Home » Mobile Technology Reviews » Samsung NC215-A01US Solar Powered Netbook Review Samsung NC215-A01US Solar Powered Netbook Review

Within the span of 3 years, my HP Compaq Presario CQ60 which I bought Christmas of 2008 on promo for N90,000 ($570) has cost me close to N35,000 ($221) in repairs such as battery replacement, keyboard replacement due to Yogurt splash etc. Thus when I started getting yet another battery failure alert, I knew it was time to start searching for a new laptop.
With power supply being epileptic and me needing something ultra portable, I decided to settle for a netbook and the solar powered laptop computer, Samsung NC215-A01US caught my attention immediately ’cause it came with a solar panel which could charge the laptop without electricity supply.
Solar power for computers is something that’s being in the news for quite some time now with Intel recently running tests on a solar powered Pentium CPU which they hope to launch as soon as feasible.

In terms of specifications, the Samsung NC215-A01NG netbook comes with the following

1. Intel® ATOM™ Processor N455 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
2. 250GB S-ATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
3. 1GB DDR3 System Memory at 1066MHz (Expandable to 2GB Max)
4. Embedded Solar Panel on Lid
5. Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
6. Anti-glare 10.1″ WSVGA LED Display (1024 x 600)
7. 0.3 MP Web Camera
8. Bluetooth 3.0 + HS (high speed)
9. 3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 W x 2)
10. 10/100 LAN
11. Wi-Fi 802.11 bg/n 1×1 (up to 150Mbps)
12. Windows® 7 Starter Edition
13. Solar Power Calculator (Eco Mode)
14. Ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA, MIC-In, 4-in-1 card reader, RJ45
15. Headphone and Microphone output.
16. 8,000mAh 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery, up to 14.5 hours

ADVANTAGES OF SAMSUNG NC215-A01 SOLAR NETBOOK

1. Long Battery Life: under normal conditions, it is reported that the battery life of this laptop lasts an amazing 14.5 hours. I personally ran a test 2 days after I purchased it to see how long the battery would last if dedicated to movie playback only and I got over 7 hours of playback with Windows Media Player (with Avira Antivir Personal, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched off and using head phones)
2. Solar Powered Charging: while working in the sun, you can be rest assured of continuous power as the solar panel offers you 1 hr. of battery life for 2 hrs. of solar exposure. What’s more it even charges while switched off.
3. Internet connectivity and fast data transfer made possible via LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and and an SD slot that supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC cards.
4. USB Charging: the USB port on the left side of the netbook can be set to charge your mobile phones and devices while in sleep mode or even switched off.
5. Fast Start: Samsung innovative hybrid of the regular sleep mode allows to to re-commence work on your system in less than 3 seconds.
6. The Web Cam may not be of high quality but it still works for video messaging and calls so you can Skype away
7. Island style keyboard in which there’s a lot of space between keys which allows for faster and less error prone typing
8. Anti-Glare Super Bright screen: makes working in the brightest of sunlight eye-strain free.
9. Battery Life Extender: yet another innovation from Samsung Electronics that charges your battery only to 80% thereby increasing your battery life by increasing the number of charge cycles.
10. Ultra-Portability: with a sleek design and weighing just 2.87 lbs. (1.3 kg) with 10.20″ x 7.07″ x 0.93~1.41″ dimensions and solar panel charging coupled with 12hr plus battery life, the NC215-A01 is one device that offers the ultimate in portability.
11. Proper Cooling System/Ventilation: the battery is shaped in such a way that makes the base of this netbook concave and thus allows for proper ventilation and cooling of the system

DISADVANTAGES OF SAMSUNG NC215-A01 SOLAR NETBOOK

1. No Optical Drives: as a power saving measure, most netbooks do not come with CD/DVD drives making the installation of softwares and CD/DVD playback impossible unless you have an external optical drive
2. Poor and Slow Multitasking: netbooks are basically designed for document viewing and editing and web browsing with multimedia playback. Carrying out heavier tasks such as gaming slows down the system as the 1GB RAM is just not enough. Reports say upgrading to 2GB RAM makes things faster but that would only increase the cost of the device. In my case, I got a boost in speed by simply deactivating all unnecessary Windows features via Control Panel >> System >> Advanced System Settings >> Performance >> Visual Effects >> Adjust For Best Performance.
3. Optimal Solar Charging is only possible in direct sunlight from mid day. Solar charging through a window will be slow.
4. Lack of internal 3G HSDPA SIM slot: having a SIM slot for mobile broadband would have been awesome but I think I can live with its absence in this netbook as it might have even taken the price tag higher.

It’s highly recommended that you charge the netbook fully before turning it on for the first time as the setup process takes close to 30 minutes. When fully charged the battery indicator changes from orange to yellow.
I personally recommend you partition the hard drive so that you can host all your documents on the second partition in the event that the Samsung Netbook crashes and you need to restore it without losing your data. I highly recommend EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition.
The netbook also comes equipped with Samsung Recovery Solution 5 which allows you to backup your netbook, restore your netbook to a previous state or to factory settings and also allows you to reinstall selected softwares that shipped with the computer in the event that they get corrupted.
Most of the features such as USB charging, Battery Life Extender etc can be found within the Samsung Control Center.

NOTE:Samsung Electronics does have a variety of netbooks with the same features as the Samsung NC215-A01 that also boast of over 10 hrs. of battery life such as the Samsung NC110-A03US 10.1-Inch Netbook and it costs less.

The Samsung NC215-A01 is best suited for folks that work in the outdoors during long periods so do please choose wisely.

Feel free to check out Amazon Best Sellers: Best Netbook Computers and leave a comment/question below regarding this awesome solar panel powered netbook from Samsung.

HOW TO FLASH A HUAWEI USB INTERNET MODEM

HOW TO FLASH A HUAWEI USB INTERNET MODEM

STEP 1
To download the latest firmware for your Huawei USB modem, please go to DC Files, select Huawei and click as shown below.

On the next page, select the model of your modem and click the small white icon beside it. This will take you to the next page where in the dropdown, you’d be given options to either download the Huawei dashboard software or Firmware update. Select Firmware update and click the small white icon again.


A pop-up would appear asking you to save the firmware to your computer. When the download is complete, you would need to unzip the file to extract the exe application within.

STEP 2
Generate the unlock and flash code for your modem using the Universal Mastercode software. To get this software and codes, read How to Unlock Huawei USB Modems.
Once you get the codes, please copy them on a piece of paper.

STEP 3
Make sure your laptop computer or the UPS of your desktop computer is fully charged or that you have a fueled standby generator at hand.
If a shortage of power supply occurs during the flashing process, your modem will be rendered useless. TAKE NOTE!

STEP 4
Remove any SIM in your Huawei USB modem and plug it into your computer and run the firmware update that you downloaded and extracted from the zip file in Step 1
Accept the agreement terms and proceed.


Wait a minute for the update to scan your usb ports in search of the modem.


Once your Huawei modem has been detected, the software will show the window below. Here you would see your current firmware version and the firmware version of your update (Target Version)


Pay good attention to the warning in the next screen as shown below:


When you’re truly ready, click the Start button and you might be asked for the Flash code. Insert the flash code you created in Step 2 and click next.


The update would commence immediately and you’re advised to leave your computer alone.


Once the update is over, you’ll receive an Update Success notification like that below.


Click on OK and Finish to end the entire process. Detach your modem from your computer and plug it back in. Try connecting to the internet and if everything works fine, you’re good to go .
If your modem doesn’t survive the firmware update, I don’t know how to fix that and I suggest you go get a new one or search Google for a fix.
Cheers .

HUAWEI MODEM UNLOCKING INSTRUCTIONS

HUAWEI MODEM UNLOCKING INSTRUCTIONS

Click here to download and Run Universal Master Code.
Select the Tab For the modem you’d like to unlock. In the screen capture below, we are working with Huawei,

1. Type the 15 digit IMEI number of your Huawei modem. The IMEI number can be found on the usb modem itself or on the packaging it came in.
2. Select the Model of your Huawei USB modem and if not present, you can leave it to AUTOSELECT.
3. Hit the Calculate button and wait a few seconds for the software to create the appropriate unlock code for your usb modem.
4. Your unlock code is as shown circled in red. If you wish to flash the modem, the flash code is also provided.

Now that you have successfully gotten the unlock code for your Huawei usb modem, follow this link  (How To Unlock A Huawei USB Internet Modem Free!) to learn how to apply the unlock code and free your modem off any restrictions once and for all .
Feel free to leave a comment, if you’ve got any questions or suggestions whatsoever .
Download Free Huawei Modem Unlocker