Power management software
I've seen some awful power management software in various laptops over time, especially from smaller brands. Fortunately, Samsung's Battery Manager program doesn't fall into that category. The interface is simple and clear, and the operation of the program via hotkeys is quick and smooth, not clunky. The software integrates well with Windows XP's power schemes, and it offers eight increments of display brightness, enough to placate my control-freak impulses. The software can drop the display to a low brightness level after a configurable period of inactivity, too, which conserves battery life without annoying.

Battery Manager offers three power schemes, each of which is configurable. By default, in the "normal" and "speed" modes, the Nano peaks at 1.5GHz and idles at 800MHz. In the "max battery" mode, the CPU frequency is capped at 800MHz, but this mode must be invoked manually via a hotkey or the UI. The NC20 doesn't automatically switch into this performance-restricted mode when unplugged from a wall socket—unlike a certain netbook against which we might be comparing it. Ahem.

Under the hood

The underbelly of the NC20 isn't much to look at, but it does have a few notable features. Near the bottom edge of the unit, to the right, is the SD card reader slot. Just north of it, on the right and left, are the speakers.

A single piece of plastic covers the 2.5" drive bay and the NC20's lone SO-DIMM slot. Although it ships with a single 1GB SO-DIMM and is listed at a max of 1GB in Samsung's specifications, the NC20 had no trouble recognizing a 2GB SO-DIMM and making use of it. Given the price of DDR2 memory these days, I'd order a 2GB module as a matter of course with any NC20 purchase.

Here's a closer look at our review unit's 5200 mAh battery. As I've noted, U.S. versions of the NC20 have a 5900 mAh battery, instead.

The NC20's thermals are remarkably tame, a tribute to both the Via Nano platform's low-power operation and Samsung's engineering efforts for the NC20's cooling. The surface of the NC20 rarely feels more than slightly warm to the touch, if that, and the operation of the side-vented internal blower is barely audible most of the time.

We measured the temperatures above after a fairly typical web surfing session. For what it's worth, pointing our IR thermometer at the mouth of the exhaust vent on the NC20 yielded a reading of 104° F.