HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note at Amazon

We had about half a dozen people e-mail this (thanks by the way), and it looks like 8.9-inch HP Compaq 2133 or the HP 2133 Mini-Note as it is now known, is popping up at Amazon.

The model description is: HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - Smart Buy VIA C7-M Processor

Common specifications confirmed by Amazon:
- 8.9-inch Widescreen WXGA 1280×768 Display
- VIA Chrome 9 UMA Graphics
- 667MHz DDR2 Memory
- 2 Memory Slots

Options pulled from Amazon:
- VIA C7-M CPU: 1GHz, 1.2GHz, or 1.6GHz
- 512MB - 2GB Memory
- 4GB Flash-Based Solid State Drive or
- 5400rpm: 120GB or 160GB or 7200rpm: 120GB
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g Wireless
- Bluetooth
- 3-Cell or 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Vista Business, or
- SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Final Pricing according to LAPTOP Magazine:
- $499 - 1GHz CPU, 4GB Flash/Solid State Drive, 512MB Ram, 3-Cell Battery, Linux
- $549 - 1.2GHz CPU, 120GB Hard Drive, 1GB Memory, 3-Cell battery, Linux
- $599 - 1.2GHz CPU, 120GB Hard Drive, 1GB Memory, 3-Cell battery, Microsoft Windows Vista Basic
- $749 - 1.6GHz CPU, 120GB 7200rpm Hard Drive, 2GB Memory, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, Microsoft Windows Vista Business

There are five configurations listed so far (Amazon prices are not correct):
- HP 2133 Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.2GHz 120GB 1.2GHz CPU, 120GB 5400rpm Hard Drive

- HP 2133 Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.2GHz 160GB 1.2GHz CPU, 160GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive, 1GB Memory, Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g Wireless, Bluetooth, 10/100/100 Gigabit Ethernet, VIA Chrome 9 UMA Graphics, Built-in Camera, 6 Cell Li-ion battery, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 32-bit

- HP 2133 Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.6GHz 120GB 1.6GHz CPU, 120GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive, 2GB Memory, Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g Wireless, Bluetooth, 10/100/100 Gigabit Ethernet, VIA Chrome 9 UMA Graphics, Built-in Camera, 6 Cell Li-ion battery, Microsoft Windows Vista Business with Office Ready Trial

- HP 2133 Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.0GHz 4GFLa 1GHz CPU, 4GB Flash Solid State Drive (SSD), 512MB Memory, Broadcom b/g Wireless, 10/100/100 Gigabit, VIA Chrome 9 UMA Graphics, Built-in Camera, 3 cell Li-ion battery, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

- HP 2133 Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.2GHz 120GB - 1.2GHz CPU, 120GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive, 1GB Memory, Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g Wireless, 10/100/100 Gigabit, VIA Chrome 9 UMA Graphics, Built-in Camera, 3 Cell Li-ion battery, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Acer, Asustek to Ship A Lot of 8.9-inch Laptops

Update: Acer’s offering is now known as the Acer Aspire One

Surprise, Acer and Asustek expect to ship a lot of ultraportable laptops with 8.9-inch displays.

When I say a lot, I’m talking millions. According to Digitimes, Acer alone is look at 5-5.5 million of their Aspire 8.9″ laptops. Asustek is looking to ship around 5 million of their 7-inch Asus Eee PC and 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC 900

Acer will also be shipping a low-cost 12.1″ “Slim Gemstone Aspire” later this year, with a target of around one million units.

No word on HP Compaq 2133 numbers, however Digitimes does mention the OEMs for each 8.9″ laptop:
- HP: Wistron, Inventec
- Acer: Quanta, Wistron
- Asustek: Pegatron

The HP Compaq 2133 will be running on Via’s C7-M CPU while the Acer and Asustek models will be using Intel’s Atom.

Source: Digitimes

Asus Eee PC at Best Buy with Windows XP

Looks like the Asus Eee PC with Windows XP is showing up at Best Buy. This is a major event (in my opinion) since it’s the first of the low-cost ultraportable laptops running a Windows operating system to be sold through major retailers. Many people have already taken their Asus Eee PCs and added Windows XP manually.

It’s carrying a SKU of “8781464″ and a Best Buy model number of “EEEPC4G-BK010X” so you need to be careful that it’s not confused with other Asus Eee PCs at Best Buy, although these are online-only.

It’s not showing up at any local Best Buy’s just yet (at least not in the 4 cities I checked).

- Best Buy - Asus Eee PC with Windows XP

Thanks to Tim for the info.

Announced: Everex CloudBook Max

Everex announced a new ultraportable laptop to compliment the 7-inch Everex CloudBook.

It’s the Everex CloudBook Max and it comes with an 8.9-inch 1024×600 widescreen display. It will be competing with the Asus Eee PC 901 and possibly the HP Compaq 2133 (depending on price). It offers a larger harddrive and more memory than the regular CloudBook. It won’t be available until the second half of this year.

Among the changes besides the obvious display size:
- Upgraded CPU - 1.6GHz Via C7-M
- 2MP Web camera (built-in)
- GPS Receiver (built-in)
- Integrated Mobile WiMax (Sprint Xohm)

Dimensions are not much larger than the original CloudBook:
Width: 9.4 inches (238.8mm)
Depth: 6.9 inches (175.3mm)
Height: 1.1″ inches (27.94mm)
Weight: Less than 2.2 pounds (0.998kg)

Details about Intel’s Atom / Centrino Atom, Released

During the Intel Developer Forum being held this week, Intel has released more details about the Intel Atom and Centrino Atom lineup - a CPU line geared towards small laptops, ultramobile PCs (UMPCs), and other such devices (subnotebooks, etc.).

While they may not have second cores (similar to the full-size Intel Core 2 Duo lines), some will have hyperthreading which will be a boost over normal single-CPU systems. They appear to have two main lines of CPUs, both a “standard” (our words) and ultra low-power (ultra low voltage).

“Standard” CPUs:
- 533MHz Front Side Bus
- Hyperthreading
- Consume 2W or 2.4W during peak energy use
- Could ship in budget laptops and desktops (such as Asus Eee PC)
- CPU speeds: 1.33GHz ($65), 1.6GHz ($95), 1.86GHz ($160) in batches of 1000
- Other speeds maybe made available

Ultra Low-Power CPUs:
- 400MHz Frontside/System Bus
- No hyperthreading
- Consume as low as 0.65W
- CPU Speeds: 800MHz, 1.1GHz
- Each CPU would cost $45
- Geared towards very small form-factors (such as Fujitsu U810)

The Centrino Atom platform will have decent 3D processing in the graphics area, and will be able to handle HD Video (including 720p) and surround sound.

These could end up being extensively both in the very small notebook/UMPC market, as well as home theater market.

They will be running full Windows operating systems (and perhaps, eventually, Apple’s Mac OS X).

Articles:
- CNET News.com
- Reuters
- PC World

Asus Eee PC, Windows XP, and Best Buy

There are a couple of interesting articles on LAPTOP Magazine’s blog, concerning the Asus Eee PC.

First up: Hands-on with an Eee PC and Windows XP - The Windows XP version is going to be the same as the Eee PCs powered by the Xandros Linux distributions. Impressions were good, with a boot time of 40 seconds. They mentioned that three complaints they had earlier about the 7-inch ultraportables were video conferencing with the webcam, unable to load new applications easliy, and mobile broadband support, and that under Windows, all three issues were taken care of. However, a fairly serious issue arose, at least with the 4GB version = storage space on the Solid State flash-based drive - half of the space is taken up by Windows.

Next: Available at Best Buy in April. Asus told LAPTOP Magaizne that in the next few weeks, the Windows XP-powered version of the Asus Eee PC 4G will be available in US markets, including Best Buy, for $399. As mentioned above, these are identical to the Linux-powered versions.

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