HP/Compaq

Mini/Sub-Notebook Typing Contest (LAPTOP Mag)

by

HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note LAPTOP Magazine held a small contest last week, where they brought in three of the new “netbook” or sub-notebooks (or mini-notebooks if you prefer), and brought in several people, who then engaged in a typing contest on each, to see which of these devices handled the best when it came to typing a lot of data.

The Sub-Notebooks/Netbooks:
– Asus Eee PC – Intel, 7-inch
– CTL 2Go PC / Intel Classmate 2 – Intel, 8.9-inch
– HP 2133 Mini-Note PC – VIA, 8.9-inch

Not surprisingly, the 8.9-inch HP 2133 Mini-Note handled the best, with it’s near full-sized keyboard:

Based on the average words per minute among our contestants, the HP Mini-Note easily conquered the Eee PC and the 2Go PC. Our typists produced an average of 53.25 wpm on the Mini-Note, despite concerns about its lack of tactile feedback. The 92% full size keyboard certainly provided the advantage over the child-sized keys on the Eee PC and the 2Go PC.

You can read the end results of the competition (as well as check the individual pages) here:

LAPTOP Magazine

Read more

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 at jkOnTheRun

by

More information and first-hand looks are starting to come out about the Lenovo IdeaPad U110, this time courtesy of jkOnTheRun. James Kendrick posted several pictures of the U110, including the accessories (what looks like a port replicator, plus the external USB-powered optical drive), and a … Read more

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and Skype

by

HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note If you are curious about what can be currently achieved on the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC in regards to video conferencing, James and Kevin over at jkOnTheRun have put together a video demonstrating a Skype video conference call.

While Kevin was using a MacBook Pro, James was using the Mini-Note (and James’ side is the focus of the video). The Mini-Note that James was using was the high-end 1.6GHz VIA CPU, 2GB of memory, and loaded (by James) with Windows XP (and Skype 3.8 for Windows).

LAPTOP Magazine’s blog also had an article about Skype on the Mini-Note, but included no video.

Read/View:
– jkOnTheRun – Skype Video
– LAPTOP Magazine Blog

Read more

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC Availability (US)

by

HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note I’m planning on buying an HP 2133 Mini-Note PC very shortly, and have been poking around the web, checking availability. The prices right now are all over the place – I’m guessing that with heavy demand and limited supply, some retailers are pricing accordingly. While I’m waiting for the Windows XP version in a few weeks (although it’s getting more and more tempting to grab one now and load XP myself), I was pleased to see that it’s in stock at some of the major US stores online :

HP 2133 Mini-Note (KX870AT) 1.6GHz, 2GB Memory, 120GB HDD, Vista
– HP 2133 Mini-Note (KX870AT) – Amazon – $779.99
– HP 2133 Mini-Note (KX870AT) – Buy.com – $808.99

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (KX868AT) 1.2GHz, 1GB Memory, 120GB HDD, Linux
– HP 2133 Mini-Note (KX868AT) – Buy.com – $684.19

It has not shown up at any brick & mortar retailers (as far as I know).

Read more

HP 2133 Mini-Note – Typing, Windows XP, Xubuntu

by

HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note In their continuing series about the HP 2133 Mini-Note, the ultraportable 8.9-inch sub-notebook (or netbook) and using it in place of a regular-sized notebook, or as a supplemental notebook, LAPTOP Magazine published three more articles today.

First: Mini-Note’s Vista Replaced with Xubuntu : Vista was proving problematic for certain intensive tasks (Skype / VOIP, etc.) and so Xubuntu was installed. It worked well from a fresh install, and devices, etc., were loaded (with help), however problems with Skype and a few other things were encountered, which leads to Windows XP.

Next: Windows XP on the Mini-Note : Using instructions from Brad Linder/Liliputing.com, Windows XP was installed in place of Vista and Linux. Included is a video of the Mini-Note booting up.

Finally: Mini-Notebook Typing Madness Part II : exactly what it says – a look at typing on the Mini-Note, including a video.

Read more