In additional to the fairly generic N110 Netbook, Samsung also offers a slightly tweaked version for those who find Netbook keyboards too small and Netbook speakers too wimpy. The Samsung N120 takes the N110′s basic component sent and jams in a keyboard of the sort we’d normally find on a larger 12-inch laptop, along with a 2.1-speaker sound system, that offers at least a modest amount of thump (if you keep your expectations realistic).

Both the N110 and N120 models are $469, which puts them $100-$120 above comparably equipped systems from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and others. While we thought that was too hefty a premium for the N110, the N120′s keyboard and speakers at least provide a few points of differentiation from the rest of the Intel Atom/160GB HDD/1GB RAM crowd. If it was $399, we’d heartily recommend it; as-is, it’s worth a serious look if you crave a more traditional keyboard experience from your Netbook.

The Samsung N120 is about half an inch wider than the N110 model, but almost identical in depth and height. This gives the system a slightly bigger footprint than most Netbooks, closer in size to a slim 12-inch ultraportable. We much prefer the matte black finish on the N120 to the glossy design of the N110, which was especially prone to fingerprints and smudges.

The 10.1-inch LCD screen has a 1,024×600-pixel native resolution, which is standard for Netbooks. That’s generally fine for most Web surfing, but long vertical pages and Word documents can require a lot of scrolling to read.

Like the Samsung N110, this model lacks the ExpressCard readers found on several other Netbooks in this price range, but we were pleased to see three USB ports–many Netbooks have only two–as well as Bluetooth.