Customer Reviews

Samsung NC10-11PBK 10.2-Inch Special Edition Netbook - 6 Cell Battery (9.5 Hours)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My current laptop is a Thinkpad T43 which has been a dear companion for the past 4 years and is still going strong and been great for Rails development with Ubuntu installed on it. But it's weight at 5lbs is heavy enough that I don't carry my laptop around as much as I want to and I needed something lighter and smaller.

At first my obvious choice was the Thinkpad X series, which I might still end up getting depending on my experience with the NC10 and how it handles Ubuntu. But at [...] it costs less than a third so that was the deciding factor for me. I also ordered a 2GB stick which at[...] is well worth the upgrade. A lot of NC10 users have been upgrading their hard drives as well but for me 160GB is more than adequate especially since I use jungle disk to save most of my files and I'm a big believer in being digitally detached. I got this machine because it's light and inexpensive and I want to be able to throw it around, take it to the beach etc. without worrying about it getting scratched or getting sand on it - I'm usually stressed about scratches and dents the first few days I get an expensive gadget. Since I don't care about scratches and dents on the NC10 I don't plan on buying a bag or other accessories for it. The little cloth sleeve of an excuse for a bag that comes with it suits me just fine.

My first impression was that it is very well built - it has no squeaks at all. The keyboard (93%) is surprisingly very tactile and usable my only gripe being that to get to the "End" button you have to hit the function key first. The power charger is very diminutive which makes the whole package look and feel very portable. It feels heavy but a lot of the weight is from the battery.

After starting the computer you go through the usual hoops XP makes you jump through but it annoyingly forces you to restart and then you're presented with an obtuse "Recovery Solution III" screen where it asks about partitions which is the last thing you want to think about when you have a new computer and want to start playing it. I just want a clean no nonsense XP install with a dual boot no nonsense Ubuntu install. The default options are "Recovery - 6GB, Drive C - 68GB, Drive D - 75GB" which didn't make any sense so I changed it to something that suits my needs better - "Recovery - 6GB, Drive C - 33GB, Drive D - 81GB, Ubuntu - 29GB"

The system feels zippy enough with the included 1GB but I upped it to 2GB. I can't tell the difference but I'm sure that extra 1GB will kick in once I actually install some programs. I was also pleasantly surprised by the lack of junk bloatware programs (Lenovo + Thinkvantage is an obvious example) - the only program I ended up removing was McAfee - I paid for and prefer Symantec Client Firewall. The rocker mouse button is pretty much just for show - Samsung could just as easily have included a two button mouse and it would have worked exactly the same. But it looks nice.

The screen is vivid and bright compared to my T43. I thought the screen would be glossy from what I had read but it's not! Definitely a big plus for anyone who wants to use this device a lot and in different lighting conditions. I'm not a fan of glossy screens and I was apprehensive about it so to see a bright matte screen with zero dead pixels was a very pleasant surprise.

The trackpad works just fine. I haven't got the multi touch to work (I thought I remembered reading that it exists for this device) - I tried the usual pinching motions on web pages to make it zoom like the macs but that didn't do anything. The SD card reader on front is convenient since I take a lot of pictures but it would have been nice if it didn't stick out when inserted - pics at socialect.com/posts/260

The wifi connection is stable and works well - no complaints. It works and it works well.

So far I'm very happy with the NC10 special edition. It's rare that I buy a product that feels like it hits all the right notes but the NC10 SE does it and I know I will be using it a lot.

I won't repeat what others have said about the NC10 but focus on the changes made in the Special Edition. I have had the unit for about two weeks (NC10 SE with 2Gb of ram).
Touchpad: It is now driven by Synatics. It is about 60mm wide x 37mm high (or 6cm x 3.7cm) which is larger than before. The pad is slightly indented which gives a touch feedback to prevent moving off the pad. These were the most talked about short comings of the NC10. IMHO, they have been very satisfactorily addressed. I have found the pad easy to use and I really like the side scroll feature.
Battery: It is now a 5900mAh unit (vs. 5300mAh). The NC10 was a class leader before and now it is even more of one. Simply amazing and wonderful.
Media slot: it is an SD only. The standard units have a 3-in-1 slot. I had not picked up on this change when reading the specs so it was a bit of a surprise. It does not affect me (I only us SD media) so no big deal.
In summary, I think Samsung has been listening and very quickly responded with evolutionary, important improvements. Kudos to Samsung.
I call the NC10 a Mighty Mouse. Performance is terrific. I am starting to push the performance and haven't seen a decline. It is quick and snappy. I just received the April, 2009 issue of PC World and in it is a review of netbooks. The Samsung NC10 was not (???) included. If it had been included it would have been on top based on the criteria the magazine used.
Yes, the NC10 is a bit more expensive than units from Acer, Asus, etc. It is worth every penny. Remember, you get what you pay for and, particularly, in electronics. Samsung has created a high quality and excellent value-for-the-money computer.

I had been trying to decide between the NC10 and HP 2140 for a while. I'm glad I waited. The NC10 Special Edition is exactly what I wanted. It's the only netbook that has a great keyboard, long battery life, and a slim form factor. The HP is nice but to get a longer battery, you have to add a huge lump to the back of your device.

The full size keyboard also makes it a winner. When I tried the keyboards on some of the other netbooks at Test Try (Best Buy), I often wasn't impressed with the layout of the keys. It's important to me to be able to touch type. Many of the cheaper units won't fit the bill.

The cheaper netbooks often have less ram, non-standard ports, no bluetooth, or smaller hard drives as well. If you buy an under powered unit, you'll probably have to spend money to upgrade it anyway. One downer for the NC10 SE is that it doesn't have N wireless.

Another cool thing about the NC10 SE- Amazon dropped the price from the original pre-order price. It's now cheaper than the HP 2140 that includes the extended battery. I plan to use the savings to add a case and/or memory for it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LV7XAM?ie=UTF8&tag=nc10-11pbk-20&creativeASIN=B001LV7XAM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F7QRTG?ie=UTF8&tag=pc-accessories-10-20&creativeASIN=B000F7QRTG

All in all, this is a nice little, portable email and surfing machine. Since it has long battery life, you can take it with you without carrying the power brick. Considering it's only a few more dollars than the standard edition, it's a no brainer.

Received as a gift. Primarily used for on the go internet surfing, Skype, and MSN live with video conferencing.

Meets all the expectations of a netbook, and goes beyond with the slim design, 9 hr battery life, and (93%) full keyboard (only minor discomfort with shift button, but easy to get used to). Built in camera works great with MSN and Skype. Did not upgrade from the 1GB RAM, runs quite smoothly except when MSN video calls are active, then becomes a little sluggish in multi-tasking. Not recommended for watching 720p or 1080p video files but more than adequate for youtubing. Screen great for many lighting conditions. Took outside and sat by the river chatting on MSN in high noon setting, and screen visible without glare. Very light, most of the weight is indeed in the battery, which slots into the unit without creating bulkiness. Battery easy to remove, but please remember to use the battery lock tab in back.

One of the best gifts I have received ever. I take it everywhere I go so I can keep in touch with my boyfriend on Skype.

I'll try to add a new spin to the already marvelous reviews online for the Super Sammy (Samsung nc10-11pbk) netbook. I'm a cafe squatter after hours and on weekends. Sammy fits great on those small cafe tables, with room left for a notepad and some coffee. The screen, when set on bright, is quite nice to use outdoors in all but direct sunlight, perfect for the sidewalk seat. Indoors, the screen is gorgeous, I never need the highest brightness setting. When I work with Sammy on my lap, I've experienced no heat (or noise) problems at all (especially compared to my Dell XT...ouch).

Last evening I wanted to take a break. A coffee shop couch opened up and down I slumped. I connected effortlessly to Netflix streaming. Within minutes I was involved in a murder mystery that I knew only I could solve. Sitting near at hand, the 10" screen proved to be plenty big and clear enough to enjoy the movie. And the sound quality through headphones was really very good. No video clipping or sound quality issues. Without headphones, the sound from the speakers are clear and loud, but also demonstrate the quality limits of really small speakers.

Sammy's wireless receiver latches onto even a weak signal, then puts it in a headlock till I'm ready to sign off.

After five hours of working, surfing, wireless on, with a bright screen, multi-tasking, and movie watching ...all done with no performance lags, I still had 30% juice left on the gauge. I totally buy into the claim of >9 hours if you use some fairly un-obtrusive power conserving measures.

I've already filled about 3/5ths of the hard drive, with tons of applications, music, and some movies. Software and files are easy to load using virtual drive software (I used DAEMON TOOLS) and a USB hard drive or large thumb drive. Wireless networking to remote CD drives to load your software gives me H&H (that's hives and hyperventilation), so virtual drives was my choice and I'm happy with it.

To give you an idea of the range of programs the Atom processor can handle, I have :

Office Professional, MS Project, Adobe Professional, OneNote, Quicken Deluxe, iTunes, PlayOn to connect to my XBox 360, and Photoshop Elements. I run a lot of writing software, like DramaticaPro, Writer's Blocks, and Story Weaver. Training development tools like Camtasia, MindManager Pro, and Thought Office. Math-intensive investment software, like OmniTrader and Visual Trader. All of them run fast and clean on Sammy, some even better than on my day job core2duo machine (Big Brother-ware slowing us down.)

I love to multi-task and you would think an atom processor wasn't the best choice for this. Ahhhh, thought wrong, didn't ya. For all but one of my programs (Visual Trader), Sammy is indeed a multitasking fool. Just be reasonable in the total number of packages and windows you open. (An aside, has anyone loaded Photoshop CS3 or 4 on their NC10? How well does it run?) Programs open quickly, execute well, and close quickly. Sammy is pretty quick at boot up and shut down as well.

With this much going on I need a good keyboard. Sammy has a great one, especially for a netbook. Good key spacing and stroke. The improved track-pad is still a bit small, but within a day I was track-padding like a champ. Scrolling is a bit sensitive...I need to hunt around and adjust that. A USB or Bluetooth mouse will serve well if you don't acclimate. I love my USB trackball and use it for mouse intensive work, like photo editing.

Speaking of USB, the nc10 has three ports that are not all crammed together. Nice.

Machine fit and finish are tight. Feels like quality workmanship. Frankly, this is a good looking machine, very light (most bang for the ounce I think) and friendly towards those of us with bad shoulders when it comes time to pack up and leave ye olde coffee shoppe.

The machine looks nice overall but has one dark side...the top of the computer loves to steal finger prints. Check to make sure you still have possession of yours if you ever happen to touch the top of the case. After you've wiped the greasy streaks from the black plastic, enjoy the "gee whiz" factor by showing off this highly attractive device to admirers that ask for tours. (Netbooks are still an oddity, but more and more are showing up, so enjoy this while you can.) Till they're ubiquitous, the NC10 serves as nearly as good a hunk/babe magnet (in nerdy sets) as does a friendly dog.

Accessories: Toss the case that comes with it!!!!!

If you like pretty compact quarters for your NC10, I recommend the Caselogic BUA10 Ultra Portable 7-Inch - 10-Inch Laptop Attache (Black). Amazon has it here:

Caselogic BUA10 Ultra Portable 7-Inch - 10-Inch Laptop Attache (Black)

I fit Sammy, a moleskine notebook, pen, iPod video, headphones, granola bar, small digital camera, and an amazing electronic dictionary...all of this into a 2.2 x 8.8 x 11.5 inch frame. All you're missing is an Americano with cream and a nice chair and table in the corner.

Ive used the standard samsung nc10 before purchasing this 'special edition' NC10 netbook and I think Samsung definitely listened to the comments reviewers made over the small trackpad. I think the size increase, though modest, does make a difference. Also it just seems to be configured by default to work more effectively to cover the screen area. The vertical scrolling feature works more smoothly than in the regular edition of nc10. The new 5900 milliamp battery also provides an improved battery life, which is a plus.
The keyboard size of the NC10 is large enough to provide room for both hands to type almost normally, which is a definite plus. The integrated speakers are very tinny, but what can I expect from a netbook? I also bought the Tritton Sound Bite portable USB speaker and am very happy with the boost in sound quality with it.
I also like the fact that I can easily upgrade the RAM to 2 GB, which I intend to do. However, please note that when removing the panel screw on the bottom of the NC10, to use a Pozidriv screwdriver since it is a Pozidriv screw. It is not a common screwdriver in the USA and I had to buy one from Amazon. The pozidriv screw can be easily stripped if using a Phillips screwdriver, which would then make removal of it very difficult if not impossible. Samsung ought to have made that that point more clear in its documentation. The screw resembles a phillips but it is a pozidriv.
Even though I like this netbook, I think its price needs to be reduced, especially considering the most recent introduction of the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch netbook with the newest N280 Atom processor at less than $400.

I received the Samsung NC10-11PBK (special edition) about 5 days ago from Amazon.com and so far it has done nothing but exceed all of my expectations.

I have been following the newly emerging netbook market for about 6 months now and have finally decided to take the plunge. The other two netbooks I was contemplating before purchasing the NC10 SE were the Dell Mini 10 and the Lenovo S10.

While I really liked the build quality of the Lenovo, the fact that it only came with a 3 cell battery was a turn off. Yes, Lenovo does now offer a 6-cell upgrade, but that would take away from the price savings I was trying to achieve with a netbook. I am also not sure if it comes with Bluetooth, as there is no concrete description on the Lenovo website detailing this.

The Dell I really liked. Three big pluses that the Dell has going for it are the HDMI port, the 1366 x 768 screen, and the new Atom N530 (which is supposedly better for multimedia purposes). As nice as it would be to have these features, three things held me back from purchasing the Dell: it only comes with a 3 cell battery, it is a decent amount more than the NC10, and the fact that the 1 GB RAM is soldered in (no upgrading to 2GB). Also, even though it has an HD screen (720p) and a HDMI output, I have read mixed reviews about the Mini 10's ability to process 720 video smoothly. I had to remind myself why I was purchasing a netbook - to have a very portable computer that will run for extended periods of time on a single charge - not to have a mobile HD video device. If I really need to enjoy HD video on the go I will just have to lug around my 15" MacBook Pro.

And now, on to the NC-10. I am aware that the new Samsung N110 is coming out just around the bend (less that 2 months, I think), and was considering holding off on purchasing the NC-10 (standard) until the N110 arrives. After reading the specs of the new N110 (Laptop Mag: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-n-110.aspx), I learned that since the internal components are all the same, the biggest different between the two is the chassis. The new N110 looks to have smoother edges, along with a red strip that goes around the sides. The NC-10 has a chrome strip running its edges and is a little squarer. The review I read of the N110 compared it to the current NC-10 (NOT the Special Edition). They were impressed with the new N110's larger track pad (the biggest complaint about the standard NC-10 is its small track pad) and larger 6-cell battery (5900mAh versus the STANDARD NC-10's 5200mAh). Reading this I realized that the N110's new features were the exact same upgrades that are currently available on the NC-10 Special Edition. Why then would I wait two months for the N110 when essentially the only difference between it and the Special Edition is the chassis? For this reason I decided to get on the netbook bandwagon with the NC-10 SE. I ordered it last Sunday, and am now glad that I struck when I did. Although Amazon.com estimates are usually quite conservative, they are now estimating that the SE will not be back in stock for 1-2 months. That's too bad, because I would really like others to experience this amazing machine.

Upgrades: So far the only thing I have upgraded on the machine is the RAM. I did not order Amazon.com's recommended module, and instead opted for this one: Crucial Technology CT25664AC800 2GB 200-pin SODIMM DDR2 PC2-6400 Memory Module (only $5 more) (http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Technology-CT25664AC800-200-pin-PC2-6400/dp/B001342KM8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239036336&sr=8-1). I have read in a few forms that people have seen better performance (although only slightly) with this module. The next thing I will probably purchase will be an aftermarket 9-cell battery. The larger 6-cell that comes standard paired with an additional 9-cell should allow me to fly to almost any international destination without ever having to worry about running out of battery power. Thank you Samsung for offering such a fantastic machine!! Thank you Amazon for getting it to me!!

A little pricey, but for the best of a certain generation of netbooks it still seems worth it. I was able to get Win 7 beta on mine. With 2gb of 800mhz ram and the intel extreme performance 32gb ssd drive, things perform fairly well. Win 7 performance ratings (same as Vista) score my memory at 4.0 and my hard drive at 6.9

The Samsung NC10 Special Edition from Amazon is much better than the Samsung NC10 (Samsung NC10-14GBK 10.2-Inch Black Netbook - 6 Cell Battery). I owned an NC10 prior to getting the NC10 SE. The SE has longer battery life and the trackpad is significantly larger and more responsive. It lacks some bells and whistles that the NC10 trackpad has such as "momentum" but scrolling in particular is much better controlled with the NC10 SE trackpad.

The N110 (Samsung N110-12PBK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 6 Cell Battery (9.5 Hours))trackpad is comparable in size to the NC10 SE's trackpad. But the N110 has a glossy screen, while the NC10 and NC10 SE have matte screens which reduce annoying reflections.

This is a great netbook! I would consider the Samsung N120 over it for better sound, although the N120 keyboard is strange (position of Windows and tilde keys).

This is my first portable computer and I am very picky.
I have had this about a month now and all I can say is that I am very impressed. Well worth the extra for the bigger touch pad and battery.
I have used this at full power for 7.5 hours. Max processor, max brightness and playing games on the net. After 7.5 hours the warning came on that it needed to be charged. That impressed me the most.

Also I have big hands and I love the keyboard. It took me 5 minutes to adjust but it is very easy to navigate.

What else is there to say other than I am very happy with this netbook!