New Netbooks - Cheap Samsung Solar Netbook
Liliputing has announced that Samsung will be launching a solar-powered netbook, the NC215S, next week. Will it use solar panels ? Yes. Will it be cheap? Well, that depends on your definition of cheap - $399 US is the expected price in the USA. It will also be available in Russia and Africa (not Europe?). If you are not too keen on a solar-powered netbook but are looking for one of the best netbooks for 2011 scroll to the bottom of the page. |
| Samsung NC215S Solar-Powered Netbook |
Samsung says the solar panel on the back of the lid will provide around 1 hour of computing time for 2 hours charging time in direct sunlight. It is fitted with a battery that can provide up to 14.5 hours of operating time, less if you use intensive graphics applications. The NC215S features an Intel Atom N570 1.66 GHz dual-core processor with integrated graphics that draws a maximum of 8.5 Watts. It also has recyclable parts.
It also offers a ”Sleep-and-Charge” USB port that charges mobile devices even if you put the netbook to sleep or turn it off. The solar panel will also provide power if the battery is depleted.
It has a 10.1″ 1024 x 600 display with a matte finish (hooray!) to reduce glare. Samsung also says it is 50% brighter than competing netbooks, so it may even be usable out in the sun.
Other specs. - 1GB of RAM, and a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor.
So if you are planning going for a walk or if you just like the idea of free electricity then this new Samsung is certainly worth a look.
Things to bear in mind - this solar-powered netbook is designed to run using the battery, the solar panels act as a solar charger to recharge the battery not for actually using the netbook. Apparently you can also charge other stuff using the solar panels on the netbook.
Looking for the best netbook for 2011 ?
If you are on a budget or just don't want to spend too much on a netbook that you only intend to use occasionally then wesuggest the minimum required for a Netbook in 2011 is an Intel Atom Single-core N455 Processor, 1GB DDR3 RAM at least, a 160GB hard drive, Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics, 8 hours of battery life and Windows 7 Starter. Those are the basics and may well be enough but if you intend doing multimedia work and gaming applications then you need something a bit more powerful such as an 11.6 or 12.1 display, higher screen resolutions, Dual-core processor and better graphics hardware, such as Nvidia’s Ion GPU.
The Asus Eee PC 1001PXD is one such netbook for around $230 which you can see by clicking on the image on the left.
