Last week at KGB I was chatting with Mary Kowal about her new and shiny Eee PC. Yet another writer joins the tiny notebook cult! Huzzah! We were discussing the merits and drawbacks of the 901 model and she asked me which one I would get were I getting a mini notebook today. Without hesitation I said: Samsung NC10.
Cuz I’m an expert and stuff now.
I recently had to write up a piece for the day job comparing the top five 10-inch models. There are probably some on that list you’ve never heard of and, of course, the familiar Eee PC. In ASUS’s defense, the more expensive 10-inch models they’ve brought out recently don’t have the same problems then 1000H has, but they are, as I said, more expensive. (The S101 is $700 or some crazy shit.) All of the netbooks I compared are $500 or less. Some way less.
But for those just getting into the netbook game, I suggest you skip the 8.9 inchers altogether and head straight for 10 unless price is a major, major consideration. In that case, the 8.9-inch with the best keyboard is the Acer Aspire one. It’s a great machine in other ways, too. I hear that up-and-comer Genevieve Valentine has one, and everyone wants to be just like her.
So there you have it. The two best netbooks out right now are the Samsing NC10 and the Acer Aspire one. So says the queen.
I just bought an MSI Wind. Only had it about 24 hours now. I’m liking it muchly. Though there are a couple keys I’m still getting used to. The shocking thing to me was that overall it’s much better than my laptop I bought a couple years ago. Larger hard drive, brighter screen, faster performance… Nice.
Okay, I’ll confess — what’s the difference (besides size) between a netbook and a laptop?
Size is the main thing, also processor — netbooks tend to have an intel atom or similar small processor (usually developed for cell phones) that aren’t as powerful as traditional processors. That’s part of how they keep the cost down. Let’s see, memory — usually about 1GB — no optical drive, and something else that I can’t remember.
Now that there’s a blue Samsung NC10, I’m liking it a bit more. But I still prefer SSD over HDD!
I do, too, Eugene. But finding an SSD 10-inch is getting harder :( I’ll have to check, but I think I heard my boss say that the NC10 might get one at a later date.