The Samsung NC10 is a
subnotebook/
netbook
Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
computer designed by
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
. At the time of its introduction (2008), it was noted for its combination of a 10.2" screen and large 6-cell battery as standard, giving a battery life of up to 7.5 hours, a large hard disk drive and a release price of 499
USD (299
GBP
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
).
Technical overview
Processor and memory
The Samsung NC10 uses a 1.6 GHz
Intel Atom N270 processor running at FSB frequency of 533 MHz, and includes 1
GB of DDR2 800/6400 memory as standard. North bridge chipset is Intel
945GSE and south bridge is Intel
ICH7-M. NC10 may be equipped with DDR2 667 or 800 MHz, but 945GSE GMCH supports DDR2 400/533 MHz only, so there is no reason to install memory faster than 533 MHz (
PC2-4200
Double Data Rate 2 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR2 SDRAM) is a double data rate (DDR) synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) interface. It superseded the original DDR SDRAM specification, and was itself superseded by DDR3 ...
). Internally, the NC10 has one slot for memory accepting
memory modules up to 2 GB.
Display
The screen is a non-
glossy display
A glossy display is an electronic display with a glossy surface. In certain light environments, glossy displays provide better color intensity and contrast ratios than matte displays. The primary disadvantage of these displays is their tenden ...
and measures 10.2 inches (259 mm) diagonally, and has a resolution of 1024×600
pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...
s. An external display can be used through the standard
VGA
Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can now ...
connector.
Keyboard
The 83-key keyboard is 93% of the size of a full-size keyboard, with 17.7 mm pitch between keys and 2 mm travel on each key press, with some reviews claiming it is the best keyboard of any netbook yet released. The keyboard has also been treated with the anti-bacterial
Silver Nano
Silver Nano (''Silver Nano Health System'') is a trademark name of an antibacterial technology which uses silver nanoparticles in washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, air purifiers and vacuum cleaners introduced by Samsung in April 2 ...
technology.
Storage
The standard internal hard drive size is 160
GB on a
SATA 1.5 Gbit/s interface. It also includes an
SD card slot, supporting MMC, SD and SDHC cards for additional storage.
The standard internal hard drive can be replaced with a
Solid State Drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data Persistence (computer science), persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the Computer ...
(SSD).
Problems with hardware
Some users noticed a white screen problem. After some time if the brightness is more than 40% screen goes completely white.
It has been reported on various forums that the problem relates to a faulty cable between the screen and motherboard. Users have had success in getting this fixed under the Samsung factory warranty. A YouTube video provides a simple DIY solution to the issue by fastening some screws around the screen.
Sometimes the main board develops bad through holes which can cause very strange symptoms as mentioned earlier, "BigClive" has documented a fix for OLED breakout boards with this symptom and a pin from old AMD laptop CPU such as Sempron can be used as well.
As these netbooks are quite old now the power switches and surrounding plastic are quite prone to failure. Repairing them is feasible and in the short term replacing it with a reed switch pair from old phones and small magnet does work as the switches are hard to find.
Part numbers include BA81-0588CA but this is also used on other machines notably the AOA270 and some HP laptops.
Also quite common with these are RAM failures, especially with the stock memory. It is believed that the failure is caused by deterioration in the memory chips used for serial presence detect and BIOS failures though rare do sometimes cause "black screen" similar to the early Aspire One units which can be recoverable using crisis boot disk and Alt Esc method.
Another method is to replace the defective BIOS chip entirely, with essential bits copied from a second unit so that the laptop does not then throw a "BIOS password" related error; these usually cost between £10 and £18
An interesting note with these, the BIOS battery sometimes goes bad and replacing it can solve clock issues as well as being an "if all else fails" test before resorting to a chip replacement.
Due to the way these are made it is sometimes feasible to make a new module using heatshrink, the old salvaged battery cables with nickel tags and some Z axis screen repair tape with blue cure nail varnish as an anti-vibration method if original batteries can't be shipped.
Operating systems
Windows platform
The NC10 was shipped with
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
Home Edition and can be upgraded to
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
,
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
,
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 is a release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 27, 2013, and broadly released for retail sale on October 17, 2013, about a year after the retail release of its pre ...
, or
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
.
Linux
Linux (e.g.
Ubuntu Netbook Edition, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or Debian) runs well with the stock 1GB of RAM.
"Hackintosh" platform
The NC10 can be used as the platform to run
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
using the
IDeneb installation method. This combination of installing Apple's operating system on non-Apple hardware is often referred to as a "hackintosh" computer. In many cases, some features of either the hardware or software may not be totally functional or work as intended. There have been several such issues reported when using the NC10's default hardware.
Cloudready
The netbook can also be effectively turned into a "
Chromebook" by installing the
Cloudready operating system by
Neverware
Neverware was a New York City-based technology company and a subsidiary of Google. It was the developer of CloudReady, a distribution of Google's ChromiumOS designed to be installed on existing computers (as opposed to Google's commercial version, ...
. The Newest version does work on the NC10, though the SIM slot is not functional.
Colors and configurations
The NC10 is available in different colors and configurations. Colors include white, black, blue and pink. The configurations may differ in the lack of Bluetooth, e.g. in Spanish markets and some models in German markets, the fitting of a
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
/
HSDPA module, a weaker battery,
or a stronger battery and a slightly bigger but non-multitouch touchpad as "special edition", available in the US.
![Samsung NC110-7484](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Samsung_NC110-7484.jpg)
The new model N110 is an upgrade of the basic NC10 design, with improved battery life, modified touchpad and improved styling.
See also
*
Comparison of netbooks
These tables provide a comparison of netbooks.
Aspects of netbooks that should be considered:
* Mouse layout that is used. Touchpad with 2-buttons below, or touchpad with buttons on each side. The latter may make it hard with some operations nee ...
References
External links
Samsung NC10 Official Support PageSamsung NC10 Community ForumSamsung NC10 UK Review
{{Netbooks
Netbooks
NC10