Does this means the battery is not easily upgradeable?
how could a bigger battery fit in?

Yeah, I'd be surprised to see an extended battery for the Mini 1000 unless
HP or a 3rd party manufacturer produces a sort of sled-style battery that
covers the entire bottom of the netbook (which seems like a bad idea for
ventilation purposes).

A 6-cell battery is planned and should be available earlier next year. It will definitely be a different shape than what you're used to with the Eee, Wind,etc. I was told It will raise the rear of the notebook up a bit, which means it won't be flat like what we find on their Tablet PCs.

From the shape, I wonder it is a Lithium Polymer battery as opposed to Lithium Ion.

I was really interested in this – until I read the CNET review that said the USB ports are all proprietary. So, unless you;re willing to buy EVERYTHING you”ll ever use with this netbook from HP, pass on by! No other jump drive. No iPhone, no iPod, no printer. This is a major, major problem.

I guess they can still do a 6-cell battery if needed, the slot in the bottom seems far enough back that the typical “bump” in the back which serves to raise the back of the netbook keyboard a bit for typing still seems possible. Doesn't that battery in the video seem kind of large for a 3-cell though? And that charger doesn't look any smaller than the one for my Thinkpad 15″…

A–sorry, you misunderstood their review.

There is a weird proprietary slot for a USB thumb drive thing that you can install INSIDE the unit, which it seems like you could just use an SD card slot for. But the other USB slots are standard.

It does have a weird video out connector, which looks kinda like an eSata connector (in fact the CNET reviewer says that's what it is), but is apparently actually some proprietary VGA connector you need a dongle for. I have assumed it was a display port connector, but it sounds like it might not actually be that either, so the reasons for this port being non-standard are murky as well…

Where the heck does it say that?

I'm thinking they were talking about the video port (which does require an adapter) and not USB. The USB ports look normal to me, and I think it would've been more widely reported if this weren't the case.

EDIT: See Fanfoot's comment below – only one USB slot is proprietary, and the storage expansion slot (which isn't even on the HDD version, I believe). The two ordinary USB ports are just that.

Where the heck does it say that?

I'm thinking they were talking about the video port (which does require an adapter) and not USB. The USB ports look normal to me, and I think it would've been more widely reported if this weren't the case.

EDIT: See Fanfoot's comment below – only one USB slot is proprietary, and the storage expansion slot (which isn't even on the HDD version, I believe). The two ordinary USB ports are just that.

It's a proprietary VGA adaptor from HP. You'll be able to get it from
directly from HP's web site, but I don't think it's available yet.

WHAT IS EMPTY SPACE ABOVE BATTERY WHEN IT IS REVOVED