HP Mini 1000, Compaq Mini 700, Mobile Broadband
October 30, 2008
First off, LAPTOP Magazine has posted some pictures and information regarding upgrades available on the 10″ HP Mini 1000. They showed the SIM card slot as well as the memory upgrade slot (you can swap the DIMM with a 2GB module). I’m actually not sure why HP doesn’t offer 2GB as an upgrade through their online store.
The Wall Street Journal mentions that Hewlett-Packard is looking at working out something in the United States where netbooks are bundled with some kind of wireless service contracts (with one result being substantially cheaper netbooks). This is a common practice in Europe and Asia. It would definitely be nice to have mobile broadband options bundled with netbooks.
Finally, and speaking of mobile broadband, Pocket-Lint and TrustedReviews have news that in Europe, there is a rebranded version of the Mini 1000 available, the Compaq Mini 700, that is virtually identical, that offers HSDPA options (and starts at £299 - just under $500 USD).
HP Mini 1000 Reviews, Hands-On
October 29, 2008
A few sites have already gotten their hands on the new 10″ Intel Atom-powered HP Mini 1000 including LAPTOP Magazine and Engadget. Some were able to take a look at the Ubuntu Linux-based “Mobile Internet Experience” that will be available in January of 2009 on the Mini 1000.
The build quality and keyboard (which is edge-to-edge) got high marks from most who took at a look at the Mini 1000. HP went out of their way to reduce the size / footprint of their netbook ilnes, as well as the cost (which is great - for a while it seemed like netbooks would only be going up in price).
jkOnTheRun mentions that the HP 2133 Mini-Note will still be available and targeted towards the education market, and they mention a 3G mobile broadband version maybe available next year. They also did an extensive hands-on of the 1000.
Read:
- LAPTOP Magazine - Review
- LAPTOP Magazine - Hands-On
- jkOnTheRun - Hands-On
- LAPTOP Magazine - Photos (including “Vivienne Tam Mini”)
- Engadget
HP Mini 1000 Announced
October 29, 2008
HP’s new 10″ (and 8.9″) HP Mini 1000 was revealed over the weekend and it is indeed running on a different platform than its business-oriented predecessor, the 8.9″ HP 2133 Mini-Note. It’s powered by an Intel Atom which wasn’t available when the 2133 launched (the 2133 has a VIA C7-M).
They have unfortunately dropped the higher-resolution display (1280×768) that some of the 2133s had. You have the option of 8GB or 16GB Solid State Drives (SSD) or a 60GB HDD. Memory is the standard DDR2, with one slot and a maximum of 1GB (correction: 2GB).
On the other hand, it’s starting at $399, which is less than the original 2133, and it’s smaller and sleeker and weighs less with the 10″ display than the 2133 did with an 8.9″ display. It comes with a 3-cell battery, but 6-cell options will be available within a few months. The upgrade options are very reasonable as far as pricing. Initially it will be shipping with Windows XP Home (SP3) installed, with options for “Mobile Internet Experience” (built on Ubuntu Linux) available early next year (starting at $379).
This is unique: Up to 8GB of extra storage via the HP Mini Mobile Drive accessory, which is housed within the HP Mini. It’s basically an internal USB flash drive that can be removed, and allows for secured user data - when properly configured, it can be removed and no personal information will be left on the mini.
It is currently available for order through the HP Mini 1000 series page at HP’s Home and Office website and looks to be shipping November 11, 2008.
HP Mini 1000 - Starting at $399
October 26, 2008
Over the last month or so, HP has been running some aggressive price drops on the 8.9″ HP 2133 Mini-Note. There was speculation that HP would be upgrading to the new VIA Nano CPU, but there also HP netbooks popping up with Intel Atoms (the “Vivienne Tam HP Mini-Note” which appeared to be a special edition launching in December).
This weekend, The Technicist mentioned the HP Mini 1000 showing up on Shopping.HP.com , as well as a hands-on at LAPTOP Magazine (that won’t be available until the 29th) with this excerpt: At long last, HP has finally released a follow-up (actually, two) to its flagship netbook, the 2133 Mini-Note. The newest model, the Mini 1000 (starting at $379; more on prices below), won’t replace.
From Shopping.HP.com/LAPTOP Mag:
Read more
HP Working on Touch-Oriented Devices, 10″ Netbook
October 16, 2008
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hewlett-Packard is working on touch-oriented devices, and will even roll out a touchscreen consumer-oriented notebook later this year.
Keep in mind that while Tablet PCs might have touchscreens, not all touchscreens are used in a Tablet PC form factor (or even the “convertible” form factor). This will look like a normal laptop and will not be a convertible like the HP Pavilion tx2500z.
Read more
HP 2133 Mini-Note Updates Part II
October 15, 2008
About three weeks ago, we mentioned that HP was getting aggressive with the price drops and rebates on the VIA-powered HP 2133 Mini-Note netbook.
There were $50 and $100 rebates being offered on top of lowered prices. The rebates have been dropped in favor of lowered pricing, as you can see below.
Amazon pricing:
- KR922UT#ABA - 1GHz, 4GB SSD, 512MB RAM, SUSE Linux - $369.94
- KX868AT#ABA - 1.2GHz, 120GB 5400rpm HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows Vista Home Basic - $431
- KX869AT#ABA - 1.2GHz, 120GB 5400rpm HDD, 1GB RAM, SUSE Linux - $439
- KX870AT#ABA - 1.6GHz, 120GB 7200rpm HDD, 2GB RAM, Windows Vista Business - $640.98.99
Given the aggressive pricing and the availability of a better VIA Nano CPU that’s a drop-in replacement for the C7M CPUs, how far off are we from an updated Mini-Note?
jkOnTheRun mention some promotions going on directly from HP as well, ending October 31, 2008 (and the $399 Mini-Note in the promotion is the same one mentioned above at $369).
It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few months - it’s a good time for HP to upgrade - they had a really good design and the only major criticism from many was the CPU - a CPU upgrade would definitely be welcome and could put HP right back into the netbook game.
