HP Mini 2140

Even though the HP Mini 1000 is only a few months old, Hewlett-Packard was actually an early player in the Netbook field. The company's business system side came up with the Mini-note 2133 in spring 2008, with a solid, brushed-metal chassis and a nearly full-size keyboard. Unfortunately, this predated Intel's Atom CPU, and rather than using the Celeron processor that came with the very first Netbooks, HP went with an underpowered Via C7-M, which pretty much killed any chance it had of becoming a mainstream product.

Now that the plastic-clad, Atom-powered consumer version has become a hit, HP's business side is taking another crack at the Netbook market with a radically updated version, the $499 HP Mini 2140.

It keeps the aluminum construction and big keyboard, but updates the components to an Intel Atom CPU, and adds an accelerometer for the hard drive, and a full ExpressCard/54 slot--a Netbook first (Lenovo's S10 has a smaller Express Card/34 slot).

Thanks to those added features--and some concerns about the added weight aside--the 2140 is currently our favorite Netbook less than $500.

What's cool on this laptop is always have fantastic keyboard, which HP claims is 92-percent of the size of a full-size laptop keyboard. Other Netbooks have been plagued by tiny Chiclet-like keys, which make typing a pain and typos plentiful. By expanding the keyboard right to the edges of the system, HP is able to fit bigger keys into the tray than other Netbooks (and even ultraportable laptops). The result is a comfortable typing experience that takes a tiny bit of adjustment (as the keys are very close together), but one that is, thus far, our favorite on a sub-12-inch notebook.

Specifications :

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

• Hardware Platform: PC
• Processor: 1.6 GHz
• System Bus Speed: 533

Special Features

• Display Type: HP Illumi-Lite LED
• Screen Size: 10.1"
• Maximum Resolution: 1024 x 576
• Memory Type: DDR2
• Memory Size: 1GB
• Memory Speed: DDR2 800
• Memory Slots (Total): 1
• Memory Slots (Filled): 1
• Memory Slots (Available)
• Maximum Memory Supported: 2GB
• Capacity: 160GB
• HDD/SSD Drives Included: 1x 160GB
• Drive Types: Hard Drive
• Hard Drive Speed: 5400 RPM
• Lifestyle: Netbooks
• Condition: New
• Operating Systems: Windows XP Home
• Startup Operating System: Windows® XP Home

Hard Drive

• Manufacturer: Portable

Ports and Connectivity

• Modem: None

Cases and Expandability

• Size (LWH): 13.9 inches, 8.8 inches, 5.9 inches
• Weight: 5.05 pounds

Power

Rated Charge (normal use): 4 hours