Samsung NC10

dory · 23-12-2008 10:35AM

Hey, I'm thinking of getting one of these after Christmas.

Anyone know, how annoying is it to not have a CD drive, and how awkward is it to use an external one? Is it just a case of plug and play? Cheers.

The_Conductor · 23-12-2008 10:38AM

dory wrote: »

Hey, I'm thinking of getting one of these after Christmas.

Anyone know, how annoying is it to not have a CD drive, and how awkward is it to use an external one? Is it just a case of plug and play? Cheers.

Its simple- just plug and play, no software to install or anything (depending on what you want to do of course). Most external drives come with some basic software (OEM version of Nero, or Win DVD for example).

Note: using the external drive on battery power will murder the battery. Also the power supplied from the USB ports on the NC10 is halved while on battery power (as opposed to plugged in) so some particularly power hungry devices may need a double USB plug (if it needs one- it'll probably come with one......)

S.

Alanstrainor · 23-12-2008 10:39AM

How annoying not having a cd drive depends on your own usage. Personally i rarely use a disc drive on my laptop and netbook. So not havuing one really doesnt bother me, a cd = 700mb, a 1Gb usb stick costs peanuts these days. Using an external is as simple as plug and play, but whether or not you even need one is questionable.

Basq · 23-12-2008 10:40AM

dory wrote: »

Anyone know, how annoying is it to not have a CD drive, and how awkward is it to use an external one? Is it just a case of plug and play? Cheers.

Well.. if you're like me, you haven't used a CD drive in 3 years.

What does a CD drive do that an ISO and emulation software, or USB key can't? Not a whole lot!

But you could buy a USB powered external CD / DVD drive if needs be.

Ricky91t · 23-12-2008 10:46AM

basquille wrote: »

Well.. if you're like me, you haven't used a CD drive in 3 years.

What does a CD drive do that an ISO and emulation software, or USB key can't? Not a whole lot!

But you could buy a USB powered external CD / DVD drive if needs be.

Agree,100%
I use deamon tools life,alot of the time images can be downloaded or just burn it on your pc or laptop.TBH my pc has got less than 5 hours of use since getting my NC10....

Alanstrainor · 23-12-2008 11:01AM

I know, my advent has almost become my main computer, seeing that 90% of the time i just browse the net.

Villain · 23-12-2008 11:27AM

I'm just building a Samsung P210 here, 12" with DVDrw built in with Intel Core 2 Duo, looks a nice laptop obviously a step up from the NC10 in size and price and a step down in battery but for those who need a little more power its a nice laptop and comes with Vista and XP media!

vibe666 · 23-12-2008 11:30AM

i read somewhere that a U3 based USB pen drive can be hacked to boot from an iso image stored on it, and i know you can set regular ones up as bootable too so that most OS installtion disks can be moved onto them and then booted directly from USB.

afaik the only reason you'd ever really need a cd drive is to install an OS and you don't een need one to do that any more.

if you LAN is a decent speed you could probably just set up a PXE network boot if your bios supports it and host the OS installation disk on another PC.

there's plenty of ways around it anyway.

davemie · 23-12-2008 12:17PM

basquille wrote: »

Well.. if you're like me, you haven't used a CD drive in 3 years.

What does a CD drive do that an ISO and emulation software, or USB key can't? Not a whole lot!

But you could buy a USB powered external CD / DVD drive if needs be.

I can't understand why someone hasn't designed a USB memory stick, that allows you to copy an ISO onto it, and with the switch of a button (on the stick), the stick then appears to the PC as a USB CD/DVD drive and the ISO appears as a disk that is inserted in the drive!!!

This would make things so simple. No more messing around trying to get OS/Apps/Games etc installed from a USB drives.

Maybe I should patent this idea... what ya think? Or maybe it already exists and I just don't know......

davemie · 23-12-2008 12:20PM

vibe666 wrote: »

i read somewhere that a U3 based USB pen drive can be hacked to boot from an iso image stored on it, and i know you can set regular ones up as bootable too so that most OS installtion disks can be moved onto them and then booted directly from USB.

Bugger, you bet me too it, guess I should read the thread in full before posting my comments. I was drinking last night, so that's my excuse!

Villain · 23-12-2008 12:21PM

davemie wrote: »

I can't understand why someone hasn't designed a USB memory stick, that allows you to copy an ISO onto it, and with the switch of a button (on the stick), the stick then appears to the PC as a USB CD/DVD drive and the ISO appears as a disk that is inserted in the drive!!!

This would make things so simple. No more messing around trying to get OS/Apps/Games etc installed from a USB drives.

Maybe I should patent this idea... what ya think? Or maybe it already exists and I just don't know......

USB drives can emulate CD drives the Vodafone 3G dongle does it

Basq · 23-12-2008 12:23PM

davemie wrote: »

Maybe I should patent this idea... what ya think? Or maybe it already exists and I just don't know......

As vibe666 said above, there is a trick with the U3 based USB keys that allows you to emulate an ISO from it (by replacing the U3 ISO with one of your own).

See here!

EDIT: Bah.. took too long in a reply.. hate that!

Supercell · 23-12-2008 01:21PM

Bootable pen drives are the way ahead i think as is solid state storage in general in all likelyhood.
The only thing I've used cd's for in the last few years is OS installation and given the speed that Vista went on to my NC10 via usb key I wont be doing os installation by cd again.
By the way I would recommend Alcohol 52% over daemon-tools any day. It's also free, but has better emulation and is not riddled with spyware, and has other features such as remote iscsi virtual drives.

TinCool · 23-12-2008 02:33PM

basquille wrote: »

As vibe666 said above, there is a trick with the U3 based USB keys that allows you to emulate an ISO from it (by replacing the U3 ISO with one of your own).

See here!

EDIT: Bah.. took too long in a reply.. hate that!

Is it possible to use the same technique and creat a bootable install USB for Vista ? I have an NC10 and would like to install vista on it. I don't have an external DVD drive so may be the USB would be an option.

Scrub that. Looks like this linky should do the trick: http://www.techmixer.com/install-windows-vista-from-bootable-usb-flash-memory-drive/

vibe666 · 23-12-2008 02:50PM

yep, there's quite a few apps out there that will do it from a standard ISO image or original CD/DVD.

you might need a U3 one though if it's a custom install CD, i seem to remember someone saying that the likes of tinyxp don't work from a standard usb drive.

Fnz · 24-12-2008 11:54PM

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Have you tried updating the wireless driver?

Sorry for not replying sooner - Xmas and all. Thanks for the suggestion but iirc it comes with the latest drivers. Will have to double check when I get the chance.

ongarite wrote: »

Go to Control Panel-Mouse-Device Settings-Settings.
In Virtual Scrolling disable vertical & chiralMotion scrolling.
In Pointer Motion, disable Pinch (this is causing the zoom to happen)

In 2FingerScroll program, tick "Start with Windows", change Speed to 2 and disable Acceleration & change "One + one finger" to middle button.

Thanks, works fine now.

bcdccm · 26-12-2008 10:34PM

not sure if this q was asked before but what driver do i need to get the camera working after installing vista? Everytime desktop appears after boot i get message looking for driver for "Namuga 1.3 camera"
Thanks

Donald-Duck · 26-12-2008 11:41PM

Supercell wrote: »

Bootable pen drives are the way ahead i think as is solid state storage in general in all likelyhood.
The only thing I've used cd's for in the last few years is OS installation and given the speed that Vista went on to my NC10 via usb key I wont be doing os installation by cd again.
By the way I would recommend Alcohol 52% over daemon-tools any day. It's also free, but has better emulation and is not riddled with spyware, and has other features such as remote iscsi virtual drives.

If you read what you're installing on Daemon tools you'd notice all the "spyware" is optional :P

blobert · 27-12-2008 01:19AM

Hi folks, after spending much of the day trying to install XP via USB and failing I put Vista Ultimate on. I've installed all drivers and BIOS update, I turned off Aero and other effects but I'm still finding it very sluggish compared to XP. Some of the rest of you seem to be happy with Vista SP 1 performance so pehaps I have done something wrong. I tried installing a 2GB SD card for Readyboost in the hope of improving it but it's still sluggish.

Don't think its worth getting the extra RAM, I think the money might be better spent on an external USB DVD Drive to install Xp.

If anyone has any suggestions on ways to speed things up let me know.

Oh and the function keys do not seem to be working either. I thought I saw a solution here but I can't find it now:(

slinger99 · 28-12-2008 04:41PM

Just got my nc10...what a joy to behold....even nicer to use than my dell xps laptop....not the most powerful computer in the world but you get exactly what it says on the tin....no probs transferring music etc...connected up to my friends wireless network & surfed away no prob.:D

Alanstrainor · 28-12-2008 04:51PM

blobert wrote: »

Hi folks, after spending much of the day trying to install XP via USB and failing I put Vista Ultimate on. I've installed all drivers and BIOS update, I turned off Aero and other effects but I'm still finding it very sluggish compared to XP. Some of the rest of you seem to be happy with Vista SP 1 performance so pehaps I have done something wrong. I tried installing a 2GB SD card for Readyboost in the hope of improving it but it's still sluggish.

Don't think its worth getting the extra RAM, I think the money might be better spent on an external USB DVD Drive to install Xp.

If anyone has any suggestions on ways to speed things up let me know.

Oh and the function keys do not seem to be working either. I thought I saw a solution here but I can't find it now:(

Upgrade the RAM to 2Gigs, it's cheap to do and will give you the most gains as far as performance is concerned. Wouldn't bother with the whole ready boost, it's a bit of a waste of time tbh.

Kotek Besar · 28-12-2008 09:57PM

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Upgrade the RAM to 2Gigs..

Is this a must if installing Vista? Or just a "nice to have"? Can I ask, what is the 2gb RAM stick of choice for the NC10?

Thanks!

blobert · 28-12-2008 11:46PM

Thanks, I removed the SD card and turned off Readyboost which sped things up a bit.

I think I might just switch back to XP if I can get it to work, I prefer it to Vista and it should be significantly quicker without needing a RAM upgrade.

The function keys do not seem to be working either. I thought I saw a solution here but I can't find it now, does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks

Ricky91t · 29-12-2008 12:41AM

This machine is still impressing me,Keep working no matter what..I'm now dualbooting mac osx leopard and Xp,Ran photoshop CS4 extended on Mac making 3D graphics and it was struggling but still usable will be upgrading to 2gb ram

The_Conductor · 29-12-2008 08:14AM

benifa wrote: »

Is this a must if installing Vista? Or just a "nice to have"? Can I ask, what is the 2gb RAM stick of choice for the NC10?

Thanks!

Any 667Mhz DDR2 SODIMM should do the trick. (The memory will effectively be underclocked to 533Mhz- the FSB speed, but will be more stable).

S.

lou f · 29-12-2008 11:00PM

looking at picking up an nc10, are all the OSX issues sorted and does it make the machine any faster than the XP install? also how well do .raw picture files run with the 2gb of ram?

ta

30-12-2008 04:14PM

This post has been deleted.

El_MUERkO · 30-12-2008 04:28PM

i've gotten about 5/6 hours of use before recharging, watched a movie on the plane and it went from full battery to 78%

smemon · 30-12-2008 04:31PM

The Scientist wrote: »

I dont think the Battery life is gonna be great in this...
Big thread about Battery wear here is not inspiring confidence at all.

I've noticed as well a few weeks ago when i got it, by clicking 'max battery performance' (in Samsung battery manager) would give you close to 7hrs.
Now i've it charged 100% and its only showing 4hrs56.

The problem is that nobody knows how to properly look after a battery. Do we discharge fully / charge at 40%? How do we break it in? Charge for 12 hours right out of the box? So much conflicting information and we get confused with the battery advice from other devices.

Percentages mean nothing unless it translates in to loss of time. Has anyone actually timed an NC10 from fully charged to fully discharged on that thread? No, they just spot check windows battery bar or some dodgy percentage program.

QED.

El_MUERkO · 30-12-2008 04:33PM

smemon wrote: »

The problem is that nobody knows how to properly look after a battery. Do we discharge fully / charge at 40%? How do we break it in? Charge for 12 hours right out of the box? So much conflicting information and we get confused with the battery advice from other devices.

Percentages mean nothing unless it translates in to loss of time. Has anyone actually timed an NC10 from fully charged to fully discharged on that thread? No.

QED.

the battery comes 100% charged out of the box

Samsung NC10

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