Samsung slaughter Asus's Eee PC?
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Samsung slaughter Asus's Eee PC?
I have been thinking of getting an Asus Eee PC (one of the new ones) for a while.
Just noticed this:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2008/11/17/Samsung-NC10---10-2in-Netbook/p1Samsung NC10 - 10.2in Netbook - £299.99 (or cheaper)
Design - Score 10 for Design
Features - Score 9 for Features
Performance - Score 9 for Performance
Value - Score 10 for Value
Overall - Score 10 for Overall
Running a standard definition video, with screen brightness and volume at 50 per cent, the NC10 continued running for a superb five hours and 40 minutes.
To test for a theoretical maximum battery life we ran the Reader test in Battery Eater using these settings and with brightness set to its minimum. This, in an overnight test, returned an epic nine hours and 45 minutes.
In more realistic conditions, using Wi-Fi for web browsing, listening to music and word processing, the NC10 delivered a minimum four and a half hours at maximum brightness and up to six hours with more optimised settings.
It might be late to the party, but Samsung has clearly listened to users and learned from the competition, thus producing a supremely balanced proposition. Attractive design and reassuring build quality are married to a great keyboard and superb battery and if one or two things, like the token slip case, could be improved upon, all is forgotten when you look at the price. Unless integrated HSDPA is high on your agenda, you can buy an NC10 with great confidence. In its class: it is the best.
I think I might just get one of these babies.
Another glowing review from 'Laptop':
Picked up Editor's choice.
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-nc10.aspx?page=1 This 10-inch netbook trumps the field with its spacious keyboard and more than 6 hours of battery life.
The Samsung NC10 has joined the ranks of 10-inch netbooks—including the Eee PC 1000H, MSI Wind, and Lenovo IdeaPad S10—and it beats them all.
Video review:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YT7ZXxkDbRc Bloody hell!!!
It runs games.
Video of someone playing GTAIII: San Andreas!!!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T4jKNK9QnT0&feature=relatedLooks as fast as playing on a desktop.
Looks good. I have just buggered up my EeePC 901 after installing a touchpanel so I need to be on the lookout for a replacement netbook!
I do like the fact it has a bigger keyboard and bright screen. This will be nice for programming on the move
Bloody hell!!! .. It runs games .. Video of someone playing GTAIII: San Andreas!!!
Seems to be on a par with eee PC 901 from my experience. GTA VC runs no problem except for busy times.
Games like Duke Nukem 3D run absolutely perfect though.
It's a shame manufactuers always seem to stick with Intel graphics chipsets
Hi all,
On the top-left corner, there is a number flashing. Is it frame per second showing in the game? (It is around 15-20 at the end of the video)
Yep. FPS readout
I hope the NC10 can boot from the USB. Very handy for Linux/Backup restoration
There is actually video footage of people running games like Morrowind and even Oblivion on the Asus Eee PC.
You may have to run them in minimal settings - but hey - better than nothing.
I think these things are cool for the size of them, the battery life and the cost.
A lot of people do like the newer Asus Eee PC and of course there is the MSI Wind one.
I've decided to get one, just unsure of which. Performance with all of them is going to be pretty much the same. I'm leaning to the Samsung though as it is rated so highly by people who have used the others before it.
It seems to have the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 which is 400MHz core and DirectX 9 3D hardware acceleration
A couple of things which would sway it for me:
a) Which is the lightest?
b) Which one has longer battery life?
c) Which one offers the best screen
Samsung seem to have a really good screen and good battery according to the review
The biggie though is the larger keyboard. The eee's small keyboard can feel a little bouncy and flexible to use. The most annoying design flaw though is the way the cursors are moved up into the layout resulting in a small RIGHT shift key. Also, because the RETURN key is small I tend to constantly hit the key above it
I just ordered the NC10 from PCWorld.
I went for the black version - as it looks cooler.
God!, I am such a big kid!!!
I have no idea what I am going to use it for or if I even have a use for it.
£299 PLUS Extra 1GB which £99 whoof!
If I hadn't just bought a new lappy then I would've bought this one
I might order one next week. Let me know how it runs when you get it Puki. In particular if it supports booting from the USB
A couple of things which would sway it for me:
a) Which is the lightest?
b) Which one has longer battery life?
c) Which one offers the best screen
At 2.8 pounds this is about .2 pounds heavier than the MSI Wind and .2 pounds lighter than the Asus EEE 1000, so it's fairly light. And reviews claim it has good battery life and a good screen.
The Samsung NC10 is actually the first netbook I actually like and would consider buying (if I didn't already have a nice laptop). It's design is very nice (similar to the new Sony Vaio's), battery life is really good, screen and keyboard seem to be high quality, it seems really durable and convenient, etc.
The only problem I see is that since it's almost 3 pounds, it's almost as heavy as some 13" laptops (although 3-pound 13" laptops usually cost $2000+). But for the price I'd say this laptop is definitely worth it.
grrr! but its a Samsung which I can't buy.
I have the smaller eeepc, which is very nice (and can play GTA SA ;) )
BUT, if I was getting one now the samsung is the one I would go for. A very good machine.
I messed about with one for a while, and the main thing I though was how good the screen and keyboard where.. Both an improvement over the eeePC (imho).
Had anyone heard of HP Mini 1000 and it is better than samsung n10?
"Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950"
Nice!!!
I've seen the HP Mini 1000... Nasty!
God, I can't take all the excitement.
Look at all the videos on You Tube:
http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=samsung+nc10&search_type
I love my 901, that's all I'll say :)
Sniff my Large:
EDIT: This must be some foreign version of it - the proper English keyboard looks nicer.
Cor - different keyboard?
I found an NC10 blogger:
http://www.samsungnc10.blogercise.com/What a small world - I am going to find out where they live so I can go round and kiss their bottom.
Just realised that I will need to get a USB CD/DVD drive for it.
How about this little baby:
£44.64 - a bit expensive; however, it is tiny and slimline - I assume low power drain as it is not the fastest drive in the world (DVD 8x / CD 24x) - it is a Samsung and it matches the colouring of my black NC10.
> I love my 901, that's all I'll say :)
Me too now I got mine working again!!
(I prompty removed the touch panel which I recently installed. The TS is not worth fitting. Too many operational problems)
Looking at the NC10 keyboard, I can definately see me hitting the cursor <--> PG up/down keys by mistake. WHY must manufacturers cut corners on keyboad layouts? They make nice big keys everywhere else then shrink the important cursor controls
Does that external CD drive need it's own power source? Or, can it run from the USB?
Cool!!!
I had been kind of thinking of getting a netbook for wireless web browsing and coding. I had looked at the EEE PC, but I was disapointed by it's specs. I'll definately look at this - Samsung makes the best stuff! (I've almost lost count of how many Samsung TVs and LCDs I have!)
About playing games on it: is it possible/legal to copy the discs onto USB drives/SD cards and play them, instead of having to buy and then lug around a DVD drive? (That would kind of defeat the purpose of getting an 'ultraportable'.)
Also, I hear this has some pretty good integrater gfx - does any one know if it can run XNA?
Wow. Even if I can't do either of the above, I may have to get one anyway just because it's so cool!
Does that external CD drive need it's own power source? Or, can it run from the USB?
As far as I know the Sammy external DVD runs from the USB2 lead.
EDIT:
The SE-S084B is the one of the smallest drives in the world, giving power via the USB cable, this drive is truely the most portable burners available.
- DVD+R: 8x, DVD-R: 8x
- DVD+R DL: 6x, DVD-R DL: 6x
- DVD+RW: 8x, DVD-RW: 6x
- DVD-ROM Read: 24x
- CD-R Write: 24x
- CD-RW Write 4x
- CD Read: 24x
- Access time: 130ms
- Buffer Size: 2MB
About playing games on it: is it possible/legal to copy the discs onto USB drives/SD cards and play them, instead of having to buy and then lug around a DVD drive? (That would kind of defeat the purpose of getting an 'ultraportable'.)
Yeah, you can convert a CD/DVD to an image, copy the image to a flash drive, and using software like "Daemon Tools" you can create a virtual CD/DVD drive with the image. I don't think it can be illegal as long as you own the original disk.
Cool! I think I had read something like that in CPU mag. I might do that for some games on my desktop too. Thanks!
Got my black NC10 today from currys.digital shop (by accident :D ). Looks nice so far. I personally wouldn't bother with a DVD drive, but I do already have one lying around that I can use if absolutely necessary.
Currently installing updates and stuff, and then gonna give BlitzMax/3D a whirl.
Can you get one in the US, or has Best Buy just not gotten them yet? :-) (it's not on their web site)
Also, does the graphics support Shader Model 1.1?
Cor!!!
"Beaker" - we really are like father (you) and son (me)
Don't forget to try Blitz3D on it!!!
Bloody-hell - it isn't fair - he's got his already.
Don't forget to keep us up-to-date with every detail.
In fact, do you have a web-cam - can I watch you play with it?
@Beaker
Could you check if the Lappy can boot via USB?
Thanks
Beaky let us know how well it runs bmax stuff.
Ignore "smilertoo" - test Blitz3D thoroughly first.
the black samsung keyboard reminds me of a.....SPECTRUM so its all good
Blitz3D works great. Just ran the bird sample in windowed and fullscreen. Very smooth.
BlitzMax fine as well. Teapot, fireworks and spintext all tested.
Blitz3D works great
I hope my NC10 arrives tomorrow.
God, I cannot take the excitement!
BlitzMax fine as well. Teapot, fireworks and spintext all tested.
Good news!
I may get one of these.. depends if everything works in Ubuntu or not.
Is the battery life really as good as the review states?
That is good :)
The battery life is defineteley 5+ hours. I have seen lots of customer testomies to it. Many claim 6+ hours. The battery is not in doubt - you will get in the region of 6 hours from it.
Why the hell did I buy mine online?
I could have just walked into a shop and walked out with it.
Sniff.
I bet PC World take weeks to deliver it.
I bet it arrives broken.
Sniff.
@Beaker
Sorry, one more request,
Any chance of running the quick test in the link below? I tested it on eee PC 901 but could only get 26 FPS max. It would be interesting to see how the NC10 copes
http://www.greyaliengames.com/misc/spritetest.zipREF:
http://www.blitzmax.com/Community/posts.php?topic=81349I won't bug you again (hehe) Thanks!
This benchmark shows the CPUs that the Atom N270 beats, or is close to:
Not too far behind the 1.8 GHz Pentium 4 that sits in desktops.
I went into a few currys and pc worlds yesterday, but couldn't find one anywhere even tho there were some on display. I just happened to go into a different currys today for something else and noticed they had one being demonstrated. I bought the last one they had.
Apparantly, they are selling very fast.
There are multiple threads about the NC10 on Eee PC and other competitor forum sites.
People are jumping ship to the NC10.
The whole world seems to be talking about the NC10.
Every Blitzer should get one.
Jim - only 26 fps here as well. Probably hamstrung by fill rate.
Yeh, but it is the same CPU so no surprises really.
We can get more performance from the N270.
I shall certainly be juicing mine up like a jolly badger on a sun-lounger.
I think netbook is going to get abit bigger and larger batteries will be on way like 9 Cell and next one will be 12 Cells whoa!
I am generally loving it all. Only downer apart from small trackpad (which is ok) is that the trackpad button 'rocker' is rubbish - small and cheap feeling.
I'm used to full sized keyboards and some smaller keyboards, so wierdly it will take a little getting used to that.
They don't need a bigger batteries; 5-6 hours is great - double the time of a lot of laptops.
It isn't a laptop - therefore doesn't need the extra juice for a separate graphics card, soundcard, etc.
It's the great thing about a netbook - small, light(ish), cheap(ish), but great battery life. Acceptable gaming performance with no overheads.
It's what makes the netbook great, and why people are loving them.
With regard to the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950:
Theoretical pixel fill-rate of 1600 megapixels/s.
However, no hardware geometry processing. Neither basic (DX7) hardware transform and lighting, or more advanced vertex shaders (DX8 and later) are handled in the GMA hardware.
EDIT:
It supports Shader Model 3.0 (instead of 2.0) and can decode 2 HD Streams simultaneously.
It supports DirectX 9.0 with Shader Model 3.0 (Vertex Shader are calculated in Software - by the CPU) and OpenGL 1.4. Furthermore, the chip is able to accelerate the decoding of MPEG2 videos and supports Motion Compensation (2 HD Streams simultaneously).
EDIT:
From Intel's site:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Core
256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz
Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate
Up to 224 MB maximum video memory
2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution
Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support
Operating systems supported: Microsoft Windows* XP, Windows* XP 64bit, Media Center Edition 2004/2005, Windows 2000; Linux-compatible (Xfree86 source available)
High Performance 3D
Up to 4 pixels per clock rendering
Microsoft* DirectX* 9 Hardware Acceleration Features:
Pixel Shader 2.0
Volumetric Textures
Shadow Maps
Slope Scale Depth Bias
Two-Sided Stencil
Microsoft* DirectX* 9 Vertex Shader 3.0 and Transform and Lighting supported in software through highly optimized Processor Specific Geometry Pipeline (PSGP)
Texture Decompression for DirectX* and OpenGL*
OpenGL* 1.4 support plus ARB_vertex_buffer and EXT_shadow_funcs extensions and TexEnv shader caching
Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
"puki" slams and "puki" dunks.
I bet the NC10 and similar competing units don't have DDR2 667 factory installed.
"Beaker", what is inside yours?
The NC10 only has 1 RAM slot - so, it is a case of replacing it with a 2GB DDR2 667 - as 2GB is the max.
"puki" swishes, "puki" sways.
EDIT:
Possible firmware update too:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/download/supportDown.do?group=&type=&subtype=&model_nm=NP-NC10&disp_nm=NP-NC10&language=&cate_type=all&dType=D&mType=FM&vType=L&prd_ia_cd=
Wait a minute.
The manual says that it is an Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset - but it uses the word 'optional' in brackets.
There is a hell of a lot of Product Specifications in the digitial manual that say 'Optional'.
The system specifications may differ depending on the derived models...
I am unclear as to what the hell is inside the NC10 at the moment.
EDIT:
If it is 945GSE then that equates to single-channel, non-ECC, 400/533 MHz DDR2 RAM - which is probably what is installed. Which kind of kills off 'Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory'. The point is, the GMA 950 is part of the 945GSE.
So, how does the 667 make any difference?
God, I can't wait for mine to arrive so I can take it to pieces.
According to Samsung's official German site - German models have DDR2 667 MHz.
Samsung UK is yet to properly show NC10 info; however, Play state the UK model as DDR2 533 MHz - which is what I have seen UK owners saying.
PC World (where I bought mine) doesn't state exact memory specs.
Amazon are quoting US models with DDR2 800 MHz.
As I speak (type), Samsung UK have created a proper page for the NC10 - they have literally just created it dated 'November 19, 2008' - which is tomorrow, the cheeky scamps.
http://www.samsung.com/uk/function/search/resultList.do?searchWord=nc10Top one in the list - you'll see it is dated for tomorrow.
EDIT:
System Memory 1GB (DDR2 / 1GB x 1)
Memory Slot 1 x SODIMM
They haven't confirmed the exact specs for the memory.
Mine has DDR2 667 according to SIW.
Pixel Shader 2.0
Whoo-hoo! That means it *should* run XNA!
I gotta get me one of these!!
The DVD drive has arrived from Overclockers; however, PC World have not despatched my NC10 yet - they quoted 3-4 working days for delivery and it still says 'Order in progress'.
Tomorrow is the 4th day - it better arrive.
Hand it over.
Here is Intel's list of compatible games for the chipset - obviously not a full list - just ones they have tested:
http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel945gm/sb/CS-021400.htm Age of Empires III* Details
The Apprentice*
Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny*
The Bard's Tale*
Black & White* 2
Championship Manager* 5
City of Villains*
Civilization III: Conquests*
Colin McRae Rally 2005*
Command & Conquer*: The First Decade*
Conflict: Global Terror*
CSI: Miami*
Doom 3*
Doom 3* Resurrection of Evil* Expansion Pack Details
Dungeon Siege* II
Empire Earth* II
ER*
Fable: The Lost Chapters*
Falcon 4 - Allied Force*
F.E.A.R.*
FIFA 06 Soccer*
Fighting UFO*
Final Fantasy* XI Online
FlatOut*
Ford Racing* 3
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich*
Galactic Civilizations: Dread Lords*
The Godfather*
Guild Wars*
Guild Wars Factions*
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*
The Incredibles*: Rise of the Underminer*
Juiced*
Knights of Honor*
Law & Order: Criminal Intent*
Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle*
The Lord of the Rings*: The Battle for Middle-earth*
Madden NFL 06* Details
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight*
Moto GP* Ultimate Racing Technology* 3
The Movies*
Nancy Drew*: Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon*
Nancy Drew*: Secret of the Old Clock*
Need for Speed* Most Wanted Black Edition
Perimeter: Emperor's Testament*
Phlinx To Go*
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Soaked!*
The Sims*: Complete Collection*
The Sims* 2 Holiday Edition
The Sims* 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack
Star Wars* Empire at War*
Star Wars* Republic Commando*
Sudeki*
SWAT 4*
The Suffering: Ties That Bind* Details
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR* 2005
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR* 2006
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland*
Ultima Online*: Samurai Empire*
Warcraft III: Battlechest*
Warhammer* 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault*
World of Warcraft*
Zoo Tycoon* Complete Collection
Zoo Tycoon* 2: Endangered Species
This looks a great site:
http://www.netbookgamer.com/Not that a netbook is ideal for gaming - but it is kind of cool that you can run games on it. Just in case a laptop owner tries to slate your Sammy.
Champ manager 01/02 will run on Notebook no problem because it only run at 233MHZ where your notebook is 1.6GHZ with 2GB RAM as it will just go vrooom!
It should run Football Manager 2005 as it is within the specs of the N10. Possibly 2007 will run on it as it needs a minimum of 800MHz.
Still waiting for mine to be despatched.
Why did I order from PC World? I could have got next day delivery elsewhere.
I wonder if "Beaker" still likes his? He's been a bit quiet about his.
I might Buy one :)
It's only a computer!
When you first run it you get the option to backup the initial windows install to a 2nd partition, which I did. It means I should be able to return to a fresh install if anything goes pear shaped. I uninstalled the nagging Mcafee license right away.
Speakers on it are under the the front of the keyboard so sound is a bit tiny. Quite a lot quieter than even my Asus (speakers each side of screen). But sound is very clear, and really excellent thru headphones. Video plays well.
The shoulder bag I used for my Asus was really small but I have to used a bigger one for Samsung (at least I do once I've wrapped a padded case around it).
Battery life is quite impressive, particularly compared to my Asus.
Fan is also nice and quiet, although I suspect it comes on more than my Asus cos of its real hard drive.
It has a very slight tendency to fall over backwards on your lap because it is so light. :)
The power lead sticks out the side (instead of the back) which isn't best IMO, but not a big deal. The power supply is small but uses a mini kettle lead. My Asus power supply plugs straight into the wall.
It doesn't feel quite as solid as my Asus (which really is quite chunky and throwable withs its SSD) but feels sturdy enough.
Overall I agree with the reviews. It really is a very nice bit of kit.
Is there no possibility to cancel your order? I've done that before from other places. I almost ordered one from here:
http://www.oyyy.co.uk/product.php/75508/samsung-nc10-netbook-intel-atom--n270--1.6ghz-1024mb--1x1024mb--160gb-10.2-inch-wsvga-tft-lan-wlan-bt-windows-xp--intel-gma-950---black-/d8c52de8261861b05ee77cd7667bffe5 I was actually thinking of cancelling the order; then I got suspicious I would end up waiting again. I'll give PC World until Monday to despatch it, then I will just order one on a next-day delivery elsewhere.
PC World don't offer next-day on this - in fact, all of their special delivery methods are 4-5 days from the point of order. Makes me think that their standard delivery time of 3-4 days is a crock of trollop-plop and will likely be 7+ days.
WHY dont u cancel it now and go to town and buy it today....isnt that hard you know as you got legs to walk there and then if your town is near you!
Its the best for the price but..
The power isnt enough of a jump up from the new eee. having a bit more storage is nice. but making it bigger and heavier isnt really the point of the sub notebooks.
my toshiba has the higher in the range intel graphics chipset and thats rubbish with blitz3d and max when doing anything more than simple demos. It runs games like any laptop with intergrated graphics like a slide show. that coupled with the fact that alot of games will not run at its screen res.
id still get the smaller atom eee just because of it size. its more like a great pda than a pc.
I got mine today, its going back tomorrow...2 dark patches on the screen where it looks like some useless c**t at samsung picked it up by the screen.
God, I hope mine doesn't arrive duff.
My last two gaming PC's were duff and my PocketSurfer 2 was duff.
I had a tft come from samsung where they had packed the plug against the screen so i had 3 square gray dead spots in the middle of the screen. I got it from pixmania so it was hell getting a replacment.
Bought one of these tiny mice to compliment it:
http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?V=1&Sec=7&Sub=38&PID=2736Definitely better than the trackpad.
Bought one of these tiny mice to compliment it
I could never use such an atrocity!
I too am getting a little mouse for mine.
Also, I am upgrading the RAM to the full 2GB - you have to swap out the 1GB which is a bit of a waste - but at least it will be spare RAM - a 2GB RAM stick is only about £20.00 or less. Crucial do the 2GB 667 for about £18.00.
I reckon increasing the RAM will potentially speed the little chap up once you have installed tons of stuff.
hang on...2GB RAM for laptop must be £99 pounds at pc world as I guess that is rip off price isnt it?
No, depends on the RAM - we are talking SODIMMs for the NC10 - cheap as chips.
I have had a thought. Baring in mind it has often been noted that I am a some kind of genius.
Maybe I have seen something - without ever touching the NC10, that nobody else (other than Samsung) has seen.
Many people (including reviewers and columnists) have noted the NC10's touchpad as being a bit small - compared to other netbooks and laptops. Nobody seemed to think it spoilt the NC10, they just thought noted the fact that the touchpad was different.
Basically, the NC10 effectively has a 'widescreen' touchpad. Which some people find a bit odd and cramped. HOWEVER, the NC10 has a widescreen display. Therefore, is the 'widescreen' touchpad actually ideal for the screen? In practice, will this be a great idea?
I have never owned or used a laptop/netbook - I have never used a touchpad before (never) - I wonder if I will instantly take to it, having never used a touchpad before.
To me (and any other new user to laptops/netbooks), it may turn out to be stupid to have anything but a 'widescreen' touchpad for a widescreen display.
I may use the NC10, then use another widescreen laptop/netbook with a squarer touchpad and think it ridiculous that it has a square touchpad.
There is something a bit odd(?) about the touchpad. I don't like 'tapping' or scrolling edge stuff, so I turned it all off. But, something a bit odd happens now: when you are moving the pointer around and a finger accidently touches the scrollbar area (on the right of the trackpad) it stops moving the pointer in one axis. It might be possible to sort this out, but I haven't found out where yet. Annoying and definitely hampers the whole trackpad experience.
Theres meant to be a way of making the trackpad multi touch.
It is already. You can zoom with two fingers and stuff. Bit pointless considering it is so small.
They made the trackpad buttons widescreen as well which makes them impossible to find without looking and hard to press with normal sized fingers.
I have bought it, it will come on Tuesday and I cant wait.
Sniffing nora!
Mine has yet to be despatched by PC World. Still, if it doesn't get despatched on Monday - I shall be getting one on Tuesday to arrive on Wednesday.
well overclockers have received mine back, so a new one should be sent monday...or their tech support will deny theres a problem and send it back, billing me £22 in the process (their tech support appears to be staffed by retarded blind gibbons).
I had that when I returned my defective PC to Cyberpower - I had to pay them to take it back.
Hi,
The Ebay man say this
I thought it best to send you this message before i ship the nc10 to you. I am a linux user and used Linux on the NC10, however even although Samsung provide Recovery media, i was not able to create the recovery partition. If you are none technical you may ask what does that mean? It means the Samsung's proprietary recovery software is not installed. The machine has been restored to the factory state (Windows XP + drivers + Samsung utilities) minus the recovery software. While this feature is a nice to have it is not essential and many third party backup programs are available. I want to offer you a number of options if you can let me know which option you prefer:
1) Throw in a external USB DVD Drive free of charge which will allow you to use the XP Recovery CD when you really need to
2) Give you a refund of £40 as a gesture but without DVD drive
3) Refund all of your money and i'll just relist the item.
Please let me know what you prefer.
What I do think I should do as I bought it for £275
I pick number 3 and I perfer DVD Drive inside the laptop instead of external USB DVD Drive !
Take the £40 discount or the external dvd drive. No netbook includes a dvd drive and requires you to get an external dvd to use the reinstall dvd.
i ask him to give me the full refund instead.
Well like smilertoo said, you're not going to find any netbook with an internal DVD drive, because they don't exist. The closest thing is a premium ultraportable like the Sony TT or Toshiba R500, which include an internal DVD burner, are faster, lighter, stronger, better battery life (8+ hrs), etc., but they cost $2000 - $3000.
They attempted to deliver mine today.
Moron (not me) didn't answer the door.
They will try again tomorrow - I bet moron doesn't answer the door again.
So, I should have mine on Wednesday as I am home all day - so, tomorrow is technically Christmas Eve.
World of Goo plays really well on it. Scales well to the screen size/res.
If anyone can test this on their minitop and post the results, that would be great!
Please download from here:
http://jgoware.com/mge/bmaxtest.exe Run it in full screen (800x600) and window mode, and post your specs along with the frame rate here, thanks.
You can press "V" during the demo to force VSYNC. But you should let it run without vsync for speed tests.
The demo renders 2000 sprites (random alpha and blend mode), draws some lines, clears the screen, uses Drawtext for fps display. So there's enough typical 2dmax features to make it worth while for benchmarking.
My results:
CPU: Intel Celeron 2.9ghz
GPU: Intel 82845G
Window: 29fps
Full Screen: 30fps
FYI: They're called netbooks.
Do you want me to over or under clock the cpu for your test? Also, what res for full screen are you expecting? 1024x600 is the standard for the 901.
Normal clock, straight out as a typical user would use it. The demo runs in 800x600 windowed or full screen. Thanks!
I got this Acer one last weekend.
Linpus™ Linux® Lite version , Intel® Atom™ processor N270 (1.6GHz/FSB: 533MHz/512KB L2 cache), 8.9" TFT WSVGA CrystalBrite LED, 1GB DDR II RAM (2x 512MB), 120GB HDD, SD™ Card expansion, 3-cell Li-ion, 10/100Mbit LAN & Wireless LAN 802.11b/g, 5-in-1 card reader, CrystalEye, Open Office, Seashell White
I replaced Linplus by Windows Vista Ultimate and it really runs well, no troubles with aero. I only needed to look for some drivers on the net to get all hardware working. startup time is about 1min, and battery life is about 2 hours max under Vista. Could buy me a bigger battery later.
I tried running several games just to see how they run which I have on Steam. Small 2d games (except geometric wars) have no problems at all, the screen automaticly stretches the screen when using 640x480 and 800x600. Framerate on most 3D games is too low to play them under 1024x600, like for example Trackmania Nations Forever runs even a bit too slow under 640x480 on lowest gfx settings.
Unreal gold run well so far and the Sam & Max episodes work good as well. Also games using DosBox like the old Doom I and II or Wolfenstein work very well.
Some games didn't work at all because of the intel chipset (bad shader) like Outrun 2006, there is a dll which can do the shading in the game over software but it's too slow so unplayable.
I bought mine to program small games under BlitzMax or to play some games when I'm not at home and bored...
I also tested the Escapi.dll in combination with the buildin webcam and that worked like a charm.
Mine is coming tomorrow morning 9am - I just spoke to the DHL girl that is going to deliver it.
Finally I will get my paws on it.
I hope it isn't broken.
Mine has arrived about 15 minutes ago.
I am going to fully charge the battery before playing with it.
Can't wait to install Blitz3D on it.
First impressions are it is small and compact - yet the screen seems big (which is good). I think it is cute looking. I think it is the type of thing that people will look at it and say 'I want one!'.
Although, it has a 95% sized keyboard (and it is classed as the best netbook keyboard, just ahead of the MSI Wind) - it still seems kind of cramped. I belive this may be an optical illusion as the keys are not like keyboard keys - the are much, much flatter.
The actual touch area (the bit your finger presses) of a normal keyboard key is actually smaller than that of the NC10's keys. Normal keyboard keys are a bit like a pyramid with the upper section cut off - they slope inwards and upwards. The NC10's keys - being a lot shorter in height slope upwards and inwards for less height and therefore the bit of the key you touch is bigger than a normal keyboard key.
I think it is this that makes the keyboard seem cramped as the less height on a key and the less it slopes inwards, the closer it will be to its neighbouring keys.
I hope I explained that well enough.
Still, I haven't started typing with it yet.
So far I have found the touch-pad okay to use - baring in mind I have never used one before.
I will soldier on and not install a mouse so that I can get used to using it.
It (the touchpad) will probabably be rubbish for playing games - unless they are point and click style (like an RTS).
I installed Blitz3D - all seems well.
I am now installing FEAR which is a 2005 game - FEAR has a built-in benchmarker too which is handy for testing. Fear requires a minimum of a 1.7GHz Pentium 4 CPU (or equivalent). The Atom is 1.6GHz, so we shall see how it fairs on minimum settings.
Puki - if possible, give this a run please:
http://jgoware.com/mge/bmaxtest.exe Run it in full screen and window and post your frame rates. Thanks!
>I will download it now "MGE".
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FEAR autoconfigured itself to pretty much medium settings.
I overuled the options and shunted everything to minimum at 640 x 480.
I ran the benchmark test 3 times.
The test results were:
Min FPS - 11 - 11 - 7
Avg FPS - 24 - 24 - 23
Max FPS - 42 - 43 - 45
55-57% of the FPS distribution was below 25 FPS
38-42% of the FPS distribution was between 25 and 40 FPS
3-5% of the FPS distribution was over 40 FPS
Not bad at averaging in the 24 FPS mark. The minimum FPS results are worrying as it could make it difficult in intense fire-fights.
These tests were run with all of the Samsungs pre-installed stuff active (processes) - it has loads of things (WiFi, Bluetooth, various battery management and other stuff) - so shutting these apps and processes down may increase speed - as will creating a new gaming hardware profile to stop a lot of them and Windows apps and processes from launching at boot.
"MGE" the results are:
Windowed: 26 FPS
Full Screen: 26 FPS
FEAR actually place nice and smooth - possibly, could put the settings back to medium.
Even using the touchpad for mouse-look seems fine and responsive. I was surprised by this.
EDIT:
First thing I have noticed that stood out. When I reached a checkpoint in FEAR, whereby the game autosaves, it took about 4 or 5 seconds to save. On a desktop PC this would be barely noticeable (if at all noticeable). I will have to investigate the HD to see if there is anything slowing it down. I have only installed FEAR and Blitz3D (and uninstalled McAffee AV), so disk access should be quick.
The NC10 certainly boots and shuts down quickly and everything seems fine with the disk speed; however, I shall investigate this later.
Thanks Puki. That unfortunately is not very good Bmax 2D performance. Ofcourse that demo is pushing 2000 32x32 sprites causing alot of overdraw, but that's not even up to my older Intel GPU 82845G 2.94ghz celeron performance which is considered to be crap.
But...should still do ok for lower spec 2d games.
crap is relative. :)
I can imagine these netbooks changing our perceptions of PCs quite a lot. Small and cheap is a winning combination.
I'm getting use to the keyboard now but the different position of the \ key still gets me sometimes (between the /? and the shift keys).
I have created a Hardware Profile for gaming and shut down unecessary processes.
FEAR benchmarks are now:
Min FPS - 12 - 12 -12
Avg FPS - 24 - 24 - 24
Max FPS - 43 - 45 - 43
51-57% of the FPS distribution was below 25 FPS
36-46% of the FPS distribution was between 25 and 40 FPS
3-7% of the FPS distribution was over 40 FPS
So, not much difference really.
With regard to the FPS distribution - the second test has a lower threshold as I forgot to include one of the tests in the first benchmark.
FEAR keeps crashing at the same point near the beginning of the game.
The bit were the two helicopters are supposed to appear.
Not sure why - but that is the end of FEAR - although, this is an unpatched retail install.
I have just set (within FEAR) the computer and graphics card settings to medium:
Min FPS - 3
Avg FPS - 6
Max FPS - 15
So, it goes to show that the NC10 and similar netbooks are not cut out for flashy 3D graphics - which is to be expected in fairness.
Mmm, I think I will try Age of Empires II next.
EDIT:
Age of Empires II runs fine - you have to play in 800 x 600. Of course, it will be of more interesting to see what happens mid-game, when there are hundreds of units.
I started a game with 7 computer opponents (and me) on a giant map with population growth set to 200 - which is potentially up to 1,600 units in the game at the same time.
Another notable thing is the screen is very good. I was surprised at how bright, colourfull and sharp the display is. Not sure what other netbooks/laptops are like but this is certainly a nice 32 bit display.
I will try a DVD movie next, see what it is like. Good job I bought the USB DVD drive.
EDIT:
Had to faff about as Windows Media Player hasn't got a DVD codec.
I installed VLC and am being blown away by the quality of the DVD - I am watching Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.
Looks absolutely fantastic. The brightness/contrast/light/dark/blacks all look gorgeous. No artifacting that I can see - stunning display.
EDIT:
One thing I note with playing the DVD is that the volume is quite low (all set correctly to 2 speakers, no surround, etc). Even set to full, it is not very loud through the speakers; however, this is typical with DVD movies.
Headphone sound is great though.
Call of Duty 1 runs fine in high settings - will run in maximum settings but can bet a bit twitchy at times.
I have returned to FEAR.
I have installed the patch and noticed some difference.
I just re-ran the benchmarks (after patching).
At 640 x 480:
Min FPS - 6 - 6 - 6
Avg FPS - 23 - 23 - 23
Max FPS - 73 - 68 - 64
56-57% of the FPS distribution was below 25 FPS
20-25% of the FPS distribution was between 25 and 40 FPS
19-23% of the FPS distribution was over 40 FPS
So, compared to the last benchmark:
Min FPS - 12 - 12 -12
Avg FPS - 24 - 24 - 24
Max FPS - 43 - 45 - 43
The min FPS is now lower, but the max FPS is much, much higher - average is pretty much the same.
I had go on it in Curry. The keyboard and the screen is Great but there is no DVD DRIVE( I know you can buy Extental DVD Drive ) which remind me days of C64 where you have computer and the tape! we are in 2009 for god sake!
I think it would be possible to write decent games for these, it would just mean thinking of clever ways of doing things....like programmers used to before we got enough enough power to brute force everything.
Hotshot2005: no dvd drive is the whole point of a netbook, it makes it smaller and cheaper.
It is a reasonably powerful netbook - just doesn't pack a big punch in 3D.
Everyday tasks seem as fast as a desktop. I don't think the hard-drive will win any speed contests; however, it is fine.
I am starting to come round to the fact that a touchpad is never going to better than a mouse.
I am currently installing 'no cd/dvd' cracks for the games I have installed - saves me lugging around the DVD drive.
I had go on it in Curry. The keyboard and the screen is Great but there is no DVD DRIVE( I know you can buy Extental DVD Drive ) which remind me days of C64 where you have computer and the tape! we are in 2009 for god sake!
That's why it those netbooks have 10/100 network, Wifi and some with the possibility to have a 3G connection. Swapping discs is a thing of the past.
Agreed. I don't use them.