Samsung N120 - Now Available

Cool, thanks for checking - makes me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one running some fringe Czech wireless driver

 

I actually did experience that until I rebooted. After reboot, things are back to normal.

 

FWIW, I tried it more than once just to confirm that it really was the problem.

 

I've loaded it both on clean installs of XP and Win 7, I've not experienced any problems with it!

 

Same here, no problems..just remember to reboot after update. There's a LAN driver update today as well.

 

From Windows update? The LAN driver on Samsung's support web site is date 3/26/09, which is the original drivers.

 

Yes, looks like it's 10.67.9.3, dated 4/9/09..from the Samsung Update utility. I'm surprised this thing comes with some pretty useful tools, usually I just uninstall all the garbage that comes preloaded.

 

A reboot definitely did not fix it for me.

 

So I've still been looking into which netbook to get and I still cant quite figure it out.

I want something that can be taken with me easily, to school for example, and since I'm doing tourism it could come in handy to take the thing elsewhere as well. This is why I'm going for netbook over a notebook.

Now I really like the Samsung netbooks, have seen a few in stores but I find it hard to really understand what the differences are. Playing movies and music is definitely something I want to be able to do other than working with office and web-browsing, thats why I thought the N120 would be a good choice due to the new speakers + improved battery life.
However I read on Cnet Uk's review that the screen is actually worse than the NC10's (due to it being glossy) and that the speakers aren't all that great either. "...it's slightly louder than most netbooks -- but there's no real bass to speak of"


so anyone have any ideas to help me out?

 

Well, you're in a N120 forum, so you're probably gonna get a lot of recommendations to get an N120. Yes, the screen is glossy, but it's not really bothersome, and far less reflective than other glossy screens out there. I don't find it to be a problem unless in extremely bright light, and then you just crank the brightness all the way up and it's fine.

As far as the speakers go, it won't replace your high fidelity sound system in the living room, but it's definitely an improvement over other netbooks. It's pretty good for music and movies, skype, etc.

The bigger keyboard is appreciated by me, and I really like that the casing is matte textured, otherwise my oily hands would make it disgusting looking fast. The battery does seem to last forever, although I think the latest is the n110 has even better battery, I just don't like the glossy casing and red stripe it has along the sides. Anyways..good luck. Hope that helps.

 

Are there any free programs to run the camera that are better than the built-in "YouCam"?

 

I wonder if somehow the MagicKBD app got messed up. Maybe try downloading it and re-installing?

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/..._cd=NP-N120-KA02US&menu=download&menu2=detail

 

I am running the XP that came with the n120, so do I want the 32bit or 64? From - http://www.atheros.cz/ Also, I noticed mine was disabled....I enabled it and havent had any issues...how was I connected wirelessly before?

 

I have just taken delivery of my N120 - loving it!

I have the same issue with Update Plus. Reinstalled and still the same

Sammy will not reboot or shut down

Cheers
Stef

 

Ahh now we are beginning to shed some light on this issue. I have never used the update plus myself. I wonder if Stereodude used it to download his updates. I always go directly to the download web site and get my updates and install from there.

 

Well that's pretty odd - I've used the Samsung Update Plus utility twice now and haven't had any problems. Once for easy display manager, and once for the lan driver. I wonder what makes it wonky for some and not for others?

 

Can anyone tell me how does games look like on N120. Of course I'm not thinking about games like Crisis. Rather all the older games I've never had time to finish. Did you tried run emulators on it?

I hope resolution is not a big problem.

 

I received my N120 back from service today (I had a grinding noise start up the second day I had it) and I'm planning on installing Windows 7 RC right away. I've seen several posts regarding drivers and I'm curious if anyone has a quick list of the items they had to "tune" after installing Win 7? Also, did you have to use several sources for drivers or is DriverMax a one stop shop like it advertises? I'm going cross eyed trying to sift through every post to figure out what I'm in store for with this upgrade Any input is appreciated.

 

See this thread about games on the NC10.

The N120 is essentially the same internal hardware.

John

 

Raving review on the NC120 by PC Mag:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346730,00.asp

Edit: link corrected.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. But the correct link is:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346730,00.asp

 

Ok, so I've installed W7 and so far everything's running without a glitch. Those who've installed it, did you all install the "RC" version that, I think, expires in March 2010 (As some of you know, I don't read user's "Terms & Conditions"). Or is there another 'more permanent' version out there?

 

I've got the RC version from the Microsoft website with the March 2010 Expiration. From what I've experienced so far, it's a great operating system and I'll be happy to make it permanent when the day comes.

 

Since loading Windows 7 I haven't been able to connect to a wireless network. I SEE the networks and I try to connect after supplying the correct passwords but then I get "limited or no connectivity". Same experience at home and at work. I ran DriverMax and the suggested driver was Atheros AR5007EG version 7.6.1.210 so that's what I loaded. Not working so I tried 7.6.1.244 but it was rejected as not being compatible with the platform I'm running. It seems to be the XP version on a few websites and I couldn't find one that referenced Vista other than 7.6.0.154 on Atheros.cz.

Any ideas? Maybe I've got the configuration wrong somewhere in my connection settings.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the reiew from pcmag - there they say that volume is noticeably better than most other netbooks, which is a definite plus as, again, one of my intentions would be to play music + video. So it seems like I'll be getting an N120 soon then.

 

Thanks to all for the heads up on the potential issues related to updating the Samsung Display Manager software. I did not want to take a chance with the previuosly described side effects that some users have reported afted installing this update. I created a resore point using XP restore software, and then tried installing the update from Samsung's website. I rebooted after the update installed, as as some users have reported I lost the use of all the Fn shifted blue keys (volume, screen brightness, antenna off/on etc...) I then restored to the previously created point and all is well.

My question is: by not installing the latest Display Manager update, what am I missing out on? Everything seems to be working fine with the current version of Display Manager.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions on this forum. I REALLY love this machine, and am very glad I found this group who are very knowledgeable and helpful.

 

UPDATE: I spent a couple of hours yesterday trying out drivers found on x-drivers.com and found a winner. Atheros 7.6.1.162 works like a charm. I'm connecting to both home and work wireless networks with no issues.

 

Hope someone can help. I tried installing Windows XP Pro on this system - removing the pre-installed version that Samsung had on it. During the start of the XP installation, the system blue screens and installation can not continue. The only device I have connected to it at that time is an external DVD drive. Any one experience this also?

 

What version of XP? Only the very latest (if any) includes the SATA drivers needed to access the HDD.

Google will find you advice on what to do. eg this.

John

 

What does everyone think...does the 2 gb RAM upgrade improve performance enough?

I have already installed some programs and notice running itunes & firefox sometime causes a lag. Would I still be able to upgrade? Sorry if that is a newb question, not too much on computer technical knowledge.

Thanks

 

We've had a lot of discussions on 1 vs. 2GB in the NC10 thread.

My opinion: XP runs fine with 1 GB. The applications you are using probably don't need more. You can check it by pressing ctrl-alt-del.

Upgrading to 2GB will not make your XP run faster unless your applications need it. Image or videoediting are examples that often need more memory.

Try to find out what the bottleneck in your system is, it may be the CPU or memory or harddrive. And make sure your N120 is running in max performance profile and speed mode.

 

The only time you will really notice much with a 2gb upgrade is if you use multiple applications at the same time. I have noticed when doing this rather than having it cache to the hard drive it actually uses the physical memory thereby making the machine a bit more responsive. The Atom processor is not a barn burner to begin with so adding more memory won't overall really be that noticeable.

 

Thanks for the response on the installation of XP. I have the XP SP3 disc and run into the blue screen issue on install. I changed options in the bios to what is recommended via a google search and still no luck. Anyone run into this? Windows 7 installs and runs fine. XP, though blue screen about 2 mins into the install. thanks

 

Just curious if anyone has purchased an external DVD/CD drive? If so, will the NC120 run one of the drives that does not require external power?

 

I have not tested this with the N120, but it should not be any problem for any modern notebook:
LG GSA-E50L 8x DVD±RW DL USB 2.0 Slim External Drive w/LightScribe & Software (Black/Silver)
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?In..._medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=GSA-E50L-R

 

I've used that model with both the NC10 and NC20.

However, I expect that the latest slim external burners from other companies (eg Liteon or Samsung) would also work fine since they no longer include external PSUs.

John

 

Yes it works just fine, I've got a liteon model and I've backed up using the Samsung Recovery III software, plus I have also installed Windows 7, along with installing various software like MS Office 2007 Student Teacher version.

 

What option in the BIOS were you changing?

I dropped a 500GB blank drive into my N120, and used an external USB optical drive to install XP Home SP3 OEM without any changing anything in the BIOS. :confused2:

 

is there a way to download windows 7 onto the n120 without an external dvd drive? going by google it seems that's the only option i'm being given.

edit: also my fn button doesn't seem to be letting me control any of the F keys and i believe the screen could be a lot brighter.

 

I've heard people installing Windows 7 from USB stick. I don't know how they exactly did it.

 

going to try and go that route.

also would running the battery out on this completely once or twice extend battery power/life? i've heard this somewhere but it's not something i've really done when buying a new unit.

also i didn't realize this would come with two separate drives. is there a way to combine the two? is everyone's same size? 71GB on C, 72 on D?

i would like to get it as bright as possible and thoght i read something about a backlight? i have the brightness all the way up, but there seems to be something of a purplish tint to the screen compared to my fullsize laptop. is that just asking too much of the screen or can this be taken care of somehow?

also where are the touchpad options?

 

That will not help. Lithium-Ion batteries will last longer (more cycles) if you don't deep cycle them (run them down to 0%). Ideally you should charge them as often as possible. You will also get more cycles out of them if you don't charge them to 100% as well. The N120 has an option to limit the charge to 80%.

Obviously if you're trying to get the longest possible run time you will need to charge the battery to 100% and run it down until it turns off. However, as I mentioned earlier that is not good for the battery in terms of the cycle life.

 

There is a good reason for this: If you restore the operating system from the recovery partition it will wipe the entire C:, along with all your user files, if that's where they are.

I never keep my own files in the same partition as the operating system.

John

 

where do i limit the charge to 80%? i'm not going to need to this too much on its own. an outlet should always be pretty near by. would i do a charge limit if it's plugged in about 85% of the time as well?

 

i actually turn my system restore off. considering i back up every so often on an external HD, i like having the extra space. what's the best way to get as much space as possible? i'd like to trim as much fat as i can here. if there's a fast way to leave me with not much else but just the OS sans add-ons i'd be interested.

 

I don't recalling seeing this option anywhere. Samsung battery manager and the BIOS would be the places to look. IIRC, the battery doesn't recharge until the charge level drops below ?96%?.

There should have been an option to manually select the partition sizes on initial boot. I think you will now need to use a partition manager to resize the partitions without data loss. Otherwise it is a case of putting some stuff on C: and some on D:. The total space is the same.

John

 

According to the Netbook Choice review, you need to access the 'Battery Life Extender Mode’. See here for more details.

You need to go to the Start Menu. Click on Samsung and then on 'Battery Life Extender'.

 

I don't think that's the reason since they have placed the My documents folder on the C drive, and not on the D drive, and the D partition is not a larger partition with a small C partition.

Personally, I don't see any value to this. IMHO, the two most likely data loss scenarios are notebook/netbook theft and HD failure. Backing up the HD to a hidden partition on the HD like Samsung's utility does, or keeping your data on a separate partition do not protect against these failures.

When I reinstalled my N120 on a 500GB drive I made the C drive a 25GB partition, and left the rest for whatever I might temporarily put on it like music, videos, etc. I back up the C partition to an external drive that I leave at home.

 

I have read the entire thread, nearly 300 posts, and saw some discussion about the battery life here and there, but really didn't see a definitive number.

I've been checking reviews, the official site, this forum, other places what I've found is estimate on battery life of 5, 6 7.5 8, 8.5 10.5 hours.

I'd really like to know what is real and what the conditions are. For instance, if I playback a movie from the hard drive how long will I get (the "amuse a small child on a long plane ride" mode)? How about if I surf using wireless (the "yes I can surf from my home computer but I have cabin fever" mode)? How long if I turn off wireless and dim the screen and run a (relatively) simple application (the "I'm writing the next Harry Potter" mode)?

And another question. I understand that there is a 5900 battery in the N110, I assume that model will last longer, is that true (meaning, has anyone tested it)?

Can the battery from the N110 fit in the N120? I believe someone spoke of swapping batteries with some other model, which gives me hope. Where can I find a larger-spec'd battery? Or perhaps a lighter one (the "I want a spare for just in case but will use it only after running down the big one so I want something lighter" battery).

Finally (phew), what about running Linux on this? Or a BSD? I'm completely uninterested in Windows and want to have all the standard Unix tools with me (I'm a Unix sysadmin).

By the way, a lot of my questions were answered in this thread already. *Thanks*

 

You can get a even larger 3rd party generic 9 cell battery online if you're concerned with maximum battery life.