Red Fox Wizbook N1020i | Reviews | Techie.com.ph
6:01 PM | Friday | 30 July 2010

The fiercer Red Fox Wizbook N1020i packs a more serious bite compared to its older sibling. But will its new set of teeth be enough to strike fear into the hearts of its more famous foes?

Body and exterior

On the outside, the N1020i looks like a poor man's Asus Lamborghini . There are no fancy curves or angles, nor does it have a high class raging bull badge. But it does feel solid and strong like a Sony PSP.

The keyboard is similar to the one found in the 1020i and the Acer Aspire One . It feels small yet is surprisingly comfy – good enough for extensive surfing sessions. We especially love the large "enter" key that's quickly becoming a rarity nowadays, even for desktop keyboards. However, we don't recommend the N1020i for typing reports or full-blown theses unless you hate your wrists. We also don't like the fact that an inserted SD card sticks out like an unsightly zit.

While build-quality is generally ok and we've never really experienced problems with Red Fox's past offerings, we have to report that the demo unit we used had some issues with the LCD screen. Every time we so much as nudged or rocked the body, two small ripples appear on the lower right side of the screen. It doesn't affect the performance or the image quality per se, but it is unnerving – enough to warrant some concerns about build quality.

OS

The N1020i uses a Linux variant called Linpus , which is basically a kid-friendly OS that's full of bright colors and cool 3D effects. One look and you'll know this isn't geared to take on any of its WinXP-powered contemporaries when it comes to versatility, but it is  faithful to the netbook credo of getting users onto the web. You'll still be able to crucial things with the set of pre-installed apps: type documents, make presentations, and Facebook like crazy.

We can't really ask for a lot from the N1020i and its software, but we do find it hard to believe that a China-made, locally-branded netbook with a free OS is selling for over P20,000. There are a bunch of other models out there (from more well-known brands, no less) that are cheaper and run on Windows XP Home Edition.

Unless you're just after the cool color motif, there are other choices that offer just as much for less.

Click here to see the Red Fox Wizbook N1020i in our Buyer's Guide.