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Samsung NC10 vs EEEPC vs MSI WIND vs etc...


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I'm interested in netbooks and I'm currently shopping for one of them, one of my criteria is the possibility of having os x on it.

 

I'm mostly looking into the eee pc

 

either the 901 (super small, nice battery life but small hdd)

or the 1000h (a bit bigger but 160gb hdd)

possibly the 1002ha (upgraded version of the 1000h really, smaller, cooler)

and finally the s101 which might be the best of them all but its currently hard to find (the 1002ha is hard to find too I think) and it costs more.. I think 600$ us for the 16gb linux version.. or 700$ us for 32gb version and 800 for the 64gb version.

 

Now I don't really know much about the other models but I'm definitely open to them.

 

My criteria are the size, the compatibility with os x and the battery life.

 

I see in your sig that you have a NC10 how well does it support os x and how did you get that touch screen? how well does it work? and how well does it work with os x?

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Sorry for cross-posting, but we agreed to continue OSX specs discussion in THIS thread i.o. this one...

 

Comparison MSI-wind/Samsung nc10

 

What I found sofar:

 

Samsung nc10 is having the better 6-cell battery, which could give you about 5 hours working time, but no lan connectivity in osx86 as the Marvell Yukon 88W8040 is not supported. This will be solved over time as a lot more people would like a driver for this baby. Audio not fully sorted.

 

MSI-wind has the battery problem (only 3-cells) that is here in NL. In other countries the 6-cell might be available. Everything working in OSX except proper audio. MSI-wind is able to overclock the Atom processor and generally better compatible to OSX imho.

 

Both netbooks lack OTB wifi compatibility and you need to swap the wifi card on both models for a Dell 1490 card oss, which will give them airport capability

 

Would go for an MSI-wind if your main focus is on OSX and if you can get the 6-cell battery model in your country.

 

Happy shopping !... :D

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touch screen is not installed yet, it is my next project... soon...

 

osx works perfectly fine for my taste, however

 

between the msi wind and nc10, like intrax mentioned,

 

= msi wind has LAN working OTB

= nc10 has no lan driver at the moment

= both models has wifi issue, which you can buy stg like dw 1490 dell cheap and forget about any issue

= both models has audio issues (speaker works but headphone needs additional effort, like a script to be run, or and app to be run to do it everytime to switch between speakers and heaphone)

= msi has rarely 6 cell battery models, and those with 6 cell cost considerably more...

= nc10 has 6 cell battery by default, and works around 5-5.5 hrs easily on battery!

= msi wind's hdd options are lower i think,

= nc10 160 gb hdd which works just fine...

===================================================================

neither models has big major issues...

 

so it is down to your expectations...

 

if Lan is a MUST-HAVE for you, go for MSI, if LAN is not a major issue, NC10 is a better option overall (what you get vs price, because same battery and hdd option on the msi model will cost you considerably more...)

 

I dont agree with the intrax's comment regarding

 

"Would go for an MSI-wind if your main focus is on OSX and if you can get the 6-cell battery model in your country"

 

=> because you can get usb lan very cheaply, but you will not get battery/hdd upgrades for similar prices...

=> 6 cell battery means a lot! and you will understand the difference in a very short time :blink: and it doesnt come cheap on msi model...

=> both has the same cpu, ram, gfx, chipset, so working with osx will be the same for both...

=> again, O/C option for a NOTEBOOK cpu is a total mistake! considering the small are that things are run, especially if you see the inside of these netbooks.... so i dont think it is a good thing AT ALL! good for only geeks who will run this thing with a open bottom or with extremely special equipmet to cool it down...

 

All due respect to intrax, my opinion is for NC10 when you consider OVERALL VALUE!!!...

But it is not me or intrax going to pay for your Netbook, so it is down to you and your expectations...

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I realize the NC-10 will, overtime, become as supported as the Wind and they are essentially very similar.

 

Has anyone used both keyboards?

 

I'm only really going to use this for textmate, write-room, word.

 

Could anyone imagine writing at length on the NC-10 or U100?

 

Which is better? Would writing an essay in a coffee shop be out of the question?

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Hmm, replacing the wifi card, I can imagine myself doing this with a guide like, at the same time that I would replace the ram anyway.

 

But the audio... Mysticus, you say that the headphone plug is working but you have to run a script or a software and it would disable the internal speakers? This is almost interesting as I would always need the headphones and never use the speakers. Is there a way to "swap" them and having the headphones work all the time and the speaker to "never" work or something?

 

I would use this netbook mostly to make music. (yah, I got some music making softwares that could run on such a cpu)

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touch screen is not installed yet, it is my next project... soon...

 

osx works perfectly fine for my taste, however

 

between the msi wind and nc10, like intrax mentioned,

 

= msi wind has LAN working OTB

= nc10 has no lan driver at the moment

= both models has wifi issue, which you can buy stg like dw 1490 dell cheap and forget about any issue

= both models has audio issues (speaker works but headphone needs additional effort, like a script to be run, or and app to be run to do it everytime to switch between speakers and heaphone)

= msi has rarely 6 cell battery models, and those with 6 cell cost considerably more...

= nc10 has 6 cell battery by default, and works around 5-5.5 hrs easily on battery!

= msi wind's hdd options are lower i think,

= nc10 160 gb hdd which works just fine...

===================================================================

neither models has big major issues...

 

so it is down to your expectations...

 

if Lan is a MUST-HAVE for you, go for MSI, if LAN is not a major issue, NC10 is a better option overall (what you get vs price, because same battery and hdd option on the msi model will cost you considerably more...)

 

I dont agree with the intrax's comment regarding

 

"Would go for an MSI-wind if your main focus is on OSX and if you can get the 6-cell battery model in your country"

 

=> because you can get usb lan very cheaply, but you will not get battery/hdd upgrades for similar prices...

=> 6 cell battery means a lot! and you will understand the difference in a very short time :D and it doesnt come cheap on msi model...

=> both has the same cpu, ram, gfx, chipset, so working with osx will be the same for both...

=> again, O/C option for a NOTEBOOK cpu is a total mistake! considering the small are that things are run, especially if you see the inside of these netbooks.... so i dont think it is a good thing AT ALL! good for only geeks who will run this thing with a open bottom or with extremely special equipmet to cool it down...

 

All due respect to intrax, my opinion is for NC10 when you consider OVERALL VALUE!!!...

But it is not me or intrax going to pay for your Netbook, so it is down to you and your expectations...

 

A quite remarkable LONG post to prove your own point !

 

Fakts are:

 

- msi wind simply more compatible with OSX...EVERYTHING (that's everything including lan, wifi, sound) working !

- overclocking can be an advantage if you know what you are doing, nc10 cannot overclock

- if you can get a 6-cell wind for a good price...it's absolutely the better machine for OSX !

 

tada... :P

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A quite remarkable LONG post to prove your own point !

 

Fakts are:

 

- msi wind simply more compatible with OSX...EVERYTHING (that's everything including lan, wifi, sound) working !

- overclocking can be an advantage if you know what you are doing, nc10 cannot overclock

- if you can get a 6-cell wind for a good price...it's absolutely the better machine for OSX !

 

tada... :)

 

already said my opinion... until couple of days, msi wind had the same issues... and lan advantage is not an advantage really you still need to use another driver to have cable detection issues fixed... meaning you will have driver issues. wifi if fixed for msi will be fixed for nc10 as well... msi simply more compatible with osx is a bit misleading term, both devices have same central component, and msi NOW has more compatible additional network support for the built-in original devices. that doesnt make it more compatible, that makes it having more components that has less issues.

 

i encourage you to go find a 6 cell battery msi wind with same specs of nc10 without compramising anything. At the end, i m guessing you will end up buying much more expensive device because of choosing LAN functionality over overall value. Since these are quite portable device, I m wondering how much time are you gonna need to connect to cable network during the course of using this device... People buy these devices for portability mainly, if you are buying something for cable networking, I doubt you are gonna use it for office work or something? And if you are gonna do so, I guess you are buying a wrong type of device if you are gonna do office work on this machine all the time... Also do not forget that if you are gonna use this machine for office work (lets say), you will most likely be using windows os, which means you are not loosing any benefit at all... For the OSX part, i doubt anyone will use this for power-horse osx programs...

 

i guess O/C means a lot to you, and i hope you dont learn mistakes the hard way... but dont mislead people because of one thing that they will not need in constant use or things that are dangerous (open one of the machine's back cover and see the space yourself for cooling equipment and cooling area)!

 

JBL: over time the sound issues hopefully will be solved and so that the speaker/hp issue will be gone... if you are gonna use this for power-horse apps to make a living, i doubt you are making a wise choice, for screen size and functionality you will get... but i also dont know the music making industy anyway, so if you think it will suit your needs, that make sure you check any model with your eyes before you buy it...

 

cheers...

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msi simply more compatible with osx is a bit misleading term, both devices have same central component, and msi NOW has more compatible additional network support for the built-in original devices. that doesnt make it more compatible, that makes it having more components that has less issues.

 

which boils down to 'just more compatible' and thus not 'misleading' in any way !

 

i encourage you to go find a 6 cell battery msi wind with same specs of nc10 without compramising anything. At the end, i m guessing if you are buying something for cable networking, I doubt you are gonna use it for office work or something?

 

yes 6-cell battery is difficult for the msi at the moment. I allready stated this, but winds are delivered with 6-cell batteries in some countries.

 

wired lan connectivity can be important for loading/unloading a/v-data in home network environments not only for office networks.

 

i guess O/C means a lot to you, and i hope you dont learn mistakes the hard way... but dont mislead people because

 

I'm in no way misleading people just pointing out that this is an option on the wind and not on the samsung and can generate a substantial performance benefit !

 

:)

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My .02.

 

I went with the Wind. I didn't research the others too much after finding the great support at msiwind.net...

 

Got the 432-US model at Costco. It has the 6-cell and BT. $350 + tax, with the nice 90 day returnable warranty, plus the fact that I get an extra year on the manu's warranty by using the Costco AMEX = no brainer.

 

That said, of course I actually voided my warranty by cracking the case open the day I got it to install a Dell 1510 wifi card + 2GB mushkin DDR2 667 RAM, + a WDScorpio 320GB, (the one with the drop sensor.) I have a feeling though, that if I really needed warranty replacement or whatever, Costco would cover me.

 

It seems to run solid at 24% OC (2Ghz,) though I really haven't burned it for more than an hour or so.

 

Haven't got a far as installing OS X yet as Hackintosh is all really new to me, still working out the details of installation and such on a desktop system. My goal is a Retail + EFI install, dual boot with XP. Here's my thread over on the Wind forum: http://forums.msiwind.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=5413

 

Everything works OOB with Linux Mint off a flashdrive, which is nice too. The 1510 wifi card turned out to be a great choice I think. It's half-height as well, which means you don't have to remove an internal 'stand-off' with a pair of pliers to upgrade. Didn't realize that until I had cracked the case. If anyone is near Seattle and needs help with the upgrades, let me know. :)

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Did retail install from chevy's guide on the othe forum for the wind. It runs perfect and was very easy to do. All updates ran smoothly and everything works fine

except headphones/mic.I use a bluetooth adapter to send audio to a nice ipod speaker system.I stream mp3's using Plex and it is quite amazing.Its a port of xbmc for mac.I popped out the factory wifi and installed a Gigabyte n300 dual band card.I added 2gb ram and runs pretty good.720p mkvs run pretty good but apple trailers are not so good.I love my Wind but its really a surprise for my wife (Has the hearts on it)Go for the wind, get all updates running retail boot132/Chameleon Xtra folder way. Oh my cam wouldn't work til I got all updates and quicktime software updates too.

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I don't really understand why people are trying to argue that the Wind is more compatible with OS X than the NC10 is. Of course the Wind is more compatible, at the moment. The Wind has been out longer and the Wind/OSX86 communities have had more time to iron out the quirks. Pretty soon it will be the same for the NC10.

 

Both the Wind and NC10 need scripts to switch between speakers/headphones. Hopefully a driver will be written for the NC10's LAN, but until then the Wind has a slight advantage here (how many people really use the LAN regularly on their netbook anyway?). Until a driver is written, NC10 owners who need to use LAN for whatever reason can pick up an Apple USB adapter for USD$29.

 

So, as has been said, it really comes down to which machine's design you like more. How important is battery life for you? Which screen do you like better? Which keyboard do you like better?

 

As for overclocking, I don't really see its presence or lack of presence an issue. Netbooks aren't supposed to be powerful machines, and overclocking lowers battery life. It would be nice if the NC10 had it as a feature though, for momentary boosts when you need it.

 

I'm holding off on buying a netbook until the Wind U120 comes out. I'm interested in seeing how it'll compare to the NC10. Also, as I'm in America, I'm also waiting for the black NC10 to be released here (WHERE THE HELL IS IT, SAMSUNG?!). I get the feeling I'll be going with the NC10, however.

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intrax: think of o/c ing a netbook an advantage, it is just all the manufacturers in the world are just blind sighted to see it as an advantage including mighty apple and not allow o/c on laptops... also bear in mind that o/c brings the problems of

 

+ bus speed related issues

++ other devices may stop functioning with incread bus speed

+ overheating (as if it is not heating enough in the tiniest place possible...)

+ battey and in return portability reduction...

+ reduced life span caused by heating and/or fan usage increase...

 

i m wondering who will be the first among the msi wind users base to fry his system...

 

also there is a good reason why a device is released at 1.6ghz freq and not the 1.82 or 2 ghz... not that you cant, but why you shouldnt or who should do it and how... people are trying 50% o/c on this machine but for test purposes and with very special equipment...

 

just one recommendation and a note for you: the cpu is embbed with the mobo, if anything goes haywire u need a new mobo? or say new msi wind?

 

advantage should give you more positive than negative, and in the long shot, o/c is not an advantage with the given concern above... it is just an option, not an advantage... you sound to encourage people to learn o/c on this, which is in long term not a good thing, so dont mislead people for dangerous things... there are many newbies already who does not have clue about what they are doing...

 

if a/v data stream is important for you (wifi can do it just fine as well, which i tested and working perfectly fine) how about the lan cabling you will need to do for this purpose (thinking that your a/v purpose would be for connecting this device to tv?) else it is not very hard to have a large flash disk to copy large files...

 

wifi was a luxury 5-6 years ago, and now it is in everyhome almost...

 

even with 6 cell battery, msi wind does not seem to go beyond 4 hrs with very good power management... imagine it with power use...

nc10 on the other hand, at some good power management, goes around 7.5-8 hrs range! my average normal use with wifi bluetooth on and streaming movies over wifi and at 80% brightness, goes well around 5+ hrs...

 

sure msi wind has lan working now and some drivers to get wifi working, but how long has it been out?

 

main focus for osx is a bit loose term...

 

To anyone considering a netbook, READ THIS:

 

all these netbooks apart from couple non intel machines, osx can boot and run just fine... and all osx compatible machines (not components!, because osx compatibility of a machine is different term than compatibility of individual components!) will run your video/audio etc just same in all of them...

 

if you are gonna use this machine with only fixed cable (no wifi in your place) you can either go with msi wind (with additional drivers to overcome current issues) or buy apple usb ethernet and use it in any machine!...

 

if portability is more important, nc10 is the top of its class...

 

audio problems are the same in all machines...

 

so it is down the purpose and resources you have to make a choice... wifi-lan-battery are the determining factor

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In many ways a classic newb question, but in many ways... not. I very nearly put down some cash for the Toshiba mini-notebook this weekend, until I realised that it has no CD/DVD drive. D'oh! I've had fun before with real Apple kit trying to get them to boot from an external optical doo-daah: basically, some Sony drives might do it, but most generic ones surely do not.

 

So my question is: What's easiest for setting up one of these mini-notebooks? An external USB DVD (in which case, how to tell it'll work?)

 

Or, is it better to focus on doing it another way - can you "burn" a bootable ISO to a flash drive? Again, how to tell which flashes will do the do, and which are just dumb?

 

Maaaaany thanks in advance (love the idea of the flash-burn, bet that would make ANY install pretty speedy...)

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In many ways a classic newb question, but in many ways... not. I very nearly put down some cash for the Toshiba mini-notebook this weekend, until I realised that it has no CD/DVD drive. D'oh! I've had fun before with real Apple kit trying to get them to boot from an external optical doo-daah: basically, some Sony drives might do it, but most generic ones surely do not.

 

So my question is: What's easiest for setting up one of these mini-notebooks? An external USB DVD (in which case, how to tell it'll work?)

 

Or, is it better to focus on doing it another way - can you "burn" a bootable ISO to a flash drive? Again, how to tell which flashes will do the do, and which are just dumb?

 

Maaaaany thanks in advance (love the idea of the flash-burn, bet that would make ANY install pretty speedy...)

 

you dont even need an external cd/dvd to install osx :P search for ddmac... pretty easy method if you have the correct iso on your system

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JBL: over time the sound issues hopefully will be solved and so that the speaker/hp issue will be gone... if you are gonna use this for power-horse apps to make a living, i doubt you are making a wise choice, for screen size and functionality you will get... but i also dont know the music making industy anyway, so if you think it will suit your needs, that make sure you check any model with your eyes before you buy it...

 

cheers...

 

I sure hope they are going to solve this, but I saw that there's a script to make the headphone plug work and disable the included speakers. I have absolutely no use for these small speakers.

 

As for performance, I am not totally familiar with the power of the Atom N270 (faster or slower than a low end Pentium 4??) but I sure know that it is not a good choice for performance, but what I need the most in a notebook (or netbook) is portability, because I couldn't get what I need (I'm waiting for mac to support i7, I need better!) But I have some software that I could use with just about any computer, it won't be enough to make an elaborated and polished track, but it should be enough to start new tracks and concepts..

 

So, I guess I will just wait for more support.

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Street price wise, in the US, the Wind is much less than NC10. 6 cell with BT/N wifi, 160 gig and 1gig with XP can be had for between 260 and 300. NC10 is running between 4 and 500. For the extra money you get no wifi N, a little extra weight, no lan under osx, a 3 in one instead of the wind's 4 in 1 card reader, a slightly bigger battery, and a 30 percent or more decrease in speed......

 

oh, and you also get this neat little faux metal foil trim piece that winds around the computer.

 

whoopee....

 

actually, some people may find the samsung more aesthetically pleasing and some may prefer the keyboard layout. Others don't.

 

take your pick.

 

seer

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+ price difference with near 1-1 match is about $50 mere on the nc10 side... not 100-200 over exaggerated!

+ i bet you will use all 4 type of media cards on this :)

+ n upgrade is cool, but does it work in osx? if so cool... but not too shabby... it is a theoretical speed and you will hardly fully utilize it once in a while...

+ bigger battery? you mean by shape or capacity? because both are true for nc10 in fact same 6 cell battery on nc10 gives u near 2 hrs additional power... :)

+ 30% or more decrease in power? i dont know where you get those numbers but they use exact same cpu... the only way you could get 30% or more speed on msi is to fry it! over 20% O/C already dangerous... and not very stable over long periods of time... happy O/C ing...

 

both machines has almost identical specs, having n type wifi does not mean a lot when you can utilize it/ or you wont utilize it...

but when you compare the battery life, which is the true comparison for component 1-1, nc10 shows its tricks...

 

nc10 does its job being netbook, and highly portable by fulling it with its battery life... ;)

msi wind does its job being netbook, and if your priority is CABLE LAN only it is a good choice... :)

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Umm.. where can I pick up a 6 cell/160/1gb *US Wind setup right now for $260? Show me and I'm in for 4 :)

 

Not sure how the ability to overclock become a "30% decrease in speed" for other products, or are you referring to something else?

 

Street price wise, in the US, the Wind is much less than NC10. 6 cell with BT/N wifi, 160 gig and 1gig with XP can be had for between 260 and 300. NC10 is running between 4 and 500. For the extra money you get no wifi N, a little extra weight, no lan under osx, a 3 in one instead of the wind's 4 in 1 card reader, a slightly bigger battery, and a 30 percent or more decrease in speed......

 

oh, and you also get this neat little faux metal foil trim piece that winds around the computer.

 

whoopee....

 

actually, some people may find the samsung more aesthetically pleasing and some may prefer the keyboard layout. Others don't.

 

take your pick.

 

seer

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Umm.. where can I pick up a 6 cell/160/1gb *US Wind setup right now for $260? Show me and I'm in for 4 -_-

 

Not sure how the ability to overclock become a "30% decrease in speed" for other products, or are you referring to something else?

 

check newegg for cheap prices, you will find some cheaper ones somewhere maybe because: only one stock left? or maybe refurbished? or maybe knock off nigel off the street from someone else property...

 

price for a spec by spec comparison is hard to make but most similar configs will not skew like how he says...

30% o/c on msi will fry that machine i guarantee it in a very short time for long useage! 20% already troublesome stress for other components as well... plus if you are buying this machine for powerhorse programs to run? just because it o/c does not mean it will run power horse programs as they ment to be... clock speed is not the only measure of computanional power...

 

anyways... if you can find those specs at that price definetely go for it :)

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The Samsung is excellent on paper, picks up a lot of good reviews in group tests and has a semi tolerable-ish keybord but what isn't talked about is that the otherwise good mat screen is especially grainy. For office work and light mutlimedia use, there is no reason that would bother you much. For others, especially if you are buying it to watch movies on, I would urge you try before you buy, rather than ordering online straight off.

 

My preference, reluctantly, would be the Dell, though I am not up to speed on how OS X developer viable it is, or at a pinch the Toshiba which, though the spec is comparatively poor, has a pretty good glossy screen and I found the keyboard more tolerable than most. The Acer Aspire One is pretty good shakes, also, cheap, has a fairly decent keyboard, reasonable gloss screen, possibly better than the Toshiba, though hell to upgrade the memory, and the fan is apparently a bit noisy. I know there are people who like mat screens, for outdoor use and so on, but the Samsung screen's graininess makes the Dell my current netbook king, if only on paper and based on the lastest raft of group tests, primarily in terms of battery life (though the Samsung's battery looks to be better still) and that WSVGA/WLED Truelife screen. I haven't had a chance to try its keyboard, though, and that bothers me (ah, just read a review, keyboard sounds average at best...). I hear that Levono have a netbook out and would imagine, with their heritage, its keyboard will be better than anything else out there, though like the Dell I have yet to have any hands on experience of it, let alone having read any reviews.

 

Scratch the Levono, from my book, the keyboard is apparently poor.

 

Again, I can't comment on how OS X suitable any of these models are, beyond that any project with Mysticus C*s name attached to it merits more than just serious consideration. He is the wizzard in da blizzard of head scratching! :)

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The Samsung is excellent on paper, picks up a lot of good reviews in group tests and has a semi tolerable-ish keybord but what isn't talked about is that the otherwise good mat screen is especially grainy. For office work and light mutlimedia use, there is no reason that would bother you much. For others, especially if you are buying it to watch movies on, I would urge you try before you buy, rather than ordering online straight off.

 

Wow, is the NC10's screen really that bad? I'm about to buy one and your comments bother me.

 

Does anyone else with an NC10 find the screen grainy?

 

It seems like everyone has a different opinion on screen quality. Some people think the NC10 is really good, some people say the Wind's screen is really good, and others say the Eee 1000's screen is really good.

 

I wish I had a way to compare them all myself in person, but it's not possible ;)

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detosx: i agree with you in suggestion of see before you buy! however completely disagree with screen quality ;) it is gorgeous! i dont know why you say it is grainy? quality on it is great in my opinion but i m not expert on photo/video editing or have expert knowledge of testing pixel's brightness/contrast and color spectrum however samsung is a top notch on screen quality :) do you know that sony's lcd panels are made by samsung as well? :) dell maybe good too i dont know but samsung is not bad at all, also gloss screens are not very good choice either, on samsung many surface area are glossy so it makes it look good, but practicality is different gets smudgey and reflects too much :) u know what i mean?

 

sl3: screen is top notch dont worry :) unless you are very professional, you will not feel anything, also highly suggest you to go to a local shop that sells these machines and see yourself... dont just listen to people...

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