Samsung NC10

Hi there.

I'm a proud owner of a NC10 for some days now as well (white, upgraded to 2 GB RAM), but unfortunately I'm from Germany and I bought it with a german keyboard. For those that don't know it: It blows. Some keys are not even printed (but accessible) on this netbook variant at all, like |. Others are causing RSI if you even use them casually, like []{}@|\ etc.
Since I'm a programmer (both from 9-5 and in my free time) I really need an US keyboard. I read about keyboard replacements options in this thread, specifically #71,#72,#74 but no one seems to have done it yet (or found a supplier).
So far I was unable to find a US keyboard as spare part - only UK keyboards _might_ be available at those places I checked. But that's not helpful at all.
Do you know a good source for these kinds of spare parts? Or some good google keywords that don't return reviews of the (really excellent) keyboard of the NC10? I don't mind where the shop is and I don't mind paying extra shipping/tax/whatever, I just can't stand this layout here at all.

TIA,
Ben

 

Well i took the plunge and got the White NC10 from newegg. I had to go the newegg route instead of the ebay/live cash back because it was going on my newegg card. Hopefully they don't lower the price again this week because as far as I know they will not honor price adjustments. It should be here Friday. Can't wait. I'll post pics and my thoughts when I get it. Thanks everyone for the loads of info on this little beauty. Made my decision all that much easier.

 

My NC10 arrived today. Compared to my Lenovo S10 it's heavier and slightly larger. The keyboard rocks. The touchpad is too small though. Even on maximum sensitivity, I can't move the pointer vertically across the entire screen with a single stroke. Very annoying!

On Wednesday I plan to replace the HDD with an SSD, upgrade the RAM, and install XP Pro.

I am wondering if anyone has tried installing a Runcore SSD in the empty mini-pcie slot? (The slot reserved for the 3G modem)

 

usually it will say FCM or something there if you can, im not sure if it will work with a runcore ssd.

 

My first suggestion would be to get a set of US keyboard stickers, put them on and and then tell Windows that you have the US keyboard.

You can also contact sales at portableone.com and see if they have spare keyboards in stock.

john

 

I just finished reading through this entire thread. Some people are complaining (or celebrating) that this machine has a loose hinge. For what it's worth, my NC10's hinge is rather stiff, and it takes two hands to open the lid.

 

I got the answer: It turns out Samsung didn't populate the NC10 motherboard with the extra mini-pcie connector. So there isn't anywhere to plug it in unless you have a model with 3G and don't mind removing the 3G card. (Or, you could sacrifice Wi-Fi... yeah, right.)

I'm sure there are a few people with the time, skill, and equipment to add the connector and install something in the slot. For the rest of us: Too bad!

 

I've decided not to get the Samsung NC10. Every review I've read complained about the small vertical touchpad. It's not that one cannot get used to it, or that you can set the sensitivity to maximum in order to make it usable. Contrary to popular belief, having a good keyboard doesn't mean compromising mouse functions. Samsung could have thrown in a larger touchpad (there are a couple of centimeters of room for a larger one)

The truth is that every netbook so far has a fault, or an achilles heal. Asus 1000H has a horrible right shift key, Lenovo's netbook has a poor keyboard with only a 3 cell battery, for instance. Samsung's flaw is the small touchpad. I think it's worth waiting for second generation netbooks and see how their flaws are corrected over time.

I strongly believe the next Samsung netbook model should correct these faults before I buy one. Keep in mind the world economy is in a recession; $500 for an underpowered netbook is a little hard to swallow, especially with a 1.6 GHz single-core CPU. (Black Friday deals here in the United States had laptops for $350 with 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU ----- which makes it very hard to justify the value of the Samsung NC10, other than its small netbook size) It is also difficult to pay $500 for a netbook which has flaws, such as the small touchpad. I also think that the black NC10 should be available in the United States. Samsung, don't imply that only the English and Koreans have style, and the Americans only want white laptops because of their shiny white iPod. We want a black netbook as well

I await the Samsung NC15 one day.

 

I have both the NC10 (only for a few hours so far) and the Ideapad S10 (since early October). I think the S10's keyboard is actually quite good. The keyboard on the NC10 is better, but not by a wide margin. It's easy to touch-type on either one.

I can't defend the battery life of the S10, however.

In any case, if one of the current netbooks is not for you, just wait a few days - new ones are being announced all the time

I waited through a year of eee releases before the S10 started shipping. I'm glad I did!

 

For me, samsung got my money for their design and long lasting battery life (~6 hrs 20 mins in Windows 7 balanced mode). I was also waited a year for eee to involve but it never did (right shift key sucks and toy-like design). The NC10 joins the party late but it rocks. $350 laptop only gets you 6 lbs of weight and ~2 hours battery. I dont want to carry the charger everywhere i go and also have to look for an outlet. So $500 for the best netbook of its kind worth it. (beside, i'm getting 125 off cashback which makes it only 375 tax free)

Unfortunately the touchpad is small but with "Two finger scroll," I was able to turn off vertical scroll and gain more touchpad estate. Now I can go corner to corner in one stroke. Not even my Dv4t can do that.

I'm sure the next revision will fix the small touchpad but who knows when? I waited long enough for the Asus to fix the shift key and Aspire one to have 10 in model, and S10 to get 6 cells. Maybe NC15 in a year from now?

 

My NC10 has a defective WiFi card. I can connect to networks, but it drops most incoming packets. I tried a BIOS upgrade, Atheros driver upgrade, and fresh XP Pro install... It just does not work.

Now I have to decide whether to send it back and wait forever for a replacement, or spend $50 or so to replace the wireless card. Arrgh!

 

The Atheros cards are not exactly the most dependable wireless cards out there. You don't have to spend $50 for a decent one either; you can find an Intel 5100/5300 for $15-$20 on eBay.

 

NC10 users with the same WiFi complaints are having success with an older Atheros driver from 2007. Can't post a link, but if you google "Wireless Lan Driver 802abg Atheros Ver.5.3.0.45.zip - 5.3.0.45" you'll find it.

 

Enchantedsky was looking forward to the NC15, well it may not be all that far away... On Liliputing dot com, search on SamsungNC-10 (unfortunately, it won't let me apply an URL) - hopefully you'll find reference to the Samsung korean website where they are already advertising the NC11.. similar spec, but choice of Win XP or Vista business...

Just when I thought I'd finally get a Blue NC10...

 

Thanks! I will try that for the short term.

For the long term I ordered the Intel 5300 wireless. Since I will be dual booting Linux it's a sensible upgrade anyway. Hopefully it will get here before the weekend.

Where is a good place to pick up a third antenna? I am guessing the 5300 won't come with one.

 

NC11 seems to be on the way
http://www.sammynetbook.com/news.php

 

Hey guys!

Thought I would join in the discussion on the NC10 as I just got one myself a few weeks ago, they seemed to have gone up in price since then!

I've got the black one, but it now has a few scratches on it Any ways to make them less visible... or am I now just stuck with them!

Secondly, can anyone from the UK recommend me a case/sleeve/slipcase that would fit the NC10, having problems finding one!

Overall, really happy with the netbook, just ordered 2gb of ram for it too

 

Try to search on eBay for store named 3acp, they have a lot of
plastic skins cover almost all surfaces of netbook. I am going to buy
one of them, as soon I get my blue one.

 

I ordered this one: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14660

Haven't received it yet but it's supposed to fit well.

 

other stupid questions.
Do I need a 3G enabled in order to get connected everywhere in the world?
Say I travel to Japan, would the NC10 connect there?
What is the real purpose of having 3G?
Isn't WIFI enough to get connected everywhere?
Please don't lynch me.

 

That driver didn't help me. I have a genuinely bad card. The Intel 5300 goes in tonight! Thanks for the idea anyway!

 

3G works through the phone network. If you are travelling internationally then you would need to find a 3G provider who provides reasonable roaming rates otherwise you might get a bill that costs more than the NC10.

You will need to find hotspots to use wireless. Some are free.

BTW, Did anyone try BIOS 03CA which was released on 28 Nov?

John

PS: There also appears to be a new version of Play Camera. Also the other software packages have new dates, but Samsung sometimes like to put new dates on old versions.

 

I flashed my BIOS to 03CA while trying to get the Wi-Fi to work. There were no release notes that I could find anywhere. I think a few of the BIOS screens might be slightly different but I didn't notice any functional differences. Several of the drivers have been updated, as well, but for some reason Samsung's update program doesn't find them.

If someone extracts a changelog from Samsung, please post it here!

 

The best way to connect in Japan is through McDonald's wifi or internet cafe. Getting authorization to use your 3G modem in Japan may cost a pretty penny or be impossible, and there's very few open wifi hotspots.

 

Thanks guys,
I am still confused, let me ask it like that.
Say that I have the NC11, since as I read somewhere has the 3G, would that work in Japan?
Why am I asking this? because I go there few times a year, such a light notebook would be easy to carry or even put in the largest pocket of my coat.
And another thing, should I assume that sacrifising the WIFI of the NC 10 and plug it in would get connected.
Again thanks in advance.

 

For the 3G to work in Japan it would be best to buy a Japanese sim card. Either subscription or prepaid.

If you do it with your own simcard from another country your phonebill will be too high.

 

Gave it a shot. Pretty straight-foward setup, but it's hard to ascertain any differences. Others have mentioned that their Windows Vista Experience score went up slightly. No problems with it thus far.

 

Is there any way to truly customize the battery manager profile? There is a custom option, but it doesn't have set ups for both on power and on battery; it seems like there is only one setting -- for screen brightness, speed, etc.

Because I'm having problems with my NC10 spontaneously starting up after going to sleep; my hypothesis is that it has something to do with the hard disk turning off as specified in the normal battery profile.

 

I upgraded my wireless to the Intel 3500 abgn card last night. It works great, even with two antennas. It's nice to finally have working wireless!

Unfortunately the hotkey to toggle the wireless radio on and off doesn't work. So, battery life will be affected when I don't need wireless. Any known workarounds?

 

Thanks,
I presume that your reply is related to the NC11 if I had it.
Subsequently I should also assume that the NC10 in order to browse the internet or do other operations eiither to find some free WIFI hotspots if those exist or like I said earlier on, to plug it in somewhere and luckly to share the broadband with other.

Cheers

 

Start > Network Connections > Wireless Network, Right click, disable.

Either NC11 or NC10 with an external HDSPA module. In The Netherlands we can buy USB 'dongles'. With subscription or prepaid.

 

Contol Panel/Power Options

 

I agree that the custom option of the Battery Manager has only one display brightness option. Not very clever.

However, for the purpose of debugging your wake-up problem i suggest you use the custom option and manually adjust the display.

The other thing you can do is My Computer > Manage > Event Viewer and look in the System log to see if anything is waking up the HDD at the time it wakes up. You can also work through the devices in Device Manager and make sure nothing is enabled to way a sleeping computer.

I would reinstall the Magic Keyboard and Easy Display Manager Utilities. One of those controls the hotkeys (I can never remember which) and since this is generic software, it should pick up the Intel card since Samsung use them in some notebooks.

Otherwise, see page 157 of the user guide.

John

 

That disables the driver. Is there any evidence it puts the hardware to sleep?

 

I did a fresh install of XP Pro (I need to join a domain), put on the Intel wireless driver and the Magic Keyboard software, in that order. Magic Keyboard seems to be working, as I can adjust the speaker volume.

I'll install the user guide. I can't believe there isn't a PDF version.

AFAIK the mechanism for enabling/disabling the wireless modem is part of the mini-pcie spec. The LED is part of that spec, too. (My wireless LED is always lit now.)

When I replaced the Centrino 802.11b card in my old Sony PCG-TR1A with an Atheros b/g card, the wireless switch continued to work normally. I'm surprised I'm having trouble. It could very well be a problem between the keyboard and chair, though.

 

The user guide advises turning off unused devices in Device Manager to save power.

If in doubt run Mobilemeter and see if there is any change in the power consumption with / without this (and other unwanted devices (Bluetooth, webcam) disabled. I've just done this and see the same power change (1.45W) using either the hot key or the Device Manager enable / disable.

John

 

Does it come with any sort of carrying case out of the box? Has anyone purchased a neoprene sleve that fits well? If so any ideas where to look?

Thanks for the help!

 

1) 3G will depend on your carrier and who you sign your contract with, like a mobile phone. For example when Vodaphone was in Japan it was able to connect to Rogers networks in Canada. It depends on who the carrier has ties with.

2) Purpose of 3g is to get internet access anywhere you want (hot spots)

3) wifi will only work if there is a router (wireless) where you want to connect, you are within range and you have the password to it or it is open.

Wifi would not work in a car driving around without stopping setting up and sitting.

 

PhilFlow... I have a question for you pls.

I just received my Samsung NC10 in white... just in time for a trip to London and Paris next week (I am in New Mexico)... however I really would like one in blue, and could exchange it but I wouldn't receive the blue one in time for my trip.

I read earlier in this thread that you bought both black and white and chose the white... could you pls tell me what your reasons were?

I'm seriously thinking of sticking with the white so I can get it configured prior to my trip... and I could also add a skin later I guess.

Main concern w/the white is that the keyboard would get dirty easier and have to be cleaned often... but I guess that depends on what environment you're in.

PS... just to confuse things further... I won this in a Swoopo auction... and it was supposed to be black, but amazon shipped a white one.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Right click on the taskbar icon of wireless connection and disable,
i believe this is for hardware...

 

Thanks, John. The utility I needed was the Easy Display Manager, which sounded totally unrelated to hotkeys, so I left it off the machine. But that's what handles the screen brightness, volume, and wireless hotkeys! Arrgh!

According to MobileMeter, nothing I can do will reduce the power consumption of the Intel 5300 Wireless card. Turning it off via hotkey, disabling the driver, or going into the advanced driver settings and turning the radio off...the power consumption stays the same. I do see a spike of a few watts when I first enable the radio. My machine discharges about 8 watts the way I have it configured now. That should give almost 7 hours of battery life. I guess I shouldn't complain.

BTW, Magic Keyboard also handles the volume control hotkeys...but it seems to do nothing else, and Easy Display Manager handles that function quite well. I can't think of any reason to leave Magic Keyboard on the system.

 

UK NC10s come with a cloth sleeve. It will protect from scratches and can be used for wiping off the finger prints, but won't protect from mistreatment. There's discussion of neoprene sleeves if you work back up this thread.

Samsung have just ported over those two programs. Perhaps their roots were different.

As for power consumption, 8W is doing OK.

John

 

To be honest when I had the white one I thought I wanted a black one, and when I had the black one I thought I wanted a white one.

It doesn't matter too much to me. The black is more like a no thrills business model, the white one looks more like a design model to me.

The black may stay cleaner but the lid gathers fingerprints and scratches.

 

Perhaps the special Zebra edition, with black and white stripes, would suit you?

John

 

It turns out to be a dvd writer too. I'll try to figure out the type number.

I haven't bought one myself. Turns out I don't really need it with the Samsung Recovery solution.

Edit: It's Tinpec RG-DM701

 

The Samsung NC10 is 'Today's Special Value' on the QVC shopping channel in the UK. The price is rather high, but there are quite long demonstrations on Sky channel 640, today only.

There is a 23 minute video presentation here: http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.frames.y.tpl.uktsv.item.tsv/walk.html.|tsvmetadrill,html

Anyone who hasn't been able to find one in the shops might find it interesting.

 

I can't believe this! I held off when the price was £299, as I wanted more time to make up my mind. Now i've decided I want one the price is now £322.96

Well they can get knotted! I wouldn't buy one now if you paid me, on principal!

*Walks away wiping the tear from his eye*

 

The price increase may be a reflection of demand exceeding supply, but it may also be the result of the £ plummeting against the US$ (and many other currencies) in recent months.

Amazon.co.uk's price for the NC10 is now £309.99 with delivery indicated as 1 to 2 months.

John

 

I think the price increase may be part of Samsung's startegy. I've seen it happen on several occasions here in Holland, with Q210 and R510 for example. They introduce it a low price, cheaper than competitors and after a few weeks they raise the price.

 

well, in US it was $499 until recent drop to $485 by amazon.

Many here paid $499 so £322.96 shouldn't be too bad.