NC10 SE or N110?

or

The new Samsung Mini Notebook N110 comes out next month and I am trying to decide between the NC10 Special Edition and the N110. What exactly is the difference between these netbooks? According to samsung's website, the N110's max memory is only 1GB and the N110 SE max memory is 2GB.

Specs for NC10 SE:
5900mAh 6 cell high capacity battery giving up to 9 hours and 40 minutes of continuous run-time, touch pad larger than other NC10 models
10.2-inch Wide, 1024 x 600 WSVGA , 220 nits
Intel Atom processor N270, 1.6 GHz, 533 MHz Front Side Bus, 512 KB Level 2 Cache
160 GB, 2.5-inch HD, 1 GB DDR2 800 MHz
Intel 945GSE shared, 802.11 b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, 10/100 BaseTX LAN
Cases and Expandability
Size (LWH): 10.27 inches, 7.3 inches, 1.19 inches
Weight: 2.8 pounds


Specs for N110:
Operating System : Genuine Windows XP Home SP3
CPU : Intel® Atom™ processor N270
Maximum System Memory : 1 GB
Hard Drive : 160 GB (2.5", 5400 RPM)

 

Based on the info here, the N110 looks like the NC10SE with a red stripe. Perhaps it is a work-around to give other outlets the updated model after making the NC10SE an exclusive.

The 1GB RAM limit is probably quoted because that is meant to be a Microsoft requirement for the netbook edition of Windows XP. However, I don't know of any netbook manufacturer who has put a 1GB limit in the BIOS. All the current Samsung netbooks can use a 2GB module.

John

 

according to the review by Laptop Magazine: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-n-110.aspx

the N110 has a maximum RAM limit of 2GB

 

One big difference (if you care) is in the screen. Matte on the NC10, glossy on the N110.

 

my mom has the nc10, I love it!

 

Very good point. I would prefer matte. See the first photo in my NC20 review for the problem you can get with glossy screens. Matte is also much better for computing outside in the summer time.

John

 

They are the same except for the matte and glossy display, as well as the red strip. Same higher cell battery and larger touchpad. Haven't seen any reports if the N110 will have multi-touch capability this time around, which the SE did not. The N110 will eventually be released for less than the SE model from early reports.

This is what you call price discrimination, a process in which a companies seeks to maximize it's profits by offering a product to those that are willing to pay a higher price for it because those consumers have a greater demand (ie. they want it now, they wanted the higher capacity battery right now, the price isn't high enough to drive them away). Once you sell to those customers that are willing to pay that money, you reduce the price to where you get more customers who's demand meets the price point. My guess is the thinking behind offering the "Special Edition" and than the N110 is that the "special edition" term will draw interest and help sales, especially those that were on the fence before. Than by offering a new model they can better establish through marketing that the two are different enough to not make your average SE owner upset. Clearly, if they were to just charge the lowest price right off the bat they would be losing out on large profits from those who were willing to pay more. This happens commonplace and you see it everywhere you look.

The one nice thing is that we should all see the higher capacity batteries for sale. I suspect the NC10 model will be taking a large price drop soon.

 

Yep. And it's got a matte screen.

It's a shame that they went with a glossy screen in the new model.

 

I like the added touch of color look it gives it adds more elegance to something that was already elegant.

Im kinda shocked this netbook didnt have an N280.....

 

I see that Portable One has the N110 available to order @$469.

It says launch date 3/23/2009.

John

 

How much more expensive is NC10se compare to NC10 ?

 

Is there an NC110 as well as the N110?

 

The NC10 SE and the N110 are $469. The old NC10 can be had for less than $391 now:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001I45TA8?ie=UTF8&tag=nc10x-20

 

the n110 is listed on the samsung site as having 128mb of shared vram. vram for the nc10 strangely, however, is not listed on the samsung site. i read somewhere that the nc10 and nc10 SE both only have 64mb. does any one know if that's accurate? it seems to me that since the nc10/nc10se have the same chipset as the n110, all 3 should have the same amount of vram, so what gives?

 

The NC10 shows as 121MB of video RAM.

See the attached.

John

 

thanks for that bit of info john! anyone with an n110 care to chip in on how much vram you've got? if indeed it's different, it would seem that samsung changed something slightly more than just the chassis and glossy screen, no?

 

Trusted Reviews have looked at the N110.

John

 

Display on the NC10 turns out to be better than the N110 display. They're equally bright, but contrast and black levels on the NC10 are much better.
http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/inspection/test-review-samsung-n110--nynet-n270bbt--schwarz--897

And of course the NC10 is matte, while N110 is glossy.

 

The difference would appear to be pretty insignificant!

 

NC10 was measured at 454:1 contrast, while the N110 reached 179:1.

There's a few possibilities why the difference may look insignificant:
- Not everyone can tell the difference between medium and high contrast.
- The glossy coating on the N110 makes the contrast appear to be better than it really is.

It would also be possible that Samsung has been using different panels. The display in the NC10 they measured was the CPT04C4, I have the same in mine. I'm very satisfied with it.

 

My point is that the average consumer can read that information and say Yeah okay... but their eyes won't know the difference! I think it just complicates the decision even more for folks which are trying to get the best bang for their buck.

Folks don't really need to get bogged down into this stuff because ultimately the difference is insignificant at an eye view level! I think the glossy screen does indeed compensate for the difference!