My vote is the NC10.

It was as good as it gets 18 months ago when they first came on the market and nothing that I have seen changes that.

Solid, reliable, good battery (no point in a netbook unless it has a good battery) and can be had for a good price nowadays.

Handles Picasa fine for image manipulation. Cheap and easy to replace the ram to double the memory if you feel the need.............in truth it was good enough before, so don't rush to do that I suggest.

Thanks for all your input gentlefolk. From what I can see the NC10 should be fine for my needs. This post is perhaps a bit cheeky, in which case my apologies.

There don't seem to be too many places selling them and have them in stock. I found Expansys, not too far from me. They have a number of variants which are confusing me.

Samsung NC10 Netbook - Version: UK,1.6GHz,1GB,160GB,10.2",Windows XP Home, White - £240
Samsung NC10 / 10.1"W / N270(1.6G) / 1GB / 160GB / 6 Cell Batt / BT 2.1 / Webcam / 3 USB / 3 in 1 / XP Home / White Color / NoteBook
� Processor: Intel® Atom� Processor N270 (1.6GHz) 533MHz FSB with 512KB Cache
� Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
� Cache Memory: 512kB - L2 Cache
� Hard Drive: 160GB SATA
� Networking: Ethernet - 10/100, Atheros® Wifi 802.11b.g, Bluetooth 2.1
� RAM: 1GB (1 x 1GB) DDR2 800MHz - 1 x Slot SODIMM
� Graphics Controller: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - 128MB Integrated Graphics
� Built-in Devices: 2 Watts Stereo Speakers (1W x 2), Wireless LAN aerial,Bluetooth 2.1
� Notebook Camera: 1.3 Mega Pixel Digital Motion Camera
� Display: 10.1� WSVGA (1024 x 600) SuperBright© Non-Gloss LED Display
� Optical Storage: Card Reader 3 in 1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC))
� OS Provided: Genuine Windows® XP Home (SP3)
� Dimensions (WxDxH): 261 x 185.5 x 30.3 mm
� Weight: 1.33kg
� Manufacturer Warranty 1 Year Collect and Return

Samsung NC10 Netbook - Version: UK, 1.6GHz, 1GB, 160GB, 10.2", XP Home, Black - £260
Operating System : Genuine Windows® XP Home (SP3)
� Processor : Intel® Atom� Processor N270 (1.6GHz) 533MHz FSB with 512KB Cache
� Main Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
� System Memory: 1GB (1 x 1GB) DDR2 667MHz
� Memory Slot : 1 x Slot SODIMM
� Display : LCD 10.2� WSVGA (1024 x 600) SuperBright© Gloss LED Display
� Graphics Processor: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
� Graphics Memory: 128MB Integrated Graphics
� Multimedia
Sound: HD (High Definition) Audio
Multimedia Player: EDS (Enhanced Digital Sound) Effect
Speakers: 2 Watts Stereo Speakers (1W x 2)
Integrated Camera: 1.3 Mega Pixel Digital Motion Camera
� Hard Drive : 160GB SATA
� Communication:
Modem (RJ11) : No
Wired Ethernet LAN (RJ45) : 10/100
Wireless LAN : Atheros® Wifi 802.11b.g
WWAN: No
Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
� I/O Port:
VGA : Yes
HDMI: No
Headphone Out: Yes
Mic In: Yes
Internal Mic: Yes
PC Card Bus Slot: No
USB: 3 x USB 2.0
Multi Card Slot: 3 in 1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
Dock Port: No
SIO: No
DC-in (Power Port) : Yes
� Keyboard Type : 84 Key with Silver Nano technology (Anti-Bacterial Keyboard)
� Touch Pad, Touch Screen : Touch Pad (Scroll Scope, Flat Type)
� AC Adapter: 60 Watt
� Battery : 6 Cell Lithium ion
� Slip Case for Mini-laptop Included
� Dimension (W x D x H mm) : 261 x 185.5 x 30.3 mm
Weight, include standard battery (kg): 1.33kg

Samsung NC10 Netbook - Version: UK, 1.6GHz, 1GB, 160GB, 10.2", XP Home, Black - £330
� Operating System : Genuine Windows® XP Home (SP3)
� Processor : Intel® Atom� Processor N270 (1.6GHz) 533MHz FSB with 512KB Cache
� Main Chipset: Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
� System Memory: 1GB (1 x 1GB) DDR2 667MHz
� Memory Slot : 1 x Slot SODIMM
� Display : LCD 10.2� WSVGA (1024 x 600) SuperBright© Gloss LED Display
� Graphics Processor: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
� Graphics Memory: 128MB Integrated Graphics
� Multimedia
Sound: HD (High Definition) Audio
Multimedia Player: EDS (Enhanced Digital Sound) Effect
Speakers: 2 Watts Stereo Speakers (1W x 2)
Integrated Camera: 1.3 Mega Pixel Digital Motion Camera
� Hard Drive : 160GB SATA
� Communication:
Modem (RJ11) : No
Wired Ethernet LAN (RJ45) : 10/100
Wireless LAN : Atheros® Wifi 802.11b.g
WWAN: No
Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
� I/O Port:
VGA : Yes
HDMI: No
Headphone Out: Yes
Mic In: Yes
Internal Mic: Yes
PC Card Bus Slot: No
USB: 3 x USB 2.0
Multi Card Slot: 3 in 1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC)
Dock Port: No
SIO: No
DC-in (Power Port) : Yes
� Keyboard Type : 84 Key with Silver Nano technology (Anti-Bacterial Keyboard)
� Touch Pad, Touch Screen : Touch Pad (Scroll Scope, Flat Type)
� AC Adapter: 60 Watt
� Battery : 6 Cell Lithium ion
� Slip Case for Mini-laptop Included
� Dimension (W x D x H mm) : 261 x 185.5 x 30.3 mm
Weight, include standard battery (kg): 1.33kg

I can't see any real spec. difference between these three. I can understand that the colour might make a price difference, but I'm blowed if I can see why the 3rd is £70 dearer.

Have I missed something, are there spec. differences between these?

Cheapest I could find.

Seems to have the 6 cell battery so good to go. £229 after rebate is a very good price.


Edit typo

Edited by Sadoldman (Sun 20-Dec-09 10:33:49)

I bought a samsung n130 with the £20 rebate, brought it back to £209. The thing is brilliant, that I tend to use it more than the 17" laptop now for emails and web browsing.

In reply to a post by AnotherExPipex:

...convert the CD to an ISO image, copy that to the netbook and install using that

I have no problem with doing that for single disc installs and have already done it for something else.

If the software is multi-CD install, how do you get the installer to look at the second ISO image.

File names? Folder names?

Or what?

Use software that makes the ISO look like a drive (something like Magic Disk). You can then mount and unmount the ISOs just as you would insert and eject DVDs.

I've only done this using the content as the content of each CD in a separate folder - where it seems to react favorably to the re-pointing.

How do you get it to install from an ISO file?

See my reply to Tony.

Thanks, confusion on my part because of sloppy reading - not the first time today

Sloppy reading is better than sloppy posting!