Who says netbooks all look alike? Samsung’s N310 certainly doesn’t, thanks to the handiwork of Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.
Samsung has struck out from the constraints of me-too netbook design with its latest local release.
The N310 may have the same internals as just about every other netbook on the shelves – Intel’s Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 10.1 inch screen – but the outside is a very different story.
The Korean company signed up Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to give the chassis a unique makeover. The result is an arresting combination of restrained minimalism and a playful, almost cartoon-like aesthetic.
The screen sports the same elegant frameless edge-to-edge glass design and Mac-like ‘chiclet’ keyboard that’s lately become de rigeur for notebooks.
The keyboard surface is lightly textured, while the exterior finish is made from a rubberised (although not exactly ruggedised) material with rounded edges. In addition to chic black the N310 ships in two shades of blue – one a dusky sky blue, the other an odd almost bubblegum shade – although we won’t see the burnt orange version available overseas.
Storage options span from 80GB and 160GB hard drives to a 16GB solid state drive. The factory-fitted four cell 4400mAh battery is rated to five hours, Samsung says, with 11 hours claimed for the optional six cell 8850mAh slab. Pricing starts at $799.
If you’re interested in some background on Fukasawa-san, there’s an interesting if somewhat dated interview of him at
Metropolis Magazine.