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I travel for a living and took the NC10 out for the first road test last weekend. Was able to wifi connect at my departure airport no problem with speeds that seemed as fast as my dsl at home. During 5-hour flight watched a movie that I had backed up via assistance of dvd43 and handbrake described in another thread. Also used it as an mp3 player. Found that changing the settings so that it doesn’t hibernate/turn off when closing the lid helped. After changing this setting, then just used the fn+f5 key combo to turn off the screen, then closed it. Kept playing music with the lid closed while I read. Battery went down to about 35%. Not bad. Having this on long flights, back in coach, when the 6’4″ guy in front of you inevitably reclines his seat all the way back, really helped pass the time. The guy next to me had a powerbook and could not open the lid all the way because there wasn’t enough room to place it flat on the tray table and open the lid to a useable viewing angle. He could watch a video by tilting it up, but couldn’t type with it sitting flat.
Hotel first night had wifi and again no problem. Next day stuck in airport for 8 hours due to delays and used it nearly the whole time on a single battery charge, mostly on wifi linked to the company intranet. Got a lot of work done. Hotel second night had LAN in room and again, linked on startup with no unique settings required. Had a chance to read through the electronic user manual. Learned a couple of things. It is pretty limited. Best info is on this forum.
One of the best parts, being a frequent flier, is that it doesn’t require a laptop carrying case so it doesn’t call attention to the fact that I have a laptop. For security reasons I find this great. A laptop is a highly pilferable item and it has to be babysat because it is so obvious you have one when you’re lugging it around in the laptop case. The NC10 fit nicely into the top of my rollaboard bag about like a hardback book would. No one could see that I had one of the nicest laptops with me. I’ve heard because it is so small the TSA may not require you to pull it out and put it on a separate screening tray when going through security. I didn’t want to hastle with having to rescreen, so I just pulled it out to begin with and sent it through. Easy enough. I did get “questioned” briefly by a friendly TSA screener because he recognized it as an NC10 wanted to see what it looked like. He had heard about it but hadn’t seen one yet so he wanted to get a glimpse.
My traveling is the main reason I bought the NC10 and it was exactly met the need of power, portability, work, and entertainment while on the road. This trip tested all the components–wifi, LAN, battery power, security. Great deal!
Hi ragman, although I love the NC10 much more than I ever thought I would and already am a big fan, I really liked reading your findings. Britman I couldn’t agree with you more.
Great test and write-up 🙂
[quote1234625730=Britman]
Great mini review, we should get this on the front page.
[/quote1234625730]
Definitely![quote1234731602=jez]
Sure why not, is that ok with you ragman?ps if anyone ever wants to guest post, just let me know!
[/quote1234731602]Sure no problem. I’m out on another road trip. In a hotel just a couple of blocks from the NBA All-Star game tonight (not attending!). Spent the week backing up as much media as I could to bring with me. Got a 16GB SDHC chip for $30 at a tech store in another city. I also got a USB adapter which the SDHC plugs directly into. I don’t know why, but with as much as I’m popping it in and out to transfer files, the USB has seemed a bit easier to use than the from slot. Part of it is that I don’t have a SDHC slot on my desktop so this just makes it easier to go from one to the other pretty easily. The hotel wifi here is varying between just one and two bars, yet I haven’t been dropped off after over an hour’s worth use. I don’t know if this is common, but the wifi seems to be pretty “sticky” (stays connected).
[quote1234741081=ragman]
I don’t know if this is common, but the wifi seems to be pretty “sticky” (stays connected)[/quote1234741081]
Thats good to know.2/16/9. Can’t say enough about battery life. It is great to be able to leave hotel in morning, use it as much as needed during the day and get to the hotel at night still with a good charge. Don’t have to worry about finding outlets throughout the day. Until we get wireless electricity (this technology was demonstrated at the latest technology show in Vegas, or was it LA) this has been very liberating.
Tip. I have found that many airports have free wifi access in the terminal. Here is a strategy for those that don’t. Most major airports have “clubs” or other-named special facilities for first class ticket holders, VIPs, or anyone else who has purchased a membership. This is usually a quite nice lounge, behind closed doors, monitored by an employee gate guard type of person. Many of these clubs have free wifi using a signal that won’t go much beyond the confines of lounge, but it usually does a little bit. You can go to where this lounge is and sit outside the lounge and connect to the wifi without id/passwords. In fact some people have actually dragged chairs from a nearby gate area to sit outside the lounge, but within the cloud for access. They are sometimes known as squatters. No one bothers them.
On another note, I was concerned about my screen getting poked from the exterior by something in my luggage which could permanently damage the screen with a smudge. The exterior casing of the NC10 is quite sturdy but if you poke the back lightly you can see how it distorts the screen a bit. Don’t do this too hard! What I did as an added measure of security is I cut out a piece of cardboard to help. The cutout is just a little smaller than the size of the screen. I put this cardboard next to the exterior of the screen in the soft carrying case that comes with the NC10. A piece of cardboard is just the right thickness to fit, but not to tightly. Slip the NC10 in with the screen lid facing this cardboard. This may help prevent screen damage.
Finally, the NC10 came wrapped in a very thin white fabric-like foam. I saw someone else do this. This foam is designed to protect the shiny outside from scratches and, of course, is itself a non-scratch producing material. I cut out a piece of that foam in a size just a little larger than the screen. I place this in between the keyboard and the screen just before I close the lid before I put it in the cloth carrying case and then in my rollaboard. The NC10 has small rubber studs around the screen that should prevent the keyboard from touching the screen while closed, but the foam pad is one more layer of protection. I also saw someone use one of those very thin monitor cleaning clothes for this, too. I learned from experience with my last computer that if any part of the keyboard touches the screen and you travel a lot, the repetetive movement of the closed computer and just general vibration experienced in the air (but more likely in the less than smooth van rides to and from the hotel) can cause the screen to get rubbed enough to leave a permanent marr or scratch.
Thanks for the ipdate. I too purchased the NC10 for my many travelling needs I got a Lenovo sleeve and use that to wrap my sammy.
My sense is that the gap between the key and the screen are large enough that we won’t have the problem of the keys rubbing on the screen, as I have seend done with other ultra portable laptops.
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