Blogging on the Road - HP 2133 Mini-Note PC
I’ve been looking at small laptops in preparation for our time on the road in 2009.
Originally, my interest was sparked by the Asus EeePC.
A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to finally see an Asus EeePC in the flesh. At the same time, I also laid eyes on the HP version of a Mini-Note PC.
And I LIKED what I saw.
The HP model is slightly larger than the Asus EeePC and my fingers sit on the keyboard just nicely. I think I would be able to adjust to the size of the Asus EeePC but on first try, I noticed I would have made a LOT of typing errors which could lead to frustration.
The HP model on the other hand fitted my fingers comfortably and I was able to touchtype error free (well as error-free as I normally touch-type).
It would seem that the market HP is aiming for with these laptops is the student/education market and for this reason, the laptops have been designed to be light to carry (weighing around 1.2kg) and durable (it has an aluminum casing with a magnesium alloy structure and a scratch-resistant acrylic covering). Both are perfect for my wanting a portable unit for travelling.
The one sticking point for me is the price. I don’t think it’s over-priced. It offers more than the EeePC and therefore you’d expect to pay more. My goal is to make enough from my blogging to purchase a mini-laptop before we go. Originally my goal was $500 which should get me an EeePC with change leftover (depending on the model I’d like and where I source it from). To purchase the Hewlett Packard version is likely to set me back $800+ (again depending on model, place of purchase and so on). I’m hoping they’ll come down in price in the next 6 months but I still need to aim a little higher in terms of savings.
If you have one of these or a similar “netbook” style laptop, I would love to hear what you think of it.
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Comments
I dearly love my Asus Eee. I bought one of the original (4Gb) models quite cheaply - $350 - after they were superseded.
Negatives:
- Screen size is occasionally a pain (altho the later models have a larger one, which gets rid of most of the problem)
- Installing software is more difficult in Linux (but if you buy a windows xp model, you get rid of that problem)
- doesn’t come with decent photo-editing tool (but GIMP is easy enough to download… not sure how it runs though, haven’t gotten round to trying)
- anything getting into the keyboard causes irritating stickiness, sometimes hard to fix
Positives
- oh, so beautifully small and light! Lives up to the ‘notebook’ name, it’s about the size and weight of a thick A5 paper notebook
- so far, quite tough. I’m a classic klutz. My belongings need to be tough to survive the bashings, droppings and coffee-spittings. So far it’s survived well.
- well-designed and thought out. The Linux interface is newbie-friendly. USB ports. SD card just slots in (wonderful for travelling with a digital camera - take card out of camera, stick into Eee, copy photos onto Eee or USB stick). Network cable connection. Wi-fi. Webcam and skype installed. Decent voice recorder. Voice command options available. Recognises new storage media quickly and easily.
Hope that helps 
When you looked at the laptops. Did you notice if they had a plug at the back to plug in a normal computer screen?
I am thinking that my next laptop may be one of these cheaper and lighter laptops as long as I can plug in a full sized screen for use at home or in the office.
Journeyer - I’ve seen the Macbook Air in one of the stores we were in. It does look good but I’m used to PC’s and not really all the technologically savvy so I’m figuring a Mac might be a frustrating way to go for me. I didn’t even ask for a price so no idea how expensive they are but cheaper is better for what I want this for.
As for “grunt”, I got the impression the HP model was slightly better than the Asus. I was going to add some specs here but there are a couple of different models so I wasn’t sure I’d get it exactly correct. I know they have a 1gig/20gig memory - 1G is something to do with the operating and then 20G available memory (I think I’ve got that right).
Naomi - thanks for the run-down on the Eee. That’s helpful to know.
Mark - no, I didn’t look. But it did come up in conversation with the sales rep so I know the HP’s can be plugged into a regular monitor.
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I’m in love with my Macbook, so my choice would be a Macbook Air. Probably a bit more pricey that what you’re after though.
I’m not sure of the specs for the Asus or HP, but will they have sufficient “grunt” if you’re planning to use them for photo editing, etc?