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I don’t like the bilingual layout of the keyboard on the Canadian version of the NC10. This layout leads to numerous annoying compromises. As shown in Figure 1, the most annoying of these compromises is the strange shape, orientation of placement of both the enter key and the right-shift key. I found it very difficult to get used to using those keys. I don’t have anything against French-Canadians. I just wish Samsung would have made two versions of the NC10 — one for English-Canadians and one for French-Canadians. I would even be willing to pay extra for this. Are you listening, Samsung?
Fig. 1: NC10 Bilingual Keyboard Layout
The card reader works fine but it’s a bit odd to use. For example, when you insert an SD card, it doesn’t go all the way in like on most card readers I have used. Instead, you just gently push the card in until it stops, which leaves the card sticking out a bit, as shown Figure 2. You are left wondering whether it is fully inserted. Of course, it is fully inserted because Windows detects it.
Fig. 2: NC10 Card Reader
Removing the SD card also takes some getting used to. With most card readers, you push the card in slightly and then a spring-like mechanism in the card reader pops the card out. With the NC10, however, you pull the card straight out to remove it. That’s not a big deal. I just had to get used to it.
The NC10 has no hard drive door. Therefore, replacing the hard drive would be tricky, if it can be done at all. A quick perusal of the online manual makes no mention of how to replace the hard drive so it’s probably an unsupported operation. Thus, one can assume that you might void your warranty if you try to do it.
If you want to temporarily boot from USB to run a “live” CD or USB stick, you’ll have to jump through a hoop to do it. On most newer computers, there is a function key that you can press at boot time to temporarily change the boot priority to boot from USB. Unfortunately, the NC10 BIOS does not seem to support this feature. The only way to boot from USB is to go into the BIOS settings, change the boot priority, save, then reboot. When you are finished booting from USB, you have to change the boot priority back to its original setting. Well, strictly speaking you don’t have to change it back but I prefer to set it back, to prevent unintended booting from USB. I find the lack of a boot priority function key to be quite annoying.
Like most netbook vendors, Samsung does not support running Linux on the NC10, as far as I can tell. The good news is that some users appear to be having success running Ubuntu Linux on the NC10, albeit with a few minor glitches.
My final NC10 quibble is its size. While it’s certainly a lot smaller than my wife’s 15.4″ notebook (see Figure 3), I find it a bit taller and heavier than some recent netbooks such as the Acer Aspire One AOD-250. Admittedly, the weight difference is understandable given that the NC10 has a 6-cell battery and most other netbooks currently have a 3-cell battery. As for the height, however, I wish Samsung could have done better. Nevertheless, the NC10 is still small enough for most people to carry around easily.
Fig. 3: NC10 Netbook vs 15.4 inch Notebook
As an aside, you’ll notice in Figure 3 that that NC10 shows finger prints like crazy. If you’re concerned with such things, you shouldn’t be allowed to own a computer, let alone use one. This isn’t “pimp my netbook”.
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