the test. However, it lead to an accordingly decreased battery capacity at the next start. The rear is, as usual, reserved for the battery and therefore hasn't got any place for interfaces.

Touchpad

The touchpad is adequately large and has a pleasant haptic with its slightly roughened surface. The good gliding traits, which allow for a precise control and support multi-touch actions, are supplemented by the well-responding touchpad key. However, you have to get used to the fact that only a "click" on the outer key area is possible, due to the single-key construction.

After a few outings into the lair of reflective displays, as seen in, for example, the NC20 and N120, Samsung has now, fortunately, again built an alternative with an unreflective surface into the N510 netbook. It seems to be a matt coating that develops a slightly grainy appearance when looking closer. There are also slight reflections to be seen in a deactivated state, but these do not come even close to the reflection intensity of known glossy displays. As soon as the backlight is turned on, the outlines disappear and there isn't an obvious difference to the usual matt displays. This anti-reflection coating is very similar to that of the Acer Travelmate 8371, which seems to represent a new generation of non-glare surfaces.

Due to the 16:9 format, the 11.6 inch HD (1366x768), SuperBright Matt LED backlit display has good prerequisites to reduce the black bars to a minimum especially at movie rendering. Aside from that, the images are supposed to be represented particularly clear, sharp and brilliant - as heralded in Samsung ads.

We established a brightness value of up to 231 cd/m² at our 9 measuring points. In comparison to the mentioned 200 cd/m² in Samsung's data sheet, the averagely achieved 202 cd/m² is a good target score. In return, the brightness distribution doesn't look quite as good. We received the lowest values of 172.3 cd/m² in the upper central area, which results in an illumination of 75% together with the other measuring points. The fairly high brightness decrease at the upper display edge is particularly striking. However, this is only seen in uni-colored or dark display contents.

Unfortunately, in the range of the contrast ratio measurement, the Samsung N510 display follows the, recently very often found, contrast-poor screen division and provides with 147:1 for a scarcely cinema or picture suitable result. Particularly the gray background in dark movie parts, that should actually be black, becomes very evident. We also couldn't see anything of the promised color brilliance. The colors appear rather pallid, with little saturation. This seems to make projects like image editing only suitable for not quite so demanding home-use. This becomes particularly noticeable in the aimed for target group, where the main point of utilization is focused on the multimedia field.

As expected, the benchmarks results don't show any major differences in the processor ratings. The N510 lines up seamlessly in the row of many seen netbook competitors and hasn't got any surprises. We achieved 486 points in the 3DMark'06 and it passed the Super Pi 32M test in 4451 seconds. So, the Samsung N510 has, like all other notebooks, enough computing power for office applications, browser, Skype, music and picture managing. As soon as processor-biased tasks are used, such as music conversion or multi-tasking, the system quickly gasps for air, though.

The N279 CPU converted our test songs via iTunes with a category-typical 4.9-fold velocity and with several open browser windows, playing iTunes music in the background, occasional breaks have to be counted with. Simple image editing steps are very well possible and are processed subjectively smooth (tested with Photoshop Elements 7.0). There are, of course, clear limits to be seen in larger image files and comprehensive filters, which overtax the system. The low system memory capacity of 1 GB, aside from the low processor performance, has an especially negative effect.

In return, the result of the graphic segment looks completely different. We could establish significant performance increase in all tests, which gave the impression of a playability of the one or other game or feasibility of the one or other CAD task. We reached 1322 in Cinebench R10 OpenGL test and 1118 points in the 3DMark'06. In fact, backed only on benchmarks, this is a performance increase factor of 5-10 (depending on the application/benchmark), if the previous standard graphic, Intel GMA950, is used for comparison. For instance, this usually achieves around 120 points in 3DMark'06.

Interface Quality

Except for the unfocused analog VGA-out, we generally established good values for the interfaces. The digital HDMI-out bids a perfect image and sound transmission, the USB ports belong to the fastest of their kind with a maximum of 30.5 MB/s and the SC/SDHC memory cards can be addressed with a maximum of 18.5 MB/s.

Movies

With high hopes, also due to the benchmark results, we are now curious how the ION netbook will score in the area of gaming and videos. First, we played videos in various formats and with various players. As promised from Nvidia, it's possible to render H.264 FullHD material (1920x800/ 1920x1056) accordingly smooth if, for instance, Cyberlink's Power DVD 8 with activated hardware acceleration (Nvidia PureVideo HD) is used. The system load was around 22% (we achieved the same result with Nero 9 (Show Time) that is not included in the scope of delivery) and shows what is possible when hardware and software work well together.
This ability isn't completely new for netbooks, as Intel's GMA500 with dxva-capable players has already achieved playing our FullHD test video smoothly (ca. 50% system load in the MSI Wind U115 Hybrid). If a player is used without graphic engine support, as in iTunes for instance, then the Samsung N510's system load increases to about 80% and studders and also results in asynchronous sound and image outputs of FullHD videos. Then again, our less resolutive H.264 test video played iTunes without restrictions.

In any case, it's important to make sure that especially the FullHD movie file and player software are compatible, as the display otherwise remains black. Our H.264 (1920x1080) movie, up-converted with Badaboom, completely refused to be played by Cyberlinks Power DVD 8. In opposition, iTunes played it, but the necessary hardware acceleration was missing, which resulted in studdering and sound errors. The 3rd player alternative, Nero 9 with Show Time, generally scored better. It also supports the hardware acceleration and could play all of our H.264 test movies smoothly. Nero 9 has to, however, be bought separately, as the software isn't included in Samsung N510's scope of delivery The Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a convincing freeware alternative, which was able to play our FullHD movies and trailers without complaint at a CPU load of around 20%, after a few start difficulties. We also tried the VLC player and Quicktime in their latest versions. A smooth rendering of high resolution movie material wasn't possible with either option.

Nvidia likes to emphasize the conversion performance of the CUDA engine, which supports converting movie material on the hardware side and therefore achieves an enormous velocity boost in opposition to CPU-supported solutions. We put it to the test with the CUDA-optimized (further support is to follow) media-converter Badaboom from Elemental to convert movie files with help from the graphic chip into H.264 format. Aside from an intuitive operating surface, it also has the advantage of supplying an attractive image quality. We used a common movie DVD, together with Samsung's external DVD drive SE-T084 (USB) to create a H.246 copy with a resolution of 427x320 (optimized for iPhone). The ION graphic managed a frame rate of 23.9 fps, which is a very appealing value. In comparison: A Mac Mini with Nvidia 9400 and 2.1 GB DDR3 RAM managed 39 fps in the same task.

In order to demand the system a bit more, we up-converted the same movie into H.264 (1920x1080), which resulted in a frame rate of 2.5 fps and taking 20 hours. Despite low CPU load, multi-tasking shouldn't even be considered, as inputs and reactions take a vast amount of time due to the utilization of other components.

System Noise

The Samsung N510 can't be described as completely silent, but the 31.4 dB(A) in idle mode is barely audible. The relaxed fan characteristic also pleases subjectively and obstructions can't be seen. The system gets a bit louder with 34.3 dB(A) under medium load, but still allows for longer working without discomfort. First, the 36.6 dB(A) under full load can get unpleasant for sensitive ears or over a longer period of time. Because this situation turns up quite late and quite a demand has to placed on the netbook up to there, this should be an exception at normal use.

Temperature

Like the system noise, the measured temperatures on the case are in an agreeably low field. After about one hour of load, a temperature of up to 42.3°C can be established, but the major part of the surface remains pleasant. The N510's hottest spot stays under the 40°C mark at lower load even after a longer use and is overall a few degrees cooler.

The Samsung N510 is a netbook which distinguishes itself from the mass already due to its good basic characteristics. The good workmanship's and case quality, the low emissions, the relatively low weight, the anti-reflective display and the good battery life count to that.

Above that, the Samsung N510 has configuration details that aren't in any way a matter of course and therefore offer a plus on value. The high resolution 11.6" WXGA display has considerably more work surface than the usual WSVGA screen. The HDMI-out makes a digital connection of external displays and TVs possible and can also take over the sound transmission. The USB port cum charging station is a nice gimmick and the added neoprene-like protection cover prevents a too fast scratching of the display.

Minor complaints, like the poor VGA-out signal quality, the not perfect port distribution, the display worthy of improvement or a RAM slot are barely significant in view of all the positive things.

The most striking feature of the N510 is, however, Nvidia's ION platform, which grants the netbook a quite potent graphic division in form of the Nvidia 9400. The right software in combination with presumably the right formats, could easily play FullHD video material or with support from the graphic chip, convert movie material. The gaming performance, going along with it, is impressive and has enough reserves for tracks like World of Warcraft or Sims3. Basically, the Samsung N510 opens considerably more comprehensive utilization possibilities than most competitors cover and could, therefore, convince those potential customers who weren't satisfied with the efficiency of netbooks till now.