HP has announced the sucessor to the HP 2133 Mini-Note. What, you thought they’d already done that? Nope, the HP Mini 1000 is something completely different. The new HP 2140 Mini-Note looks exactly like the original HP netbook, with a sleek aluminum case and excellent keyboard (and not so excellent touchpad). But looks can be deceiving. This puppy has a new display and a new processor.

Here’s a brief rundown of the specs:

• CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• Display: 10.1 inch, 1024 x  576 or 1366 x 768 pixels
• Storage: 160GB HDD or 80GB SSD
• 2 USB ports, mic input, headphone out, VGA port
• 3 or 6 cell battery
• HP 3D Drive Guard (which shuts off the hard drive in the event of a fall)

The folks at Laptop Magazine have been testing an HP 2140 for a while and have a complete review. It’s interesting to see that HP is offering the option of an even higher resolution display than the 1280 x 768 screen on the HP 2133. Many people were disappointed when HP dropped the resolution to 1024 x 600 pixels on the HP Mini 1000. I’m a bit disappointed to see that HP still thinks 2 USB ports are enough though.

The HP 2140 Mini-Note will have a starting price around $499, although you’ll have to pay more for features like the 6 cell battery or the higher resolution screen.

Update: The HP 2140 is now available for order. And you can keep up on the latest HP 2140 news from Liliputing by clicking on the site’s HP 2140 tag.

Update 2: I’ve posted a full review of the HP Mini 2140. You can also find reviews of other netbooks in the reviews section, or more detailed information about the HP Mini 2140 and other netbooks in the Liliputing Product Database.

When Boing Boing released a Hackintosh Mini compatibility chart a few weeks ago I was surprised to see that the HP 2133 Mini-Note was listed as a netbook capable of running the Mac operating system. After all, Macs have Intel processors, while the HP 2133 uses a VIA CPU. It turns out that’s not a deal-breaker. The OQO handheld PC also has a VIA processor, and you can get OS X to run on it. And at least a few people claim to have done the same with the HP 2133.

Things are much simpler with the new HP Mini 1000/Compaq Mini 700 netbook. It has the same Intel Atom CPU as the MSI Wind U100, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, and other netbooks that people have been running OS X on for ages. (Or months, anyway). For some basic instructions on installing OS X on an HP Mini 1000, checkout the My HP Mini Forums. And to see what the finished product looks like, check out the video after the break. Ethernet and audio reportedly don’t work, but WiFi and USB does.

video via Asus Eee PC Hacks

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timparkinson/Flickr

In what I hope is becoming a monthly feature here at Liliputing, it looks like netbook makers are slashing prices in Taiwan yet again. While many of you live outside of Taiwan, it’s likely that some of these price cuts will be reflected in the global market int he not too distant future.

DigiTimes reports that Asus is dropping prices on several models including the Eee PC 701, 901, 904, 1000H, and 1000HD. The move is reportedly part of an effort to meet the company’s goal of shipping 5 million units by the end of the year and to clear out some older netbooks.

HP and Acer are also cutting prices in the Taiwan market.

The interesting thing is that HP is reducing the price of the HP 2133 Mini-Note, which makes sense since HP is now starting to push the newer HP Mini 1000. But Acer still has most of its eggs in one basket: The Aspire One netbook with an 8.9 inch display. Sure, it comes in Linux and Windows flavors. But Acer keeps cutting the prices on both models and offering incremental upgrades like larger hard drives or higher capacity batteries. But the company has yet to mention a next generation netbook. So while Acer and HP are cutting prices on older models and pushing new computers, Acer just keeps cutting prices in an effort to sell some of the cheapest netbooks around and sell as many of them as possible.

Windows 7 won’t be officially released to consumers until 2009 or 2010, but with early developer builds making the rounds, we’ve seen that the operating system already runs pretty well on low powered computers like the Asus Eee PC 1000H and the MSI Wind. But those are netbooks with the Intel Atom CPU. How does Windows 7 perform on a netbook with a VIA C7-M CPU? The folks at HP Mini Guide loaded up an HP 2133 Mini-Note to find out.

The verdict? Meh. The computer boots up a bit faster with Windows 7 than Vista, but slower than with Windows XP. The system is reportedly more responsive under Windows 7 than Vista. But the computer wouldn’t go to sleep properly.

The computer could handle most video playback but dropped some frames while watching a DVD rip and sputtered a bit when watching Hulu video in full screen mode. I sold my Mini-Note a few months ago, but back when I had one, I noted that it also had problems with full screen Hulu videos whether I was running Windows XP or Ubuntu 8.04.

The death of the HP 2133 Mini-Note may have been been greatly exaggerated. While HP did indeed roll out a new netbook this week, Xavier at Notebooks.com says he’s spoken with people at HP who say the origianl HP 2133 netbook is not yet at its end of life, and in fact updates may still be on the way.

While the HP Mini 1000/Compaq 700 does come with a zippier new processor and an optional 10.2 inch display, the older HP 2133 does still have a few advantages. First, it has a sturdy aluminum case. Second, it has a higher resolution 1280 x 768 pixel display, even if it is only available in an 8.9 inch form factor. Personally I’d love to see HP release an HP 2133 with a 10 inch, 1280 x 768 pixel display and either an Intel Atom or Via Nano processor. But as it turns out, this isn’t about me. Or most of you either.

Rather, while the HP Mini 1000/Compaq 700 netbooks are aimed squarely at the consumer market, the HP 2133 was always aimed at business and educational channels. And HP may continue to target those markets with this netbook. Unless business and education clients start to realize that they can save money and get a faster processor by switching to the HP Mini 1000.

After a false start over the weekend, HP has finally gotten around to officially launching the HP Mini 1000. This machine is the second netbook from HP. It replaces the HP Mini 2133 Mini-Note, and in some respects the HP Mini 1000 is certainly an upgrade. In others, not so much.

While the new model has a faster CPU, it also lacks some of the polish that made the older version shine. On the bright side, HP seems to be cleaning out its stock of the HP 2133, which means you can pick some older models up for dirt cheap. For instance, Amazon has a Linux model for just $299.

The HP Mini 1000 will come in three base configurations. All three have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, Ethernet, 2 USB ports, a mini VGA slot (adaptor required), 802.11b/g WiFi, a choice of an 8.9 inch or 10.2 inch display, and optional Bluetooth.

• HP Mini 1000 with Windows XP
• HP Mini 1000 with MIE (Mobile Internet Experience, which is HP’s cute way of saying a custom user interface built on top of Ubuntu Linux)
• HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition (the designer version we’ve been seeing for a while, which is virtually identical to the HP Mini 1000 except it comes standard with the larger display and has a designer floral pattern which apparently drives the price up by $300).

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The HP Shopping homepage has an image of what appears to be the sequel to the HP 2133 Mini-Note. But if you click on the picture of the netbook, which appears to be called the HP Mini 1000, you get nothing. The folks at HP 2133 Guide make an educated guess that the page was supposed to go live on Wednesday, but there’s definitely very little information available today.

Here’s what we do know:

• It’s called the HP Mini 1000, which would seem to imply that it has a 10 inch screen (current HP Mini-Note models have 8.9 inch displays).
• Prices will start at $399.99, which is about $100 less than the price HP introduced the first HP 2133 Mini-Notes at back in April, but $100 more than the price you can pay to pick up the cheapest Mini-Note available from Amazon today.
• The netbooks are described as less than 1″ thick (or rather, “thin”) with a starting weight of 2.25 pounds.
• The case looks similar to the HP 2133 Mini-Note chassis, but it’s all black (which would seem to indicate it’s made of plastic, not aluminum), and there’s a smaller bezel around the screen (which lends credence to the idea of a 10 inch screen).

Amazon is offering the third price cut on the base model HP 2133 Mini-Note laptop in less than a week. On Monday when I wrote up a list of 13 netbooks for $399 or less, the cheapest HP Mini-Note available was going for $379.99. A few days later the price went down to 329.99. Now you can pick one up for just $299.

That represents a $200 price drop since HP introduced the netbook in April.

So what do you get for $299? 

• CPU: 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor
• Display: 8.9 inch, 1280 x 768 pixel display (this according to the Amazon product description, but you should know that some HP Mini-Note models now ship with lower resolution screens).
• Storage: 4GB solid state disk
• Memory: 512MB RAM (upgradeable to 2GB)
• OS: SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g WiFi, Ethernet
• Expansion: ExpressCard/54 slot, SD Card slot, 2 USB ports, VGA output
• Other: Headphone/line out, mic input, built in mic, 1.3MP webcam

It’s likely that HP and Amazon are dropping the price in order to clear out stock and make way for newer units soon. But at this price, it almost doesn’t matter.

via the Liliputing Forums

It appears that HP has been quietly releasing netbooks with 1024 x 600 pixel displays. That wouldn’t be so surprising (that’s the resolution pretty much everybody uses) if it weren’t for the fact that most HP Mini-Notes have higher resolution 1280 x 768 pixel screens.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the high resolution screen may be overkill on an 8.9 inch display. I found myself constantly tweaking font sizes and the default DPI when I had an HP 2133. But for folks with better eyesight than me, there’s no doubt that the sharp 1280 x 768 display is one of the major selling points for this netbook. You can certainly fit a lot more on the screen than you can with the lower resolution displays on Acer, Asus, MSI, Dell, or Lenovo netbooks.

I’m holding out hope that HP will keep the 1280 x 768 resolution if and when the company launches a netbook with a larger 10.2 inch display. But in the meantime, I have a word of warning for anyone ordering a current generation HP Mini-Note. Check the product description carefully before clicking the buy button.

Here’s what to look out for. HP describes the 1280 x 768 pixel display as WXVGA, while the 1024 x 600 pixel version is listed as WSVGA. As far as I can tell, three pre-configured models come with the WSVGA screen:

• KS103UT - $599 with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 5400rpm HDD, 802.11b/g WiFi, and Windows Vista Home Basic
• KS106UT - $649 with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 7200rpm HDD, 802.11a/b/g/draft-n WiFi, Bluetooth, SUSE Linuse Enterprise Desktop
• KS105UT - $679 with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 2G of RAM, 120GB 5400rpm HDD, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows Vista Business with optional Windows XP downgrade

That Vivienne Tam designer edition HP Mini-Note that was spotted last month is apparently real. And it’s coming soon. HP plans to release this netbook in December. But that’s not the interesting part.

HP is working on a next generation Mini-Note computer. And while it’s not clear if this will be the first model in that line to hit the streets, it certainly doesn’t look like the current HP 2133 Mini-Note on the inside or out. Aside from the red color and floral patterns, this puppy sports an Intel Atom CPU.

I’d been assuming that HP would throw a VIA Nano processor in its next generation Mini-Note for three reasons. First, because HP already had a relationship with VIA. Second, because the VIA Nano is designed to provide an easy upgrade path from the VIA C7-M chip used in the current generation of HP Mini-Notes. And finally, because if VIA doesn’t have something lined up with HP, who exactly is the company expecting to use the next generation mobile chip?

No word on the screen size, storage capacity, or RAM for the Vivienne Tam edition Mini-Note. And no word on the price. But it appears that the netbook will run Windows Vista. I certainly hope it has either the same high quality 8.9 inch, 1280 x 768 display that you can find in today’s Mini-Notes or better yet, a 10.2 inch screen with the same resolution.

Keep in mind, it’s certainly possible that HP could offer a wide range of Mini-Notes in the future, with some models using the Intel Atom chip and others using the VIA Nano. But at the moment, things don’t look good for VIA.

via Engadget