[bcab] Re: Samsung NC 10 netbook

Hi Tony.

Thanks for this.  I certainly think that is good advice though to be honest 
everywhere seems to be showing a loss at the moment.  There are really no high 
street chain type alternatives to PC World however so I would think it would be 
possible to sell it as an ongoing concern even if DSG did go to the wall.  I 
suspect many sgtores would shut though.

Cheers

Graham
Graham Page
Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax:  0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Skype: gabriel_mcbird
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tony M Dart 
  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 7:47 PM
  Subject: [bcab] Re: Samsung NC 10 netbook


  Hello Graham

  My info about PC World is not definitive. It appears that a recent news 
broadcast a family member listened to said that both PC World and B&Q would 
continue to trade over the Christmas period, but the outlook in the New Year 
was very gloomy. The parent company (DSG, I think) has posted large financial 
losses over the last half-year.

  Marks and Spencers made a prediction last Christmas that they would wind-up 
in the New Year, but had such a good trading period in December that they are 
still with us. PC World may do the same, but the economic climate is different 
now.

  So it is by no means certain that PC World will cease trading - may even just 
be over-reaction by the newscaster to the collapse of Woollies and MFI. 
However, I for one won't be buying anything there for which I'd want support 
(such as a guarantee) until well in the New Year - provided they are still 
there.

  Regards
  Tony

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Graham Page 
    To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 4:07 PM
    Subject: [bcab] Re: Samsung NC 10 netbook


    It would be interesting if Tony could explain where he gets this one from 
as looking the information up on the internet does not find any rumours about 
PC World shutting here.  This being said, PC World has shut its operations in 
Ireland and plans were announced in may to shut a number of stores.

    the problem with pC World, unlike places like Woolworths is not the product 
they sell.  These days PC World sells a decent range of computers and 
peripherals and they will sell in store at the same price they sell online if 
you ask.  The problem with PC World and their partner store curries is 
unfortunately that of staff.  This is certainly the case in London at least 
though I have heard this criticism about other stores to.  the problem seems to 
be that staff have a lack of knowledge about the products they sell and rather 
than admitting this they just come out with reams of sales prattle.  Once you 
start asking any kind of technical question however their lack of knowledge can 
become all too quickly exposed.
    I think therefore that if PC World does fail, it will not be before time in 
some ways, though it would mean the collapse of a potentially very useful shop. 
 They need to think of the operation in a more holistic way rather than just 
concentrating on how they can meet their minimum requirements at the very 
lowest cost.  Customer service and genuin product knowledge or at least an 
overall knowledge and interest in the subject are vital.

    Cheers

    Graham
    Graham Page
    Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
    Mobile: 07753 607980
    Fax:  0870 706 2773
    Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
    Skype: gabriel_mcbird
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Tom Reid 
      To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
      Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 11:31 AM
      Subject: [bcab] Re: Samsung NC 10 netbook


      Hi Graham,

      really 8useful stuff. 

      got my first advent mid August, battery failed after a month and it took 
more than a month for PC world to replace so got another machine. Now, the 
wireless is playing up.  A bit bothered by what Tony was saying about PC world 
potentially going out of business. Don't know what is going to happen if send 
the machine away.

      Tom

        

      Tom



--------------------------------------------------------------------------
      From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Graham Page
      Sent: 30 November 2008 04:10
      To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
      Subject: [bcab] Samsung NC 10 netbook


      Hi all.

      I have mentioned this netbook before and read quite a few reviews and 
comments here and there.  A google search for Samsung NC10 review will bring up 
plenty.  Essentially the common view is generally that the Samsung NC10 is the 
top dog at the moment.  It was £299 though I believe that PC World sell it for 
£320 now.

      I never got to really look at one in PC World but today I got chance to 
set one up from scratch and do some work on another to get them both up to the 
same spec.  Essentially they were well behaved machines that worked well with 
JAWS and should work well with other screenreaders.  They use the Intel GMA950 
chipset I think.

      Reviews say they look more like a professional ultraportable than the MSI 
Wind, Advent 4211 etc. and I would agree with this.  They are certainly a bit 
less curvy.  The keyboard feels good to use and is generally well laid out but 
you gain a page up and a page down key to either side of the up arrow key but 
as a result the right shift key is rather small and feels too far over to the 
right.  The Control key is on the left however and the keyboard is perfectly 
comfortable to use.  You can turn off the mouse pad with FN key f10 which is 
good to know.

      In some reports, it has been suggested that the hinge could be a little 
weak.  It felt reasonable to me and not all reviewers say the hinge is week 
though if you move the display sharply during use the screen can flex causing a 
ripple effect to appear.  Ports stick out very slightly from the case as 
plastic moulding sticks out a fraction to hold them.  The battery sticks out a 
centimetre perhaps from the bottom of the machine.  It is a little more back 
heavy than the MSI Wind but not much.  

      The basic building blocks and spec in terms of connectivity are the same 
as the MSI Wind and indeed many of the other netbooks using the Atom 270 chips. 
 You do get a considerably better built in mike in the Samsung NC10 though 
which could be useful if you need to make a quick skype call somewhere.

      The NC10 does come with quite a lot of software including a recovery tool 
that keeps popping up until you run it.  It puts an image of your windows setup 
into the D drive which is a partition of the hard disk.  The hard disk is in 
fact split in half giving about 70 gig each I believe.  This recovery program 
reboots and asks a couple of questions before starting the recovery so if you 
want to do the recovery you will need sighted assistance.  Otherwise you could 
just uninstall it but things could be problematic if your hard disk dies.

      I have now come across Mcafee Internet Security on 2 PCs running Vista 
and 3 running Windows XP in the last couple of weeks.  On the NC10 you get the 
software half installed.  You need to install it fully if you really must use 
this software.  I have seen few programs that seem to slow even the fastest PCs 
down so much.  Removing Mcafee is best done by clicking the remind me later 
button that comes up in the Mcafee window.  This is spoken when you tab to it y 
Narator but not JAWS.  Go to add/remove programs and remove Mcafee security as 
soon as possible.  Use separate fire walls, spyware protection and antivirus 
programs or give the beta of Nod32 a go.

      Over all, if I were buying a netbook today I would go for the NC10 at the 
moment.

      Regards

      Graham

      Graham Page
      Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
      Mobile: 07753 607980
      Fax:  0870 706 2773
      Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
      Skype: gabriel_mcbird


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