Bought a Samsung NC10 Netbook - First Impressions

On Saturday I bought a Samsung NC10 Netbook. I was in NYC and stopped by J&R, one of the few stores that actually carry the device. Amazon and a few other online stores carry them but its always nice to put your hands on one. The one I bought is black (also comes in white and blue) and comes with the 6 cell battery.

The reason I bought a new computer was because my Acer C110 tablet PC which I bought in 2004 is starting to show some problems. The touchpad works on and off and there was a crackling sound coming from the device every now and then, I think from the speakers. I have been reading many positive reviews about the NC10 and since I was impressed with the Samsung Q1 I decided to go with the NC10 over other netbooks.

As you may remember I switched back from to the Acer from the Q1 because I missed the larger screen (10" v 7") and the keyboard (Acer has one, Q1 doesn't). I blogged that the only things to make the Acer a perfect machine for me was to have better battery life and a better screen. In these two areas the NC10 delivers. The battery is advertised to go 8 hours. I haven't done any formal tests but I have no doubt it can go at least 6 hours under my normal usage scenarios. The Acer was limited to 2 hours. As for the screen, it is much better than the Acer. The Acer was a bit washed out and the NC10 is very bright and vivid. Doesn't seem as good as the Q1 but the NC10 screen is much better than the Acer.

So is the NC10 the perfect machine for me? Unfortunately no. The NC10 has a 10" widescreen and the Acer had a normal 10" screen. While the Nc10 screen is a bit wider it is not as tall and to me its more important to have more height than width when it comes to laptop screens. Its not a showstopper but I would have preferred the Acer screen at least with regards to dimensions.

Other impressions are similar to what others have written. The overall build quality is great, the hard drive capacity is large (160 GB), the touchpad takes a bit to get used to, the keyboard is easy to type with, and it was extemely easy to upgrade the RAM to 2 GB.

These are some first impressions, I'll write more after a few more days of use.

Still Sticking with the Acer C110

I'm itching to get a new computer, specifically a netbook especially after everytime I read a review of the latest devices. James Kendrick just posted a review of the new HP Mini 1000 and Laptop magazine reviewed the Samsung NC10. As a reader of this blog you know that I am using my Acer C110 which I have had for 4 years now and is actually 5 years old since I bought it refurbished. Even with sub $500 prices I will keep using the Acer. While it would be nice to have a built in cam, bluetooth, a better screen and much better battery life, the deal breaker is the screen size. My 10" screen on the Acer is larger than the wide screen 10" displays on the Samsung and HP. My resolution is set to 1024 x 768 while the others have a 1024 x 600. That makes my Acer 28% longer. The loss of this screen real estate was made clear to me while I was watching the Laptop video of the NC10. With the tool bar on the top of the browser there wasn't much web page to see.

Perhaps one day a netbook will come out with the larger screen, I can only hope!

Is My Acer C110 a Netbook?

Netbooks seem to be the rage with bloggers these days from Kevin Tofel loving his MSI Wind to Chippy having concerns about Netbooks. I actually thought about upgrading and getting the new Samsung NC10 netbook but then I thought, isn't my upgraded Acer a Netbook? Netbooks are supposed to be suited for web browsing, email and other low processing intensive tasks such as word processing and spreadsheets. These are basically the things I do with my Acer. Also, these devices are meant to be small and mobile, similar to my Acer. So lets see how my Acer stacks up with the Samsung NC10.

Acer Samsung
Weight 3 lbs 2.8 lbs
Screen 10" 10"
OS XP Tablet XP
Processsor Intel Pentium M .9 GHz Intel Atom 1.6GHz
RAM 1 GB 1 GB
HDD 160 GB 160 GB
Wireless WIFI rev G WIFI rev G and Bluetooth
Battery Life 2 hours 5 hours

As you can see from these key specs, the Acer is very similar in size, form and function. However, it would be nice to have bluetooth as I do have some bluetooth devices (headset and gps receiver). It would also be very nice to have the 6 cell battery which some claim will last 8 hours but others think it would only be 5+. But I'll take the 5+ over my sub 2 hours with the Acer.

But the best part may be the sub $500 price tag. I paid about $1200 for the Acer in 2004 and it was refurbished and that only included a 40 GB disk drive! But of course the Acer is a convertible Tablet; no inking with the Samsung!

For now I will stay with the 4+ year old Acer which is working fine for my needs. But its nice to see that when I do need to get a new laptop, I can get one that meets my needs for less than $500.

First Impressions of the Tekkeon MP 3450 and Mamba XS

I purchased the Tekkeon myPower All MP3450 external battery and the Booq Mamba XS messenger bag and received both over the last two days.  Initial impressions are favorable.  In fact I am typing this post at a Starbucks with my Acer C110 connected to the MP3450 and I brought all of my gear in the Mamba XS.

When I was posting earlier about the MP3450, I was concerned that the battery would not charge my Acer internal battery.  Fortunately that is not the case. Right now my Acer is indicating that it is 'plugged in' and has been at 100% battery level for the last 30 minutes that I have been 'plugged in'.  So good news there. It was important to me because at times I know I won't want to have the MP3450 connected to the Acer any longer than needed.  Right now its not a big deal.  I am sitting at a table with the MP3450 placed on the table right next to the Acer.  However if I am walking round and have the tablet in slate mode it would be easier to not have to be tethered to another device, even though it is small and lightweight (< 1 lb).  And if the MP 3450 didn't recharge the internal battery I would be limited to the time without the MP3450 to the lifetime of the internal battery which is about 2 hours.

I also like that it has a 5V USB outlet which allows me to easily charge my  phone (Moto Q) and my Ipod Nano.  The power cord connecting the MP3450 to the Acer is coiled which I also like.  Its easier to store and less clutter when in use.  Nice touch Tekkeon!  Its also a nice looking design.  So nice that I would hate to scratch it up so its good that the battery comes with a protective pouch with a plastic window over the indicator lights and voltage selector button.

The Mamba XS seemed smaller than I thought when I took it out of the box.  Which is nice since its a smaller foot print when carrying but my concern was that it wouldn't be big enough to carry all of my gear.  So I emptied my Case Logic case that I have been using for 3 years now and packed the Mamba XS only to find I had room to spare.  Which was good since for this trip I was also bringing the MP3450 battery and a notebook for the writing workshop I will be attending today.

I also like the easy access pouch at the top which is where I will keep my iPod and I like the 'pockets' under the flap which nicely fit items I want to easily get at without the concern of those items falling out.  One thing I think I will miss is the zippered compartment in the back of my Case Logic bag  It was only wide enough for documents or magazines but it was a good place for those items without cluttering the main compartments.

I'll write more after a few days of use.

Portable Power Options

I have been looking at two companies that sell external power supplies and batteries, The Battery Geeks and Tekkeon.

Lets start with The Battery Geeks offerings. First off, they offer a free battery audit. You fill out a simple form and they will email you with recommendations. For my Acer C110, they recommended their external battery and portable power supply. The external batteries come in two capacities, 118 and 130 WH. Since my Acer battery has a 27 WH capacity, theoretically these will increase battery time four or five fold. Since I get 2 hours with the Acer battery I should get about 10 hours with these models. The prices are $170 and $200 for these two batteries. They weight about 1.7 pounds and the dimensions are 7.75x4.5x.75(in).

The external power supply offered by The Battery Geeks also come in 118 and 130 WH as well as 200 WH. These power supplies are only a tad bigger (8.93x4.84x.87(in) 1.87 lbs) but offer more voltage outputs, 3 - 28 Vdc as opposed to only 15 - 21 Vdc for the batteries. The advantage is being able to power other devices other than the laptop. As you can guess, the prices are a bit more, $250 and $300 for the 118 and 130 WH versions.

Tekkeon offers the myPower All 3450 external battery which is rated at 50 WH which would theoretically last 4 hours when used with my Acer C110. Its a bit smaller than the battery geek devices (3.28 x 6.80 x .92) and much lighter weighing just under 1 lb. Also, with the smaller capacity its less expensive $120. And unlike the Battery Geeks external batteries the myPower All has a USB port so anything you can charge via your computer USB port you can charge with this device. The disadvantage is that the 3450 will not charge my Acer internal battery. The Acer C110 is rated for 20 Vdc and the 3450 only charges devices that are rated for 16V or less.

Currently I am leaning toward the myPower All 3450 mainly because of the lower price and smaller size but may hold off right now. In the two weeks I have been using the Acer I have not had a need for the extra juice. At home and at work I am mostly plugged in and at the end of my daily train commute I usually have 30% left on the internal battery. Where this device would be needed is when I travel for off site training or conferences.

I'll keep you posted.

My Acer Tablet Not in Perfect Condition; But No Complaints

As you can imagine, my Acer C110 is not in perfect condition I bought it in August 2004 and at that time it was even a refurbished unit. One of the reported weak spots is the swivel and latching mechanisms. Mine is holding up strong. However the tip of the latch that latches the screen to the base when in the traditional closed laptop position broke off right before I switched over to the Samsung Q1 in February. Also, the rubber protectors for the port replicator and USB ports have separated from the device. In both cases I think crazy glue will do the trick. Or I can order replacements at this site I found.

The most annoying problem is a recent one. I recently removed the keyboard to clean it and now, everyone once and a while a key will stick, usually the own arrow and the delete buttons. Physically they look fine and don’t appear stuck and the only way to clear the problem is to hit another key. So perhaps there is an electrical connection problem or software issue. I will post in one of the forum and see if anyone else has had this problem and knows of a fix.

Overall, not too bad for a 3+ year old device!

BTW, I am typing this on the train something I couldn’t have done with the Q1P since it doesn’t have the attached keyboard and inking is almost impossible with all of the movement on the train.

Extending Battery Life - Power Banks

Its been a week since I switched back to the Acer and I am truly enjoying the larger screen and attached keyboard. Battery life has been better then expected, about 2 hours. This is working well for my daily commute. In the morning I sometimes will read the NY Times via their reader for about 15 minutes at Starbucks and then an hour on the train for a total of 75 minutes. At that point I usually have the battery indicator at 33%. However, I'm sure there will be times when I will need more power. These two power banks may do the trick when I need that extra juice. Here are links to reviews of each:

myPowerAll

Battery Geek Portable Power Station

I'm going to dig deeper into each as well as possible other contenders and let you know what I decide.

Uninstalled New Wacom Driver

I uninstalled the new driver from Wacom that I had installed Monday. Whenever I hovered over a button, say the minimize button, the button would activate even though I did not tap on the screen. This problem went away after uninstalling the driver. Here is the description on the Wacom site.

Enhanced graphics driver Expand the capabilities of your Tablet PC with the enhanced graphics driver for Tablet PCs that use Wacom Penabled® technology! Please check with the manufacturer of your specific Tablet PC model to confirm that it was built using Wacom Penabled technology or read our FAQ to learn how you can check your Tablet PC yourself. Installing this driver will ensure that the same advanced pressure-sensitive features enjoyed by Wacom pen tablet users will also be fully supported on your Penabled Tablet PC.

First Day Using the Improved Acer

Tuesday was the first day I only used my improved Acer C110. I did power up the Q1P but only to get a file that I needed to transfer to the Acer. Overall it went well. The biggest plus is the larger screen. Compared to the 7" screen of the Q1P, the 10" screen is huge. I can easily work in all my applications, never having to go to full screen mode. While the screen quality and brightness are not even in the same league as the Q1P, it worked fine. I was actually impressed using it this morning to read the New York Times via their reader software. With the brightness set at only 17 (on a scale of 20) and sitting right next to a window the viewing experience was quite pleasant. I even read in portrait mode which I never used to do as the view tended to bother my eyes. While it initially did bother me I decided to try it for the duration of the train ride and apparently I got used to it. This is good news for me as its much easier to hold the Acer in one hand in portrait mode rather than landscape mode.

Battery life is decent at about 1 hour and 45 minutes with screen brightness set at 17 and WIFI on. However, this morning I used the device on the train with WIFI off and had 29% battery capacity left after using it for at least an 1 1/2 hours.

At the desktop I am using the same setup as I used for the Q1P. I do have the Acer port replicator but now that I only have three hookups (power, USB and external monitor) the desk just seems less cluttered without the replicator. However that may change if I connect external speakers. The Acer speaker is no where near the quality of the Q1P. However, since I don't listen to audio much at my desktop I will probably keep the desk less cluttered without the speakers.

As for using the Tablet screen as opposed to the Q1Ps touch screen, I think it will take some time to get used to. Its strange to see the cursor move all over the place as I move the pen across the screen. It also seems a bit sensitive since if I leave the pen hovering above an object such as the minimize or close buttons it will engage them after just a few seconds without my even touching the screen.

I also updated two drivers, the Wacom driver and Intel graphics driver. Lastly, I went to the advanced controls for the microphone and enabled "microphone boost' which improved the performance of the microphone.

Acer C110 Upgrade Status

I installed the Samsung 160GB hard drive and the Intel 2915 wireless network adaptor which now gives me rev G wireless. Using the service manual I was able to make these upgrades easily. After installing the new hard drive I did a clean reinstall of windows XP tablet edition as well as all of the programs I use so the process took some time but overall it was quite easy.

Having rev G wireless is very nice compared to the native rev B the Acer C110 came with and the new hard drive is very quiet. The original hard drive was quite noisy mainly due to it taking a 6 mile trip on the roof of my car a few years back. It was at least in a protective case, but nothing very sturdy. Fortunately it didn't fall off the car thanks to the roof rack but I was still very surprised it actually survived. With the noisy hard drive gone and since the Acer doesn't have a fan (the Q1P does) the whole tablet is very quiet.

As for processing speed, the Acer never really seemed that slow but now with a clean install and faster hard drive (5400 v. 4200 rpm) the overall response seems faster.

With the clean install using the Acer recovery disks there were many Microsoft updates including XP SP2. However, after installing all of the updates the floating tip didn't appear. That was easily resolved by downloading the program floatingtip.exe. Also, specific to the Acer C110, I downloaded and installed a utility (wchange) that allows you to turn on and off the wireless card. This is nice to have when in tablet mode as the hardware button is hidden. I also changed the drive format from FAT to NTFS. This was easily done using this guide.

Improvements I would still like to make are to battery life and screen quality. The battery life ranges from 1.5 hours to 2 hours depending on screen brightness and power status of the wireless card. The screen quality really pales compared to the Q1P. Not sure if there is anything I can do about the screen quality but I have some ideas about battery life. I'll keep you posted.

Upgrading the Acer C110

I decided to upgrade the Acer C110 Tablet. As I wrote before, I would like the Acer to have a longer life battery, a screen as good as the Samsung Q1P, and rev G wireless. Another item I hadn't mentioned before is a larger hard drive size. The current hard drive is only 40 Gb.

So I did a Google search to see what others may have done to improve their Acer C11x series of tablets and found a posting by Michael Cuthbert which had some great suggestions two of which I have already taken action on by purchasing the devices, the Samsung 160GB hard drive and the Intel 2915 wireless network adaptor which will give me rev G wireless. I am very excited about the 160 GB of storage. No more having to move videos to my external USB drive.

I still would like to have battery life similar to the Q1P (+4 hours) but it appears there is no extended battery available for the Acer. So perhaps I will get a power bank so at least I will not have to rely on access to an electrical outlet.

As for the screen, I don't think I will have the quality of the Q1P, but there has been talk in various forums that the C111s had a better screen, so perhaps I can find one of those and replace the screen on my C110.

I'll keep you posted on how things go.

UMPC Not for Me!

After having the Q1P for almost 10 months I have come to the conclusion that the UMPC (at least in the form of the Q1P) is not ideal for me. Most of the features I like about the Q1P are not UMPC specific: incredible screen, great sound, wonderful 4+ hour of battery life with the extended battery, bluetooth, and wireless rev G.

In fact if Acer still made the C110 tablet series (my old tablet) I'm sure most if not all of these features would have been added or upgraded. Plus Acer C110 already had the key features I most need, a keyboard, a workable 10" screen and a smallish form factor that converts to a slate. For my daily use, the Q1 screen at the native resolution of 800 x 400 is just too small for many web sites and programs I use and as a very decent typer, having to use the TIP is a let down for me.

So I am now considering going back to the Acer with some upgrades, buying a used C110 with bluetooth and a later wireless rev, or perhaps looking for a device similar to the Acer that would fit my needs. I'll keep you posted.

Keyboards and UMPCs

Steve Paine blogged today that the the top 5 UMPCs in the UMPCPortal are laptops, ie all have keyboards. I can't say I'm surprised. In fact I truly miss not having a keyboard for my Q1 like I had with the Acer C110. The Q1 is great and I enjoy the UMPC usage scenarios that Steve lists. However, I would give up some lightness to have an attached keyboard that would be available on a moments notice. The main reason is that I am very proficient with a keyboard, much more so than with ink. I am getting much better with inking but no where near as proficient as with a keyboard. On top of that, I am on the train for almost 3 hours a day now and I find its almost impossible to ink due to the vibration of the train.

Personally, I give the manufacturers lots of credit for building what are essentially smaller form factor convertible tablet UMPCs. In my opinion it gives the user the best of both worlds, a UMPC and a laptop and the advantages that come with both.

With that said, I am going to start up the search again for a new device and blog about that search here. So stay tuned!

UMPC Real World Use Scenarios

Steve at UMPCPortal.com and a poster at the Origami Project forums share how they use their Q1s. Steve also goes into detail why he chose the Q1B over the others he has. While its always interesting to see what devices bloggers use, especially those that have access to so many devices, keep in mind that their device needs may be different than yours.

Origami Project
Steve's Post

The Q1U(ltimate)

The title is correct. I did not mean to write Q1 Ultra. I'm talking about the Q1 Ultimate, as in my ultimate Q1. Its the Q1 I wish existed.

After thinking and writing about Steve's preference for the Q1B and the compromises he made with regard to built in mouse (or lack thereof) as well as screen resolution and lack of docking station, it made me think what would make my Q1P my Q1U(ltimate).

The biggest change would be the screen resolution. I would love to have the native resolution be 1024 x 600. The other would be for the organizer pack to be modified so the Q1 part would be self standing like a true laptop. Right now the stand needs to be flipped out and resting on a surface or the whole set would be in the same plane instead of angled like a laptop screen is in reference to the keyboard. If I could have these two improvements I would consider it a Q1U(ltimate).

But since this virtual makeover is not costing me anything I would also add a few other things in this order:

Docking station: I now only have to connect and disconnect three cables right now (VGA, power and USB). Not a big hassle but a docking station would be a nice improvement.

Improved integrated mouse: I was very used to using a stylus with my Acer tablet so I didn't really consider not having a good integrated mouse a big deal. But after watching Steve's video with JKK I am thinking I just didn't really know what I was missing. Once in hand I would probably never go back to a substandard integrated mouse again.

Really there isn't that much that would make my Q1P the Q1U(ltimate). Its a shame Samsung doesn't offer this version of the Q1. Oh well, maybe some day!

Steve 'Chippy' Uses Q1B and Everun

Steve from UMPC Portal left a comment to a recent post stating that he uses the Q1B hsdpa with organizer pack and the Everun.

I was actually surprised to read that Steve uses the Q1B. I recently watched his video of him chatting with JKK. It came across very clear that Steve did not like the fact that the Q1 series of UMPCs do not have a good working mouse. There is a joystick type mechanism and if the menu button is held down acts like a mouse. However, this feature leaves most users of the Q1 unsatisfied especially since there are no dedicated left and right click buttons.

Steve and JKK also talk about screen resolution and Steve states that 1024 x 600 is the optimal resolution for 7" displays. The Q1 series has a native resolution of 800 x 480. It does have a virtual resolution of 1024x600 but the result is rather disappointing.

So I was curious to understand why Steve chose the Q1B out of all of the devices he has or has had as his personal UMPC. So I relistened to the Q1 discussion he had with JKK. One item is battery life. The Q1B, with the VIA chip gives Steve almost 6 hours of use with the extended battery. Another is the bright screen. Also, this unit, unlike mine (big frown) has HDSPA. Lastly, the organizer pack lets Steve use the device like a laptop.

I think its a fair conclusion to say that Steve really enjoyed his Kohjinsha SA1 and was looking forward to the SH6 with all of its improvements including the improved attached keyboard. However, in the end, battery life is too high of a requirement for Steve and with the SH6 being just a 2 hour device, the other improvements were just not enough to compensate!

A Day in the Life with James Kendrick and His Mobile Devices

I always enjoy James Kendrick's day in the life posts about how he uses his mobile devices. Lucky for us he just posted a new one. James alternates between his Fujitsu and his ThinkPad and also uses his Blackberry. I think this usage scenario nicely points out that you don't have to just settle for one tool. A carpenter wouldn't only use a hammer, particularly if he wants to cut a piece of wood. He would use a saw for that job and use the hammer for another.

James uses his Fujitsu when he doesn't need the power of the ThinkPad so he can take advantage of the smaller form factor and lighter weight. When he just needs to check email he uses the Blackberry.

Of course not all of us can afford two tablets but when considering devices don't just assume that you have to only have use one device for all of your needs.

You can find the write up here.

Q1P User Review

Craig Pringle recently had to send his LS800 out for repair and ended up using his Q1P. He blogs about what he likes and doesn't like about the Q1P. Bottom line, he is is sticking with the LS800.

Thanks to Steve at UMPC Portal for writing about this.

What Mobile PC Bloggers Are Now Using

Back in January I published a post stating what UMPCs other bloggers were using. Below is an update. I was surprised that many are using the same device as they were using in January (Kevin Tofel, CTitanic, Thoughtfix and Mark) and that a few have moved away from UMPCs as their main mobile device to more powerful Tablet PCs. Specifically the ThinkPad x61 (Dennis Rice, Warner Crocker, Matt Faulkner, James Kendrick) was a favorite.


GottaBeMobile

Dennis Rice has moved on from his eo i7210 to the ThinkPad x61 and OQO 02.
Warner Crocker has added to his R2H the ThinkPad x61 and Q1P.
Matt Faulkner now has the ThinkPad x61 but I'm not sure if he is still using the R2H.

jkOnTheRun

James Kendrick was using a Fujitsu LifeBook P1610 Tablet PC and still does today but he uses the ThinkPad x61 on most work days.
Kevin Tofel was using a Q1P in January and is still using it today.

UberTablet

Hugo Ortega was using the Q1 in January but is now using the OQO 02.

Ultramobile PC Tips

CTitanic is still using his Q1.

Ultramobile Geek

Thoughtfix is still using his eo v7110 along with his Nokia N800.

Ultranauts

Mark is still using a Q1.

Q1P XP Essentials

Over the past 6 months that I have had my Q1P there have been a few essentials that I would recommend to others who have or are considering the Q1 UMPC.

Thanks to CTitanic of Ultra Mobile PC Tips HID drivers are available and can be downloaded here. You can find out more about HID drivers here thanks to Hugo Ortega but basically the benefits are a smoother inking experience and the floating tip.

One downside of the UMPC is the smaller screen size and the lack of some software being optimized for this size screen at the native resolution. Thanks to Vikram Madan of Microsoft there is a power toy available called the UMPC Scroll Bar and it can be downloaded here. No more having to switch to a higher screen resolution. Just scroll down to see what you couldn't before.

If you don't want to think about running out of juice, the extended battery is a must. Even with WiFi on I can expect to get just about 5 hours of usage. Unlike when I was using my Acer C110, I never give a second thought about running out of power when away from my power supply. I have even left my charger at work once and was able to use my Q1P that evening at home with power to spare. The battery adds some weight and adds about a half inch to the height but for me that is not a problem. In fact I haven't had the original battery in the device in months.

There are other programs and accessories that I use and would recommend but these would be the three that I would recommend to almost anyone who purchases a Q1 first generation UMPC.