Samsung N140

Samsung isn’t just rolling out brand new netbooks at CES. The company has also given some of its existing products a modest update by replacing Windows XP with Windows 7 Starter Edition. The new version of the Samsung N130 is called the N135, and the only real change is that it now runs Windows 7. It still has the same Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive as the earlier version.

The Samsung N140 doesn’t even get a name change. But it is now available with Windows 7 Starter Edition.

I got a chance to check out both models on the show floor at CES recently. You can find more pictures after the break.

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Toshiba NB205 with Windows 7 Starter

Update: As of October 22nd, many of the notebooks and netbooks listed below are now shipping.

Windows 7 won’t be available to the public until Thursday, October 22nd. But dozens of netbooks and notebooks running the operating system are now available for pre-order.

Some of the restrictions imposed on Windows XP netbooks have been lifted, so in addition to shipping with the latest version of Windows, many of the netbooks have received a spec bump.

There are also a number of more powerful 11 and 12 inch laptops with Intel CULV processors available for pre-order.

Amazon is choc full of information about upcoming laptop specifications and prices. Here are some of the thing and light laptops that popped up on Amazon over the weekend:

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I got a chance to check out the new Samsung N140 netbook at Pepcom holiday show in New York last night. Samsung’s newest netbook is due out in the US in early November and it will ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition for $399.

The company is positioning the N140 as the replacement for the Samsung NC10. So forget about the N110 and N120. Those were something else. Samsung is finally phasing out the popular NC10, which was it’s well-received first entry into the netbook market and replacing it with this model.

To be honest, the Samsung N140 has virtually identical specs to the Samsung NC10. Both have 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processors, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drives. But the new model features a redesigned case. It has a glossy lid and a matte finish on the palm rest, screen bezel, and a matte, non-glossy display. There are some metallic elements around the side of the device which are mostly cosmetic, but there’s also a bit of a raised area around the touchpad which makes it easier to detect the edges of the touch area with our finger. The keyboard is also a little bit larger than the one on the NC10.

There’s a chance Samsung may increase the specs a bit before launch, since Microsoft allows PC makers to load Windows 7 Starter Edition on netbooks with hard drives up to 250GB. But that would probably bump the price up a bit as well.

You can check out a hands-on video of the N140 with Samsung’s Jason Redmond after the break. I also snapped a few more pictures, including a couple of pictures of the 10 inch N140 next to the 11.6 inch Samsung N510 with NVIDIA ION graphics which was also on display at the trade show. Oh yeah, in other news, while I’d originally been hearing that the N510 would be due out in September or October, it looks like Samsung has decided to launch that model in early November (after Windows 7 is available) as well.

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