Samsung N145P Review – a brilliant on-the-go netbook

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I recently decided that it was about time that I invested in some form of portable computing. I’ve been wanting a netbook for some time, but I was never sure what to get as I wanted a good balance of strong battery life and solid performance.

Last weekend I found the answer. Whilst browsing through various retail stores, I came across the Samsung N145P. I liked the look of the specs (see below) and the design so I took it home and gave it a spin.

The specs of the machine are:

  • 1.66Ghz Atom N450 with Hyperthreading
  • 1GB DDR2 (800mhz) RAM
  • Intel GMA 3150 graphics
  • 250GB hard drive
  • 3x USB 2.0
  • 6 cell 4400mAH battery
  • Windows 7 Starter

I have to say, I’m seriously impressed with the machine. I have made a couple of modifications to it – admittedly – such as replacing Windows 7 Starter with Home Premium and moving it from 1GB RAM to 2GB RAM (which made one hell of an improvement).

The battery life is brilliant. Before I upgraded the RAM, it would go for more-or-less 9 hours on a single charge. I’ve upgraded the RAM now which seems to have hampered battery life a little, but I’m still getting 8-8.5 hours of light use which is more than enough for my daily needs.

The Atom processor is more powerful than I thought it would be, booting up a clean Windows 7 installation within 30 seconds. The 1GB RAM was definitely limiting factor – making the system very jumpy if more than one application was open. I’m really not sure how anyone can sell a Windows 7 machine with 1GB RAM. Anyhow, sticking a 2GB chip in the back made no end of improvement. My system can now happily deal with 4 or 5 applications open at the same time.

The system also comes with a built-in webcam and microphone which perform well in Skype and Windows Live Messenger calls. The built in stereo speakers (1.5W each) cope will with music; a little lack of bass to be honest – but for a netbook you would never expect 5-star sound. Plugging in a decent set of headphones will solve the problem well.

The 250GB hard drive is speedy and seems to perform well in read-write tests. You also get a 4-in-1 card reader so there’s room for flash expansion if you want, but the cards don’t slot in properly so be careful.

The machine itself is very quiet. The only thing you can hear in the hard drive, but even that is very quiet. The built-in cooling fan is more-or-less silent, even at full pelt. In terms of comfort to use – I’m very impressed too, as the device does not get very warm after consistent use. The keyboard is a joy to use, with decent feedback and keys that aren’t too springy.

Overall – as you can probably tell – I’m extremely impressed. For a mid-range netbook, it does cope very well with some of my demanding software. If you’re looking for a machine to deal with your office work and light entertainment on the go – this is your netbook!

Test Drive Unlimited 2 launch fails miserably – Atari’s reputation on the line

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Whilst Atari thought they had the launch of the eagerly awaited Test Drive Unlimited 2 safely in the bag, sadly they obviously didn’t prepare well enough.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 (the successor of the very popular TDU1 released in 2006) was launched earlier this week around the world. However, Atari is clearly suffering from regular server problems which are upsetting the gaming community.

All platforms (PC, Xbox 360 and PC) are currently suffering from regular server downtimes which make the game unplayable – as it relies so heavily on the internet to function.

The TDU twitter feed is currently being inundated with tweets from frustrated users – and the official forum is taking quite a battering too!

I think Atari owes a lot of frustrated users one hell of an apology!

Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) Service Pack 1 will go public on Feb 22nd

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It has been confirmed by Microsoft that on February 22nd, 2011, the new service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will go live.

The service pack has been in testing for several months, but Microsoft has previously said that it won’t really bring any new functionality (for Windows 7 at least). Microsoft admitted that the service pack is merely a combination of various updates that have already been released.

“For Windows 7, SP1 will help keep your PCs well supported by delivering ongoing updates, many of which have been made previously available through Windows Update.” – Windows Blog

Windows Server 2008 R2 users will see more fixes in the service pack and a couple of new features.

If you’re a Technet or MSDN subscriber, you can grab the update from February 16th.

Are you ready for IPv6?

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Well, now it’s official that the final few IPv4 blocks have been allocated, it poses the question are you ready for IPv6?

In a very short time, the world will be forced to move onto the new standard for IP address allocation – called IPv6. If you aren’t familiar with the IP versions, bear the following in mind.

IPv4 has the capability of issuing 4,294,967,296 addresses – which (believe it or not) has almost been exhausted. We can calculate this because IPv4 is 32-bit, meaning that we can calculate the number of IP addresses available by doing 232. The new standard, IPv6, is 128-bit. This means that IPv6 can issue approximately 3.4×1038 addresses – a very large amount of addresses.

I recently came across a very handy website that will test your connection (and your web browser) to check if you’re ready for IPv6. Some ISPs are already issuing IPv6 addresses (most aren’t, however). If you aren’t already on an IPv6 address, you probably won’t be able to connect to one as (theoretically) you can’t connect an IPv4 address to an IPv6 address.

If you want to check whether your connection is ready, try this website. It will run several tests and conclude whether you can communicate with IPv6 yet or not.

On June 8th 2011, an IPv6 world trial will run. This will mean that large websites (such as Facebook) will trial running on an IPv6 platform for 24 hours. The idea is that the world will get a general idea as to how easy the switchover will be as it becomes closer and closer.

giffgaff launches all new £25 goodybag

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This was news some time ago – I know – but I’ve been really behind on GEEK! posts lately and wanted to catch up a bit.

giffgaff, O2’s increasingly popular MVNO, has recently extended it’s range of “goodybags” available to customers to add a brand new £25 goodybag.

The network initially introduced an all-inclusive £30 goodybag with unlimited minutes, calls and texts. However, it soon became clear that this idea was a long way from profitable and was removed from the site a few months after launch.

However, giffgaff has replaced the £30 goodybag with a very competitive alternative. For £25, you get 1500 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data (which truly is unlimited providing your use of it is legitimate). That may not be unlimited, but I happen to that the offer is a decent alternative that will suit many.

This is in addition to the other goodybags giffgaff offer – ranging from £5 for unlimited texts all the way up to £25.