The two new big guns in netbooks at the moment are the Samsung NC10 and the HP Mini 1000. The NC10 has been in the media for a while now and has always been one of the more talked about upcoming machines but the Mini 1000 seems to have come out of nowhere and looks to take the netbook world by storm.
The Asus Eee PC 1000H vs MSI Wind battle really was a stalemate, with each netbook having its pros and cons. Now its time to pit the newcomers against each other.
The more I see of the Mini 1000 the more I like about it. I really think this machine is going to be a huge success especially at the starting price of USD379 for the MIE model. However, the Mini 1000's 3-cell battery is a dealbreaker at the moment while the NC10 has perhaps the most incredible battery life we've seen yet and an awesome large keyboard just like the Mini 1000.
The question is... which do you prefer?
Update 8/12/2008: Given the popularity of this post I thought I'd post up a couple of links for those looking for info on the NC10/Mini 1000. In addition to clicking the links above for info on EV you can check out;
- 10-Inch Netbook Faceoff - A direct comparison between the two machines above, the Lenovo S10, Eee PC 1000H and MSI Wind U100 in many areas including performance and battery life (I won't spoil the verdict here for you - go check it out yourself)
- Here are links to TestFreak's pages on the two machines: Samsung NC10, HP Mini 1000 - these collate various reviews for you to check out as well as user opinions (remember to switch on all reviews c.f. local reviews which is default although some non-locals may not be in English)
11 comments:
The main reason I prefer the NC10 is the pitiful 4200rpm hard drive on the Mini 1000 and the 3-cell battery. Also, the price of the Mini 1000 is actually higher when you option it up to match the standard config of the NC10.
The real battle is between the MSI Wind and the NC10.
Mark: the HDD does really suck, best option is to replace with an SSD. The 3-cell battery is an issue now but a 6-cell is due out January 09. Biggest problem I have with the Mini 1000 is the lack of a VGA-Out plug. An adaptor can be bought from HP but its overpriced.
The HP is better looking, slimmer and lighter than the Samsung and with a bigger trackpad.
My pick is the HP Mini 1000 but only with a 6-cell battery and an SSD
electric feel: can you post a link where I can buy the VGA adapter? also - are there any cheap(-ish) SSDs I could use with the mini? Wouldn't a fast compact flash card with appopriate adaptor suffice?
I chose the HP solely because of it's looks, the NC10 is spec-wise better, but still looks like a 1990's laptop...
the VGA adapter from what I understand is an HP-only type deal. I'm not sure if its available on their website yet but I think its around 60-70 bucks (which is a joke).
SSD, just see what's available in your area - its bad practice to use a flash card in place of a brandname main drive due to the reliability of flash cards, and the fact that if something goes wrong with your reader your whole machine's out of action. Not to mention the fact you can't use your reader for other media if its running your OS. I don't recommend doing that.
You say the NC10 is better specwise - sure the HDD is faster, and the 3-cell battery lasts longer but in the benchmark tests I've seen the Mini 1000 is actually more powerful in tests.
Well, I have heard only rumors about the price of the VGA adapter, so I hope the price will be more reasonable.
What I meant by using a compactflash card was to swap the hard drive for a CF card connected with a PATA adapter (I believe you can buy those already). But it seems the prices of the speedier cards are still pretty high.
I thought about this one as well (great reviews and specs), but I really don't like the blue port icons printed on the case next to the keyboard... It just looked irritating to me when I played with it.
There is also another set next to the trackpad for the indicator lights
They are not on the sides next to the ports or on the front side but rather on the same surface as the keyboard...
Add the blue Function Key imaging and the trackpad scroll bar and you will soon get a headache.
The Mini 1000, on the other hand, is devoid of these and IMHO much more pleasing to the eye.
http://flickr.com/photos/13815526@N02/2869745721/
As a Mac user (I hate to say it) physical beauty is more important to me than "top of the range" specs... I am not going to use this as my primary computer (or even primary notebook....)
Nearly all these things look the same but the Mini 1000 stands out from the crowd.
I guess the answer is: people who look for their computers to make 'fashion statements' (as if anyone fashionable would carry a computer around) prefer the HP, while those who will actually computer on their laptops prefer the Samsung.
I don't think the Mini 1000 is just a fashion statement (although it does look great and this doesn't hurt).
The Mini 1000 had a very high benchmark in 3DMark03 when compared to the NC10 (from memory I think this test was done by Laptop Mag). Albeit the stock HDD/SSD of the Mini 1000 are subpar the overall machine seems to be churning out faster speeds that the NC10. HDD's and SSD's are easy to replace, inefficient mainboards are not.
After everything I've seen to date since making this post I think Apples for Apples the NC10 is a better machine, with its awesome battery life and pickup and go appeal. But, as a PLATFORM I prefer the Mini 1000, You can ugprade the battery to 6-cell (in January) and put in a blazing fast SSD and you have what is essentially a performer who looks great as well.
As we have seen recently both these models come in 3G capable versions, although the Mini 1000 3G I think is more available at this stage.
I would call this the 2.5Gen race and I'm declaring a too close to call (yet again), despite the NC10 being the blatant crowd favourite.
Been using NC10 for a week now. Battery life is awesome. Yesterday I was working on my PC whilst also configing SW on the NC10. I was using it on and off all day (on max power save setting) and still had juice left after 7 hours. No faults or niggles so far.
I have had the nc10 for about a month now, I have tried several others but the nc10 is for keeps I won't bore you by repeating the obvious... If you want to do some serious work then the NC10 is your best bet. I have it working fine with various versions of linux (wifi works great thanks to atheros chipset) I have upgraded to 2gb ram, added a usb serial port other Cisco/network engineers will know why even had vmware running on it with surprising responsiveness!! It would be great if they were built with a docking station in mind.... I am going to buy a USB port replicator for mine so I can easily plug it into a full size monitor keyboard etc... for work at home.
Also recommend the leather case from ultimate addons they are sold on fleabay.. I am thinking of buying an ssd drive but haven't yet,also lots of how to videos on youtube..
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