Koobten – Netbooks and moreNetbook reviews

HP has launched the successor to the mini note, dubbed the Mini 1000. And for those closely following the Mini Note, you might say this is both an upgrade and a downgrade in many respects.

The Mini 1000 has a faster and better (arguably) processor, with the Intel Atom N270. You also have the option to go for a larger screen, but without sacrificing chasis size, since the original Mini note had a large bezel around the 9-inch screen.

Some disadvantages, however, according to Liliputing:

For me, the loss of the ExpressCard slot is not a deal breaker. Same with the other “downgrades” which I think are necessary to achieve this thinner form factor. The biggest gripe I would have is that HP no longer uses an aluminum chassis, which had set the original Mini note apart from all other netbooks.

I guess you have to have tradeoffs!

So I got to install Windows XP on the HP Mini Note as I wrote I wanted to, yesterday. Installation was a breeze. I had a USB combo drive which I got when I bought my Asus EeePC 701. The installation actually lasted a shorter time than I remember it did on my other computers. It was about an hour or so, including copying of files and actual setup.

I didn’t remove the Windows Vista Home recovery partition, so I can always just revert to default settings before returning the Mini Note. It is, after all, a review unit. That’s unless the next one in line would agree to receive the Mini Note with XP loaded.

As expected, XP is amazingly nimble on this machine. Startup is about 1 minute and 10 seconds. About 1 minute from cold boot to login screen, and another 10 seconds to load startup programs. Vista is, after all, a resource hog. Even with the 2GB RAM, the system has other bottlenecks that Vista simply cannot handle well.

So far, I would say that the HP Mini Note + Windows XP (or perhaps the Suse Linux version) + the 6 cell battery pack = great netbook.

Liliputing reports that HP may be planning to create an inexpensive version of its 2133 Mini Note ultraportable. Citing an APC interview with an HP executive, it seems HP is having a stab at the lower-end to mid-range netbook market.

“From a retail perspective we’re looking at a similar device (to the 2133) but at a lower cost” said Jerel Chong, HP Australia’s Market Development Manager for Notebook PCs, at today’s launch of HP’s business mobility products for the second half of 2008. “It won’t be as durable but it will be cheaper”.

There is no clear information at this point, though, whether HP will stick with Via or switch to other chipsets, like the recently-introduced Intel Atom. Recall that the current Mini Note has been considered underpowered (even compared to the mobile Celeron-M processors that first-generation EeePCs use). With a new generation of Mini Notes, it is possible that HP will switch to other technologies.

Yugatech recently published a roundup of 9-inch netbooks that are on retail in the Philippines market. These include the Acer Aspire one, HP Mini Note and the Asus EeePC 900.with the addition of the MSI Wind 10-incher for reference.

According to Yuga, the Acer Aspire one comes out the winner, considering the price factor, with the MSI Wind also a “nice option.” The EeePC and HP Mini Note are lagging here, perhaps particularly because they are already dated models. Asus has reportedly chosen to forego selling the 901 in the Philippine market, but will instead launch the 10-incher 1000 next week.

Yugatech has a similar round-up of 7-inch netbooks here.

(image credit: Yugatech)