Samsung NC10

Superior Endurance, Solid Wi-Fi Performance

The NC10 distinguishes itself with battery life. Not only does it come standard with a six-cell battery (most netbooks, such as Lenovo’s S10, come standard with a three-cell), but the NC10 has the steam to last you through a flight from New York to California and then some. On the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), the NC10 lasted 6 hours and 34 minutes. Not only is this much higher than the mini-notebook average of 2:27, but it beats out even the six-cell MSI Wind (5:13) and the Eee PC 1000H (4:28).

Note: When we first ran the LAPTOP Battery Test the NC10 yielded a runtime of 7 hours and 34 minutes. This was with the Samsung Battery Manager 2.0 enabled, which dims the screen to its lowest setting after 30 seconds of inactivity on the keyboard or touchpad. The screen is usable during this time, but it's uncomfortable. When we ran the battery test at 50 percent brightness with the Battery Manager disabled, the NC10 ran for 6:34; cranked up to 100 percent, it ran for 4:48.  

The NC10’s 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card provided a swift connection for working in the cloud. Delivering a strong 20.8 Mbps and 16.9 Mbps from 15 and 50 feet, respectively, we were able to maintain a strong signal far from our access point. This blew away the MSI Wind (14.5/7.7 Mbps) and even the 802.11n-equipped ASUS Eee PC 1000H (10.4/6.1 Mbps). It maintained a strong connection during our day-to-day Web activities; streaming music over Slacker was fluid, and video clips streaming on Hulu.com were void of any pauses.

Software and Warranty

Like many other mini-notebooks, the NC10 runs Windows XP Home. Samsung also bundles its own utilities, including the Samsung Recovery Solution III (which creates a restore file of the operating system) and Samsung Magic Doctor (which will detect problems with applications and help to correct any issues). Other tools include an Easy Battery Manager 2.0 that allows for tweaking power-saving settings and an Easy Network Manager for connecting to a wireless access point. The NC10 also came preloaded with McAfee SecurityCenter (60-day trial) and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Samsung covers this netbook with a one-year warranty and 24/7 toll-free technical support.