Samsung NC10

The plummeting pound is a worry and must tend to push price up, but other manufacturers prices aren't increasing. The Dell Mini was the same price as the NC10 when the Samsung was released and now it's £50 cheaper.

Also people only seemto be buying stuff that they consider good deals and not things that have increased in price. I think (hope?) PhilFlow's point is a good one. In a month or two there should be less of a shortage and by then perhaps more competition, so I'd hope the price will fall back relative to other netbooks.

Also £300 seems to be a psychological price barrier for netbooks. I think a lot of folk feel the same as Captain Fail.

 

The Newegg just dropped the price from $499 to $479. This is one of the netbooks I was considering, the price drop is welcome.

 

FYI,
Dixon uk is selling for 309 pound inclusive of delivery.
I got it from here (black), and as far as I know is the cheapest.
Actually, surprisingly, staple uk, is selling it cheaper total cost is 297.
good luck

 

I just ordered one from Buy.com.

Looking forward to the switch from a Dell Inspiron E1505. Just wondering, would it be an upgrade or a downgrade in my case?

My E1505's stats:
Core Duo T2400 at 1.83GHz
1GB RAM
HDD (Hitachi 60GB, 7200 RPM)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300

I'm assuming that I'll see a slightly poorer performance, but it won't be that noticeable since I don't run anything too intensive. The only programs that I use are Microsoft Office 2007 (word and excel), Irfanview, iTunes, Firefox, Thunderbird, Skype, Adobe Reader, and WMP.

 

The area where you will notice a performance difference will be in multi-tasking because the NC10 has only a single core CPU. However, this is partly offset by the hyper-threading which enables two threads to run concurrently.

John

 

PhilFlow: Thanks for your comments re color. I decided to stick with the white cus it's more important to have it to travel with than to wait for the blue. And as it turns out, I quite like the white! It is definitely more stylish.

John: Funnily enough, I've just bought a zebra hardsided suitcase and a zebra scarf! So perhaps I need to buy a zebra skin for the NC10!

1) Okay, since I've set it up over the weekend, I was downloading Spyware doctor and something hiccupped and ever since then XP takes 3 minutes to "save my settings" when sutting down. Much slower than prior to download. I have uninstalled SD but is still happening so now I'm guessing I need to re-install XP with the System Software CD?

2) Another question... on the first day of downloading software etc, I ran the battery down to 7% and it took about 3 (or more) hrs to charge it up again. Seems excessive... but maybe that's within normal range?

3) And finally... do you guys know if the NC10 battery works best if it's drained to fairly low charge and then re-charged, or is it okay to just routinely charge it every night even if it's not been used much?

Thanks!

 

I had the same problem, but I did not install any programs. Shutting off would take forever.

Someone on a dutch forum pointed me to these tweaks and it worked for me:

Start > Run, type "regedit" and press Enter.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurentControlSet\Control
"Waitokillservice" set to 200 instead of 20000.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
AutoEndTasks : 0
HungAppTimeout : 100
WaitToKillAppTimeout : 100

2) seems normal. If you turn the laptop off it will charge a bit faster.

3) In general it's recommended to recharge before 20%

 

I think all netbooks suffer from slow charging because of their tiny low-cap power bricks. I used to use my bigger Acer's brick with my AAO 6-cell and it charged faster.

 

The charging rate when the computer is on is around 22 to 23W (so the computer can handle both charging and full load power demands), so over 3 hours looks reasonable since the charge rate decreases as the battery approaches full charge. Charging might be faster when the computer is off.

The life of Lithium-Ion batteries is measured in charge cycles (typically 500) so it is best to only recharge when you think it is necessary depending on your usage pattern. The 6 or so hours run time con convert to two or more days of intermittent usage but you may not want to start a day with less than half capacity.

As Phil has already noted, we think that regular complete draining of the battery may not be good for it, but intermittent full discharge probably is OK.

John

 

Thanks much Phil... will give this a go. And thanks for batter info as well.

Caril

 

Thanks Mark... I had not thought of the brick being a limiting factor, but that makes sense.

And Thanks also John for your replies. One remaining question for all is... somewhere in the past I had heard that charging a battery when it was only slightly discharged would impair the battery's ability to hold a charge down the road (this may have been related to early cordless phones...). Hope that makes sense.

I don't remember if that applied to lithium-ion batteries or not. Is that a concern? Or is it simply 500 charges regardless of how low the battery is when you charge?

thanks again... Carol

 

It isn't a concern for lithium batteries, but has a bad effect on older nickel batteries.

As John says, lithium batteries last longest when recharged often and fully discharged only occasionally.

 

I dont think he meant recharged OFTEN:

"The life of Lithium-Ion batteries is measured in charge cycles (typically 500) so it is best to only recharge when you think it is necessary depending on your usage pattern"

But I am sure he will clarify

 

What I wrote was rather ambiguous: The point is that deep disharge of a lion battery should be avoided. Ideally the battery shouldn't be discharged below about 30-40% for greatest longevity.

There is some argument over whether it is necessary to completely discharge the battery from time to time; every 30 cycles/3 months etc, but with a laptop chances are that there will be occasions when the battery runs right down. If it doesn't happen too often, it'll be alright.

The chemicals in the battery degrade with time starting on the day of manufacture, but with care batteries can last longer than people realise.

Here's a usefule link: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-36.htm

 

does anyone have a guide on how to disassemble the Samsung NC10? i just received my wireless n card but have been searching for a guide so i dont mess up when intalling it.

 

How to open the Samsung NC10

Which N card did you get?

 

Thanks Nankuro and sonoritygenius... reading between the lines I'm guessing it won't hurt to re-charge everynight as routine, if I've used it that day, just so I have a full charge each day.

Will also check out the battery link.... graci.

Caril

 

I don't recommend daily top-ups unless you are sure that you need a completely full battery at the start of the day. The NC10 can give you six or more hours operation with a fairly dim display and you are unlikely to be using it full time.

So study your usage pattern and see how much power you have used during a day. If the battery has gone down from 100% to 60% during one day then the remaining 60% is probably good for the next day, so if you don't recharge then you halve the number of charge cycles.

Note, however, that the batteries don't suddenly die but slowly lose capacity, so in 6 months you may be down to 5 hours run time and in a year down to 4 hours. At that time it may need daily recharging until it's time for replacement (lets hope some third party introduces a good NC10 battery since Samsung branded spare battery prices are second only to Sony's).

BTW, I changed the alarm settings in the battery power properties to a notification at 5% and hibernate at 1%. There's no point in losing out on a possible extra 10 minutes of usage.

John

 

i was unaware of the battery usage stuff. it didnt even occur to me that it wouldnt just last forever, or certainly a good few years.

im concerned now because i use the nc10 heavily (about 5-6 hours daily) for gaming (old 3d games) and internet browsing.

i have to charge the machine twice a day because the battery has become low (once in the afternoon so i can use the machine in the evening, and then after the evening session i leave it charging over night)
when i say low i mean about 20-30% left.

in my estimation my battery is going to conk out in a few months???

where can i get other batterys, how much do they cost?
can i get bigger capacity batteries?
where can i get a longer or spare power brick from so i can have one in each room for easy plugging in?

does this battery degradation also occur on full laptops and notebooks?

 

Is your mobile phone battery still as good as when it was new?

With heavy usage and twice daily charging then there's a good chance that you will be able to demand a new battery from Samsung within the 12 month warranty period. See how it goes.

My NC10 battery is part number AA-PB8NC6B. The B at the end is for black. At the moment Google is finding a white battery and a blue battery. ebay from China but Samsung original (from the factory back door ).

Wait a few months and I'm sure we will see other sources. There isn't much demand for replacement batteries for new notebooks / netbooks (except for people wanting 6 cell because they only received 3 cell batteries).

John

PS: Did you already post what games you can play OK on the NC10? I'm sure others will be interested.

PPS: **** Black NC10s showing as in stock at Amazon.co.uk for £309.99. ****
Yesterday the site said 1 -2 months!

 

I think you're taking it a bit too strong and yes degradation happens on any device that uses Li-Ion batteries, including large laptops.

You may want to use the power outlet more often to preserve your battery.

 

crikey, ive filled the two 70gb partitions on my nc10 with games. theres loads that work on it. i might create a thread listing the ones ive got on the machine.

how about the spare power brick? can any old power brick, with the right connector, be used? (any suggestions for one that would be compatible?)

the reason i dont keep my machine plugged in all the time at home whilst im using it is because the charger is in a very awkward spot to keep unplugging and plugging back in.
and frankly i dont really like having to lug loads of kit with me when i just want to play fallout in the kitchen.
BUT if i could get more power bricks and place them strategically around my place then it would be cool.

as for a mobile phone... never had one. but i do see your point.

 

Yes, please start another thread about the NC10 gaming so your findings don't get buried in this thread. I'm sure people will find it useful.

As for a spare power brick, this claims to be compatible. However, their description of the power tip doesn't match my AD-4019 (about 5mm outside diameter with 1mm dia centre pin).

It is worth checking whether the AD-6019 PSU (60W) would fit. The higher power rating won't do any harm. It's just that the PSU is bigger. This AD-6019 claims to have 5mm x 1mm size tip so it should fit. However, the AD-4019 tip has a distinctive waist on the outside (see attached photos). We need to find out whether the AD-6019 has the same feature.

John

 

I bought the Case Logic PLS-9 which is a neoprene sleeve that works wonderfully with the NC10. Also has a nice little pocket for small accessories. Check back further up the thread for some pics.

I agree, it's not clever--not only can you not configure the screen for on/off power but you can't set the clock speed from max battery (locked at 800 Mhz), Normal (Dyanmic stepping), or Max power (locked at 1.6GHz). Infuriating indeed. Has anyone tried using "Notebook Hardware Control" with the NC10? Does it work with Atom processors?

If possible, I would recommend using Office 2003 on your netbook. I was reading a site that compared loading times, document scrolling, etc. between Office versions and 2007 was significantly slower than 2003. Where processor strength is a noted limitation, I'd go with the faster, more lightweight version. (Open Office, while free and open source is even more bloated and slow)

One minor quibble I have the NC10 is that it's not designed for completely "off-battery" use, as the rear rubber feet are only on the battery. Unlike the MSI Wind which has rubber feet on the rear of the netbook as well as on the extended battery, the NC10 sits awkwardly on the plastic if you were to use it without the battery plugged in the rear.

 

I went one step further... I associated .doc with Word Viewer 2003 on my system. I mostly look at and read Word docs, not modify them as much. So it opens fast and if I need to edit one, its only a couple of clicks away.

 

if i were to use the nc10 via my power brick more often, is it ok to still leave the battery in the back of the machine whilst im using it via the mains?

as the user above has pointed out, the battery adds vital support to the machine and without it its kinda...odd for want of a better word. (im tired lol)

 

I'm using it w/o battery while I'm sitting on the couch.

It's ok to leave it in, but it will add a couple of cycles over time.

 

i got the Intel 5300N card that others on this forum used. got it on ebay.

 

What's wrong with the stock wireless card?

 

John,
Quote "However, the AD-4019 tip has a distinctive waist on the outside (see attached photos). We need to find out whether the AD-6019 has the same feature."
Maybe I've been looking at engineering drawings & etc.,for too long, but the pics look the same to me (I did view the enlarged pics) The angle of view, on the two pics are different; but the salient features are similar - if you look at the 'reflection' on the shiny 'barrel' the shadow tapers in, indicating that it does have the same waist on the connector;

I have read - to those worried about battery - removing the battery indeed saves unwanted cycles.. as suggested by PhilFlow - When I do get a NC10 I'll think I'd fit extra feet to supplement the ones on the battery.

Brian.

 

It's an ok card but it doesn't support wireless-n. Some people have connectivity problems with some routers.

Upgrading to Intel 5300 will offer wireless-n, better speed, better connectivity with more routers and probably also better reception.

I'm still using the stock card though. It's good enough for what I need sofar. I do have an Intel card laying here but I'm not keen on opening up the Sammy. I believe it voids warranty (true?).

 

Some people find that the Atheros wireless card drops connections (there may be an issue of compatibility with some routers). I haven't had problems but i haven't had much opportunity to test the wireless card.

The waist is visible on the left photo, just back from the head. It may not be critical for performance and could be there to help stop the plug falling out of the socket.

John

 

On the subject of the default wireless card in the NC10 reportedly dropping connection for some people.

I use a Netgear DG834 Wireless router, with a 3rd party 10dbi (i think its 10dbi anyway) antenna and i get perfect connections all the time.

Infact i get better connections with it than my netgear usb modem does on my bedrooms desktop computer.

Hopefully that snippet of useless information might help someone who uses both things

 

Hi,
I need some advice of a Japanese language software that I could install into the NC10, reading only might be enough and probably lighter, obviously be able to write Japanese too could be a bonus, would that be too heavy for NC10 to handle it?
Anyone has any suggestion?
Cheers

 

I suggest you ask the question in the Windows forum mentioning Atom N270 and netbook. You might get a wider audience there.

However, in principle, I can't see why such software won't run. I recall seeing the Japanese using notebooks 20 years ago when the 286 processor was still new. In broad terms the Atom has the processing capability of a 1.6 GHz Pentium M (that was a good CPU 4 years ago) but the CPU is helped by better chipset / integrated graphics, more RAM and a faster HDD.

John

 

Can't you just install the Japanese language pack and switch regions? It's not Vista-centered either; I know about 7? years ago on a P4 computer (pretty new system then, dunno which Windows version, definitely not Vista...) I had the options of different/multiple language keyboards (since I used them ) without needing to install 3rd party stuff.

 

Well I am still split between getting an actual macbook or macbook pro........the lenovo s10 and the Sammy NC10..........I am morely looking for power on the go with maximize battery life.......I dont plan on using all 3d software on this computer seeing I have my desktop for that but to run adobe or autocad would be nice. I just dont know which one too choose......especially between the two netbooks.

 

According to the reviews the Samsung has better battery life and better keyboard. Easy choice I think.

 

@mobility4life

I had the macbook and I find the samsung nc10 much more useful for on-the-go computing.

It's a great system especially for college students

 

Out of curiosity I just loaded a demo version of IntelliCAD onto my NC10 and tried rendering the 3D Spacestation 2000 demo. It took 20.34s on the NC10 compared with 9.44s on my E6400 with P8600 CPU. Performance may be less of an issue than working with such a small display with the need for lots of panning and zooming. I just tried the NC10 touchpad gestures for the zooming. They work.

Netbooks are not the most productive environment. For most people they are the alternative to having nothing at all while on the move.

John

 

If you want performance on the go and have money for a Macbook Pro, go out and get a Sony TZ with a Core 2 Duo.

 

I guess you mean Sony Z.

 

anyone know if i could get a korean NC-10 imported? or at least can get a set of the NC-10's korean keyboard keys??

i hate sticker replacements.

 

Can't wait for this lappy to be launched in my country.

 

That too

 

The reason I'm saying Z and not TZ is that the TZ comes with a 1.8" 4200rpm drive. In many situations the TZ won't be faster than the NC10.

 

Yeah, the Z pretty much put paid to the TT. Better design, bigger keyboard and screen, and better hard drive at basically the same weight.

 

I think this may not be true for all. I did a full corporate presentation (PP 2007) on my NC10 at the Sheraton in Bahrain last weekend. Created, edited and emailed etc. For me, this is a complete replacement since I do no heavy gaming and I don't do anything intensive. I watched a ton of AVI rips of DVDs on it and this has effectively replaced my XPS M1330.

 

Very true. The nc10 has almost replaced my xps m1210.

The only thing I need the m1210 is for development/virtual machine work.

Love this thing

 

I also have tasks such as giving presentations in mind for my NC10. However, I would much prefer the bigger real estate of my E6400 (1440 x 900) for creating the presentations or working on documents, but the NC10 could be final editing.

When I was sitting in Dubai airport a few weeks back it was the NC10, not the E6400, that I got out and used for some web browsing.

BTW, my NC10 review is now posted. It was submitted before the HP Mini 1000 review was published, otherwise I would have made some comparisons with it. If you haven't already, get over to the discussion of the review and add your own comments.

If the HP Mini 1000 gets the Editor's Choice award, should we give the NC10 the attached?

John