Update on Windows XP on the HP 2133 Mini-note
It’s been a hectic week at Mobile Tech Manor and I just realized today I have not given any recent updates on how well the HP 2133 Mini-Note is working for me. You may recall I downgraded upgraded from Vista Business to XP Pro a while back and have been using it with XP since then. I am happy to report the Mini-Note is a veritable tiger running XP, sure it won’t set any speed records but it multi-tasks and performs like a champ. The Via C7 processor it uses won’t make any skid marks on the pavement but with XP it is more than adequate for just about everything I need to do. I wouldn’t do any video or audio encoding on it as that would take too long on such an anemic processor but it handles everything else I want to do. I am still impressed with the nice keyboard on the Mini-Note and find it very comfortable to type for a long time on it.
I would so love for HP to update the 2133 with a Via Nano, that would be absolutely dynamite. Maybe they’ll say something at their big press event in Berlin next week. I was invited to attend that event on HP’s dime but my schedule just wouldn’t permit so I’ll be looking for news to come out of the event with hope. I don’t think they will announce anything about the Mini-Note this soon, though, after all it’s just been out for a short while. I attended a meeting with HP last week and I think I am aware of everything they will announce next week and I’ll share that with you when the embargo lifts. There is some pretty cool stuff coming from the folks at HP, I can tell you that.
this machine definitely shot out with a blast being the 2nd “big name” cheap subnote to come out after the EEE. but now it seems to have gotten buried under the announcements of the EEE 900 & Wind.
personally, i still think it is the best of the bunch easily. the resolution, build quality, KB, even the looks blow the others away. i am hoping with an update they will include the Nano & redesign the extended battery (flatter & wider, so it molds to the case more naturally)
James, just some questions.
how much heat generate the hp 2133 mini note?
is it confortable working with it on your lap? or on the bed?
Cheers,
Why not send Kevin to Berlin?
Bad review i got to say… all the programs, web pages were open a minute before the filming started. sure it will run fast, it’s already in it’s “processed” state stored in system ram!
Im running a new E8400 via 2GB (WinXP) of ram and it took me more time to open programs (first start).
What u r doing isn’t called reviewing, it’s called advertising… sorry.
Looks great, although I never would replace the Linux with Windows, but that’s just me. I would still like to see a comparison including the HP Mini with the MSI Wind and the ne Dell Mini
yep..have to agree with travis. once you opened the apps before, on even smaller computers the reaction time is faster. boot the mininote and THEN start the programs…but in general once the programs opened the first time, the device is quite fast. that’s ok
Very impressive…the only thing this makes me wonder is why HP didn’t just install HP on this from the get-go…
DP, it was a licensing issue for XP that caused the delay of introduction.
Boy, it seems that no matter how we test systems there are always those who think it should have been done differently.
The whole purpose of that video was simply to show how fast some things happen during normal usage. I don’t recall if the apps had been opened previously to the filming or not, probably they were. I hope it can still be viewed as a simple indication of how fast the HP is running XP.
This video was not advertising as indicated in the comments. We do not do that here on jkOTR, we just show the systems and give our impressions and that’s all we’ve done with this too.
The only novelties I can think of are this three:
- New stylish “fashion” mini-notes. As seen on flickr.
- A more battery friendly VX800 mini-note (1 hour).
- New 10 inch display, moving speakers to the bottom.
@fab
My comment was above my name not below. The format of the comments confuses me sometimes also.
It’s amazing how much better XP is than Vista. There’s even a huge difference between Vista Basic and XP.
While it might open apps slower the first time after you boot – well it’s just the first time. So what? There’s a negligible difference. Considering you’re probably waking it from sleep most of time all your apps will either be open or already cached. He’s testing it as a real world example – how it would actually be used day to day. This was far from an advertisement.
The Mini-Note isn’t the fastest thing in the world, and isn’t meant to be. Go spend 1500+ if that’s what you want.
When’s the Belgium event?
My HP Mini 1Ghz also performs very excellent with XP. Upgrading RAM to 2GB and assigning 256MB for RAMDISK will impove the performance further more. Now my mini has become my net-surfing machine after work, and it did a really good job.
James,
Thanks for the update. I’m anxiously awaiting the news from Deutschland. Please keep us posted.
PS…have you used Microsoft OneNote with the Mini note? How does it perform?
To Josh:
I’m not accusing James Kendrick for advertising while he had to review… just the fact he didn’t say the programs were cached in memory (I’m pretty sure they were).
he might be a big fan of the HP mini (I think it’s really great to), so he wanted to show people that it’s really that good, but I think he had to state that the programs were opened before, or show them before and after they were cached.
Maybe I was a bit harsh with my tongue. sorry for misunderstanding.
I think jkontherun is a great site and have nothing against it.
p.s. My native language isn’t English so sorry for bad grammar/spelling.
Man, that video looks great I’m waiting on my linux version! Is there any way you can get us a good report on how to find/where to find all of the drivers we will need for XP!?!?!
Good review!
Димка, all drivers for WinXP you can find here: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodNameId=3687085&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3687084&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=1093
the internet wansnt open…only outlook was open on this machine…go to the beginning of the video