HP's Mini-Note Reviewed

It's the height of the short-lived sunny season here in the Upper Midwest—and I'm admittedly giddy with it—so I hope you'll indulge me in one last summery simile as I sip sweet tea and write this review:

Subnotebook computers are just like small boats.

I know, it's probably not an obvious or elegant comparison, but I think it's apt, so please allow me to explicate. I bought my first little boat about a year ago and it was perfect. Perfect. Boater buddies, though, immediately warned me to expect only the briefest satisfaction. “There is no ideal boat,” they told me, “you've got portability, you'll want more power. You've got affordability, you'll want more opulence. You've got versatility, you'll want more vroom! Your boat will remain perfect only until you see the next one you think you want.”

Crusty cynics. They were so right. And it's exactly the same deal with little laptops—or Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs, as they're often called). Like small boats, I've loved them all, for everything they represent: mobility, freedom, compact self-sufficiency, adventure. But, like boats, I only love them until the next one catches my eye. That's why I'm currently drooling over yet another digital dinghy, the HP 2133 Mini-Note.

It packs yacht-like features into the short-hull form factor of an ultra mobile. And speaking of the hull, I mean case, it's brushed aluminum and a big part of why it's easily the slickest-looking UMPC I've tested. Add to that an equally slick 8.9 inch, scratch-resistant, 1280 x 768 WXGA display and a spill-resistant keyboard that's 92 percent of full size, plus a fast, 7200 RPM 120 GB, shock-resistant hard drive and a 1.20 GHz Via C7-M processor and you've got a little skiff with Queen Mary aspirations.

That's why the Mini-Note, designed for students, will also have cross-over appeal with road-warrior parents—adults who may also appreciate the ExpressCard/54 slot for adding mobile broadband access to the built-in WiFi and Ethernet capabilities.

Is this the perfect computing craft? The Fresno Unified School District apparently thinks so—several thousand have been ordered and are already sailing their way.

My experience with boats, though, has made me realize that performance and gloss have trade-offs, too. The Mini-Note I tested took nearly two minutes to boot up, for example, and the slick screen was pretty susceptible to glare. Plus, packing a relatively high-res display into a small form factor device results in lots of tiny print to navigate through. And while the Mini-Note boasts lots of processing power for its class, the bottom also gets pretty warm.

HP told me that the Mini-Note was designed for users that are primarily consumers, rather than creators, of content. I think they're being a bit modest.

If you want a subnotebook that rivals full-sized laptops in terms of features and performance, hop aboard the HP 2133 Mini-Note.

See the video version of this review.

O.S. Tested: Windows Vista Home Basic. Cost of tested model: $599. Also available with Vista Business, FreeDOS, and SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, and with various hardware options available. Dimensions: 1.05 x 10.04 x 6.5 inches. Weight: 2.6 lbs. For full details visit www.hp.com.