Having read my review of the Samsung N210, site reader Steve Mann, aka Scallywag went out and bought the Samsung N220, the version with the colored lid. He then commented some interesting information about his purchase on the site.
It turns out that the UK version of the N220 model has more than just a fancy colored lid, it also comes with an extra sub woofer for improved sound, and more importantly the Broadcom Crystal HD video decoder card, giving the Samsung N220 1080p HD playback support!
This is very interesting (and some what confusing), as absolutely nowhere on the Samsung UK site, or anywhere for that matter, does it mention “HD Playback” or the Crystal HD card at all. And even stranger, I have previously seen disassembly photos of the German version of the N220 where it didn’t feature the card.
Samsung N220 HD Playback
Steve has been kind enough to send over some photos of his Samsung N220 bearing the “HD Playback” sticker, a photo of the base with the sub woofer, and the Crystal HD card shown in the device manager.
So do all the Samsung N220′s in the UK have the Broadcom HD card?, we assume so. It appears that this might be a UK exclusive.
Although the N220 is available from many places in the UK, including Amazon, Steve tells me he bought his from Comet.
Update: I have heard back from Broadcom directly about this. They said that the NP-N220-JMD1UK, and NP-N220-JMD2UK models have the BCM70015 (Crystal HD) integrated on the motherboard. This is only sold in the UK, but they also have an Australian model.
I did a search an Amazon UK for both model numbers and it returns results for the N220, so it’s safe to conclude that all Samsung N220′s in the UK feature the Broadcom Crystal HD acceleration.
March 6th, 2010 at 12:25 am
Any word on performance, or sites that ship this to locations outside of the UK?
March 10th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
General performance should be the same as in the N210. Checkout my review. But with the added ability to playback 1080p HD videos.
You can try Amazon UK (linked above), but I’m not sure if they ship outside of the UK.
March 11th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Hi!
I’m also getting more and more interested in this little computer. It began with me looking for a netbook standing up to this criteria’s:
* Inbuilt 3G
* Inbuilt SDHC
* Great battery
* Bluetooth
And with 2 Gb RAM as a bit of a bonus criteria.
This shown to be tough to find. Quite early I looked at Samsung N210 and N220, and liked it a lot, although the lack of 3G as a problem.
Then suddenly I felt on a Youtube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSgTQEATMzQ
At 6:10-6:35, they are showing that the computer has a space for SIM card, hidden behind the battery, and the guy is telling that Samsung is planned to release a 3G version of N220.
Extremely interesting. That would solve it all for me, except the 2 Gb RAM. But that could be solved by my self, off course.
Now I’ve tried Samsung Sweden to give me some information about this, but yet without any success. Maybe not surprising since the companies often is reluctant to give out that kind of information, but yet very frustrating.
I’ve also found that Samsung themselves is giving some information about the possibility of configuration N220 with 3G:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-computers/n-series/NP-N220-JA01UK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=
http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/computer-peripherals/notebook/others/NP-N220-JA01HK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail
Is there anyone out there having any information about this, or any thoughts about how long after the regular release of such a model as N220, it’s reasonable to think that a 3G model could be released?
Feel free to e-mail me at: hell-man@hell-man.se
Thanks on advance!
/Linus Hellman