- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I've been contemplating getting a netbook and the NC10 seems to get the best reviews for it's price, does anyone have firsthand experience of it?
Samsung NC10 - anyone got one?
- Thread starter Flash In The Pan
- Start date
Yep, bought one for the wife a few months back when it was first launched - in fact on the day of launch! 
Fantastic little machine. Very well built and the little pentium atom is a jem. Using it to preview shots from my D300 is a doddle. It is a lot quicker than I expected. I've also used it for some mild processing work which it is happy to handle.
The battery life is rated at something like 7hrs but in my experience it is more like 4-5hrs which is certainly enough. The keyboard is just about ok for me and is perfect for the missus. Screen is as big as we would want on a netbook of this size, any smaller like the ONE or EEE would be a pain and any bigger would be laptop territory, it is reasonably sharp and is bright enough to use in sunlight.
We don't miss the lack of a DVD drive as the HD is big enough and there is an SD slot that you can stick a large capacity card in to act as a second HD.
Ergonomics are good except I think they could have made it easier to open up as I find it a little difficult to grip the side. The external size is perfect, fits easily in a rucksac, briefcase, handbag etc.... it is smaller in area than a sheet of A4 paper!
The webcam is excellent, a 1.3Mp camera which is one of the best if not the best of the current crop. We've used it on conference calls/video chat and its pretty good.
Main drawback however is the speakers. They are rubbish. Very tinny sound for watching videos or listening to music so we tend to use external speakers or earphones.
As we use it for mobile internet, I would have liked to see a SIM card slot but as lots of places now have free wifi its not a big loss.
All in all its a cracking bit of kit and I have no regrets getting it.
Fantastic little machine. Very well built and the little pentium atom is a jem. Using it to preview shots from my D300 is a doddle. It is a lot quicker than I expected. I've also used it for some mild processing work which it is happy to handle.
The battery life is rated at something like 7hrs but in my experience it is more like 4-5hrs which is certainly enough. The keyboard is just about ok for me and is perfect for the missus. Screen is as big as we would want on a netbook of this size, any smaller like the ONE or EEE would be a pain and any bigger would be laptop territory, it is reasonably sharp and is bright enough to use in sunlight.
We don't miss the lack of a DVD drive as the HD is big enough and there is an SD slot that you can stick a large capacity card in to act as a second HD.
Ergonomics are good except I think they could have made it easier to open up as I find it a little difficult to grip the side. The external size is perfect, fits easily in a rucksac, briefcase, handbag etc.... it is smaller in area than a sheet of A4 paper!
The webcam is excellent, a 1.3Mp camera which is one of the best if not the best of the current crop. We've used it on conference calls/video chat and its pretty good.
Main drawback however is the speakers. They are rubbish. Very tinny sound for watching videos or listening to music so we tend to use external speakers or earphones.
As we use it for mobile internet, I would have liked to see a SIM card slot but as lots of places now have free wifi its not a big loss.
All in all its a cracking bit of kit and I have no regrets getting it.
OP
- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
If I upgraded the memory to 2mb do you reckon it would work with Lightroom when I'm out and about?
Upgrading the ram would help, but the processor wasn't designed for heavy work nor is the graphics card or the rest of the machine so I could imagine it struggling with lightroom. Also, for processing work the screen may be a bit too small for your liking. Seems like you need a proper laptop mate.
OP
- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
True, I need a new laptop, I just can't bring myself to spend money that could go on more important things, like lenses 
grumpybadger
Alan Rickman
- Messages
- 4,638
- Name
- Paul Beastall
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I have an Advent 4213 (I wanted embedded mobile broadband) which uses the same chipset that I've put Vista on and run Lightroom on. I've upgraded it to 2 Gbyte RAM.
Lightroom runs well as a catalogue and viewing prog (which is all I want on the move) but making 100% previews from my 1DsII is very slow. I use it to download cards on the move and then export the catalogue onto my home PC when I return from travels.
Paul
Lightroom runs well as a catalogue and viewing prog (which is all I want on the move) but making 100% previews from my 1DsII is very slow. I use it to download cards on the move and then export the catalogue onto my home PC when I return from travels.
Paul
OP
- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Doesn't Vista slow it right down?
grumpybadger
Alan Rickman
- Messages
- 4,638
- Name
- Paul Beastall
- Edit My Images
- Yes
No, not noticably. Prefer the power management too.
OP
- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I popped over to PC World and had a play with one - so that's that idea knocked on the head
I popped over to PC World and had a play with one - so that's that idea knocked on the head
What did you find bad about the NC10? I've been thinking about one for travel photo storage.
OP
- Messages
- 27,793
- Edit My Images
- Yes
The resolution of the screen, although tbh I wasn't expecting anything great anyway and the touchpad. I know these are minor issues, but they just put me off, at least until they knock a hundred quid off the price
R
reddeathdrinker
Guest
The NC10 looks a good bet - I have the Advent 4211, running the latest MSI Wind BIOS. I did have Vista on it, ran very nicely with 2GB of RAM, but I went back to XP, as one of its uses is as an ebook reader these days...
I'm very happy with it
I'm very happy with it