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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First Thoughts, March 5, 2009
This review is from: Samsung NC10-11PBK 10.2-Inch Special Edition Netbook - 6 Cell Battery (9.5 Hours) (Personal Computers)
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.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The SE is a winner... major issues resolved, March 20, 2009
This review is from: Samsung NC10-11PBK 10.2-Inch Special Edition Netbook - 6 Cell Battery (9.5 Hours) (Personal Computers)
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.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great netbook just got better!, March 5, 2009
This review is from: Samsung NC10-11PBK 10.2-Inch Special Edition Netbook - 6 Cell Battery (9.5 Hours) (Personal Computers)
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.
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