The Viewsonic VNB101 is the first of two netbooks released by the company better known for its screens than its computers. The Viewsonic VNB101 has enters a crowded market with an under-stated design with a few neat touches that make it well worth checking out. Find out how we got on in our Viewsonic VNB101 review…
The Viewsonic VNB101 is the first of two netbooks from the company, with the Viewsonic VNB100 being a more entry-level model. Both have the same 10.1-inch (1024 x 600-pixel) screen and share a neat body weight of 1.1kg.
Check out our ViewSonic VNB101 Hands-on
The chassis is made from black plastic that has a high-gloss finish, so is highly prone to finger marks. The keyboard and touchpad have a matt finish The keys are of a good size and sit quite proud on the device. They don’t have the smoothest action, we prefer the Samsung N110, but it’s a comfortable keyboard to use.
The mouse buttons and touchpad are less impressive, proving rather sluggish and awkwarrd to use. Overall, the build quality of the Viewsonic VNB101 is reasonable but there are better built netbooks on the market.
Where the Viewsonic VNB101 excels is with its screen, which as you would expect from Viewsonic is top-notch. There is a plastic layer in front of the screen itself that spans from side-to-side, so there is no panel lip to gather dust and grime. We found it also helps restrict the viewing-angle, which may be important if you’re trying to work on a train, for example.
The Viewsonic VNB101 is the high-end model by virtue of the Intel Atom N280 processor, which runs at 1.66GHz. It is backed by 1024MB of memory, with an option to upgrade to 2048MB, and there is also the standard 160GB hard drive. Booting up the Viewsonic VNB101 you’ll find this is quite a load netbook, with the fan running for long periods, even when the machine is ideal.
It runs Windows XP but Viewsonic has added a Linpus Linux pre-load to the machine, so when you switch it on instead of booting straight into Windows you’ll be offered a menu screen that includes such options as Internet, IM, Skype. This is a nice touch and means you can connect to the internet via the built in Wi-Fi connection without having to load Windows.
Verdict
The Viewsonic VNB101 has one of the best screens on the market and the use of a Linux kernel adds variety to the base specification. However, there is little here to draw most users away from the bigger netbook names, especially as it is within the same price bracket.
Best features
Great screen
Linpus Linux kernel
Decent features
Not so good
Loud fan noise
Poor touchpad
Poor battery life
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Closest rivals
Samsung N110
This fresh update of the award winning NC10 brings with it a better screen and keyboard but still has the same knockout battery life
Dell Inspiron Mini 10
The stylish design, bright screen and good-sized keyboard make this a great all-rounder at an affordable price
Acer AOD150-1B Blue
This may not be the freshest netbook design around but the keyboard is comfortable, the battery life impressive and the specification great value for the price
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