The HP Mini 2140 is a business class netbook. And HP is marketing it to enterprise customers. But you can pick one up for as little as $449 through HP’s Small & Medium Business store. While that starting price is a bit higher than most competing netbooks, there are a few things that really set the HP Mini 2140 apart, including:
- A sturdy aluminum chassis
- A nearly full sized spill-resistant keyboard that stretches from one end of the chassis to the other, and includes DuraKey finishing to protect the keyboard
- An accelerometer and HP DriveGuard technology, which shuts down the hard drive in the event of a fall to prevent damage or data loss
- An ExpressCard slot
The netbook has a 16:9 aspect ratio 10.1 inch display. Right now you can only get a model with a 1024 x 576 pixel resolution, but starting in early April HP will offer a 1366 x 768 pixel display for just $25 more. I asked an HP rep today how the screen looks – the HP Mini 2133 has a 1280 x 768 pixel, 8.9 inch screen that’s so sharp it’s almost difficult to read. He replied that it’s going to be a matter of choice, which is why HP will offer a standard definition and high definition screen, but that he finds the higher resolution display comfortable to use.
The HP Mini 2140 comes with a 160GB, 5400RPM hard drive. For $50 more you can upgrade to a 7200RPM hard drive. Or you can get an 80GB SSD for a whopping $575 more. That price will probably fall over the next year or two as SSD prices come down. But it’s worth pointing out that this is a high quality, high performance SSD that will help extend the battery life by up to an hour or so, and provide faster performance on some tasks. It’s not the same kind of cheap flash memory used in lower priced netbooks like the HP Mini 1000 and Acer Aspire One.
The reason HP includes an ExpressCard/54 slot in this mini-laptop is that many business customers use ExpressCard-based solutions for 3G wireless connectivity. The company does offer an integrated 3G modem in some HP Mini 1000 models, and as more enterprise users adopt integrated WWAN technology, HP will probably begin offering HP Mini 2140 or other business class netbooks with this option in the future.
I shot a little video this afternoon showing off some of the features and limitations of the HP Mini 2140. You can check it out after the break.
Planning to order the high res screen this week…anyone else order yet?
I have one of these, and it is a great little machine. Its fast, and doesn’t make as much noise as I was expecting to (based on reviews I have read). Now only if I can find someone to sell me the High-res screen…
I want a high res screen on my 1000ha.
i am extraordinarily impatient to see the high res screen.
I think everyone is!
Me too. Hope it isn’t shiney, but brilliant. Only $25 more sounds quite right to me!