HP 2133 Mini-Note

I just had the opportunity to use an HP 2133 Mini-Note PC for a few weeks. Here are some high-level notes on it.

• Overall this is a very nice computer.
• Performance wasn’t all that great. It feels a little sluggish. I’ve gotta think that the VIA processor was not the best choice here vs. Intel’s Atom stuff.
• I like the keyboard layout better than other “netbooks” I’ve looked at. I think the wider form factor is a better choice in this space than a lot of the narrower designs out there.
• The 92% keyboard wasn’t really an issue at all on this model since the layout is so good.
• I had a lot of trouble getting used to the mouse buttons on the side of the touchpad.
• I think that SSD’s are now a requirement in this space. I don’t think they’re offered on this model.
• I don’t like how the 3-cell battery is only an option on the Linux-based SKUs. This thing is definitely too heavy for this category — mostly because of the 6-cell battery that’s required when licensing Windows with it.
• There are some folks who will _never_ accept a unit that doesn’t have a trackpoint device. The netbook category needs to address this somehow.

HP has the even more “netbook”-like Mini 1000 series. It would be nice to look at those, but it seems like at the moment, they’re positioning those as “home” computers only. I wonder whether they will  offer a “business” model in that line. It appears that all these PC vendors are afraid of cannibalizing their corporate sales if they offer this kind of thing. Possibly true, but someone’s going to do it and business will definitely flow in their direction.