Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by the Skimlinks, Amazon, Rakuten Advertising, and eBay, affiliate programs. All prices are subject to change, and this article only reflects the prices available at time of publication.
It looks like HP 2133 Mini-Note prices are on their way down. A few weeks ago Amazon began offering rebates that will let you pick up a low end Mini-Note for as little as $403.49. Now CompUSA is selling the bottom-of-the-line HP Mini-Note for $399.99. No rebates necessary. And Amazon has dropped the price of the same model to $369.94
.
Just to be clear, what you get for your money is a machine with a 1.0GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 4GB of solid state memory, 512MB of RAM, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. For about the same price, you can pick up an Acer Aspire One with a 160GB hard drive, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, and Windows XP.
But there are two things the HP Mini-Note has that the Acer Aspire One and most other netbooks don’t:
- An 8.9 inch, 1280 x 768 resolution display, which is about as sharp a screen as you’ll find on any lost cost mini-laptop.
- One of the best keyboards you’ll find on any netbook, with nice large, keys and excellent tactile feedback.
Â
Â
I love my mininote, I think its one of the sexiest net books out there. Its also pretty unique amongst the competition with its extra high res screen, large keyboard and its metal chassis. The processor is undoubtedly its weak point, but I think the general slamming it gets is pretty unfair considering the comparison is the atom, neither are powerhouses, and upgrading to an atom wouldn’t really suddenly allow you to start doing advanced work in powerhouse applications.
I like mine. The $550 model which I got for $300 after rebate.
C7-M == FAIL
It’s also one of the very few with an ExpressCard slot, for 3G adapters, etc., though if we wait long enough, maybe most 3G will be on mini-PCIe cards.
Along with a good processor, I hope HP keeps the 1280 x 768 resolution but with a 10-inch screen. I think this would make it unique among netbooks, and if they do this and keep the good keyboard and have an adequate battery, I’ll probably buy one.
So with a pretty screen and a nice keyboard you net lousy guts. No wonder the price keeps falling. Hope they put the new Nano processor in this soon.