I went ahead and bought the Samsung NC10 netbook with the intention of replacing my Asus Eee 701 4G. The NC10 is what I am looking for in a netbook, and I will only be able to get less money for my Eee as time goes by. Once I have the NC10, I cannot imagine upgrading for a while because it has the right combo of screen size, screen resolution, and keyboard usability. The Eee was lacking in those areas.

I ordered from J&R in New York. They had the lowest price and had free shipping. I also tried out FatWallet. Basically you click through to an online retailer via their website and you can use instant coupons or get a certain percentage cash back on your purchase. FatWallet was offering 3% off purchases at J&R. It sounds like it might take up to a few weeks to get the cash back reward; it’s kind of like a rebate. I couldn’t find any good coupon codes for J&R at other coupon sites, so this was the best I could do to get a further discount.

At work, people are favoring the NC10 over the HP 2133 Mini-Note. The Samsung’s screen brightness and clarity are garnering compliments.

While giving the NC10 to a co-worker to take home for the evening, I came across a negative about the NC10. Samsung cheaped out with the included carrying pouch. Asus provided me a neoprene sleeve with velcro for my Eee. The Samsung sleeve is made of a more conventional cloth and there is no velcro to keep it closed. I will have to invest in a good bag for carrying the laptop, power supply, and mouse.

My Eee will go on sale after I have used the NC10 for a while and am satisfied with how well it’s working.

See my notes about testing the NC10 here.