Samsung NC110 review

What do you do when you want to catch the eye of people torn between the growing domination of tablets such as the Apple iPad 2 or Motorola Xoom and a much more user-friendly, but far less trendy, netbook? You bring out a netbook that's so cheap you can't possibly pass it by – and that's exactly what Samsung has done with its NC110.

It's a real foot in the door of the market at £236 – cheaper than the likes of the Asus Eee PC 1018P, the Packard Bell Dot SE or even the Acer Aspire One 522. In fact, it's the cheapest netbook around.

But does that price mean it's a bag of bolts? Actually no, not in the slightest. One of the most surprising things about the Samsung NC110 is that it's been superbly put together and the materials are of a high grade.

You honestly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this – a PC from the bottom of Samsung's range – and one of its premium laptops, such as the Samsung SF310. It's an amazing feat, then, that the NC110 is also ultra slim, light and nicely designed, with a thoughtful location of buttons and ports, as well as a choice of different colours for the base and lid.

The keyboard on the Samsung NC110 is also excellent quality, with nicely spaced keys that react to inputs with just the right amount of sensitivity, and the same goes for the touchpad – it feels absolutely spot on.