The Mini 5103 is the latest business-class netbook from HP. Like the HP Mini 5101 and 5102 that precede this model, the HP Mini 5103 has an all metal case made of aluminum and magnesium alloy. It includes a 7200RPM hard drive, a hard drive sensor that stops the disk from spinning if you drop the laptop to prevent damage, and other premium features. What really makes the new model stand out, though, is the processor.
The HP Mini 5103 is the first member of its family to come with an optional 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor. Atom N475 and N455 single core options will also be available.
HP also offers a slew of other options including a high definition display, touchscreen, GPS, 3G modem, and a choice of operating systems ranging from FreeDOS or SUSE Linux to Windows 7 Professional.
The folks at HP sent me a demo unit, and I have to say, it looks almost exactly like the HP Mini 5102 I reviewed earlier this year. But this model has an Atom N550 CPU, a 1366 x 768 pixel capacitive touchscreen display, and is running Windows 7 Professional. I’ll be putting it through the paces in the coming days to see how it compares to the netbooks with single core Atom chips I’ve been testing for the past few years.
In the meantime, you can check out my unboxing and first look video after the break.
I’m very interested in this. I have the 5102 with a 1366×768 screen…but the touch option was only offered on the 1024×600 display for that model.
I wonder how the dual core 1.5 GHz cpu compares to the 1.86 GHz single core chip?
the N550 is noticeably faster than the N475/N470
N550 provides performance thats close to the single core CULV SU3400 and SU3500 which is about 20% better than N470, and consumes even less power
well, this is actually a lot of improvement and you will surely find it a lot smoother at even the basic tasks
so i’m truly thrilled for it
wait, is it really 1366 x 768 WITH capacitive touch screen??
i thought the two options cannot come together??