[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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database 3651 (20081129) __________

  The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

  http://www.eset.com


  __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 3651 (20081129) __________

  The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

  http://www.eset.com



__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 3651 (20081129) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

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