HP Mini-note netbook $299 on Amazon
It may indicate the much desired refresh is on the way but those who have been looking at the HP 2133 Mini-note from afar should be aware it’s now available for $299 on Amazon. It’s showing as in stock and shipping so you can grab one of these low-end Mini-notes for under $300 and that is a pretty good deal. Here are the specs you get for your $299:
- Max 2 GB RAM (includes 512 MB)
- Suse Linux Desktop
- 4 GB solid-state flash memory (NAND) storage
- 1 ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
- 1 Secure Digital memory card slot
- 1 headphone/line-out and 1 microphone
- 1 VGA monitor port
- 2 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
- 1 RJ-45 for 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity
Thanks to Gear Diary for finding this one!
For 20 more greenbacks ($319) you can get the Acer Aspire One witn 1.6Ghz Atom and 8GB SSD at the same site. Tough Choice.
good deal ? for 512 RAM and 4 GB ? good deal ? ! are you drunk ?!
It’s an okay deal for the design of the netbook…but the hardware they have in there just isn’t standing up anymore to the other offerings out there. 3-Cell battery is all you get with this one as well. $399 gets you an Aspire One with 6-cell battery and 160 gig hard drive at this point.
hmmmm…. ram and hdd are both easily upgradable. The Mini-Note keyboard and screen are not.
hmm…
Ram and hdd are easily upgradable. The Mini-Notes keyboard and screen res are not.
Gordon
I am still waiting for that MacNetbook/iPhone3 (aka Who Shrunk My Macbook And Put A Phone Inside). Some online search engines have reported seeing strange Apple labeled devices accessing their sites, could be some serious Netbook testing by those Cupertino Geniuses.
Have to agree with Gordon on this one.
$299 gets you the basic unit – an insane deal considering the build quality, screen and keyboard. Tack on another $90 for a 320GB hard drive, $90 for 2GB ram and $90 for an oem windows xp and for $569 you’ve got a netbook with the capabilities and features of a more expensive notebook.
I happened to download the service manual for the 2133 mininote the other day. Lots of extremely useful information including full specs for all the models, part numbers for replacement hardware and step-by-step disassembly instructions with diagrams. Well worth the look especially if you’re getting the basic unit to upgrade.
You can find the manual with a bunch of other useful info for the 2133 mininote here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual〈=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3687084
It is a great deal. That’s always the model I was most interested in anyway, since the lower-power 1.0ghz CPU would mean better battery life.
My only hesitation is that it would be impossible to Hackintosh it. If HP really is switching to Atom CPUs, then I’ll have to wait until the next model. Should be out soon.
I hope the next generation MiniNote will continue to use the high-rez screen and the great keyboard. Basically, keep the thing the same on the outside and just switch out the guts.
1Ghz Via c7 makes me shudder will it even cope with flash intensive web content .Its a real shame that HP watered down this great netbook to a coffee stain on someones desk .why dont they wake up its nearly 2009.
I guess its not a bad deal if you want something basic. It’s a solid device for the price, but I got the Gigabyte M912 for $549, and now I have Vista Business and Leopard all in one on the M912. I even have 3G on the M912 by using BT DUN, works great. The Bluetooth that comes with the M912 is the newer one 2.1 which Windows 7 will take advantage of the speedier transmission from it.
It seems interesting to note the trend that HP has made with producing well-designed, well-built machines (on par with Apple design aesthetics), but with lackluster internals to support the body. So far there are two cases that fit this trend – the 2133 Mini-Note and the 2710p.
As can be seen with the refresh with the 2710p to the 2730p, they left the basics alone (which were already a winner), tweaked some features based on user feedback, and replaced the guts with power/performace components. The result (based on most reviews) is that they hit a grand slam – fast, slim, long battery, fast performer in a form factor that nobody has been matching with a tablet convertible.
Apply this approach to the 2133, the refresh swaps the CPU with a VIA Nano or Atom, increases RAM and battery, and tweaks the features —> voila, another winner.
This seems to be an active strategy on HP’s part to differentiate itself from the Eee’s, Dell’s, and the rest of the pack as not being another me-too netbook wannabe. Seems like the California breeze has been blowing from Cupertino to HPLand.
Now, if they could just make the new Mini-Note do slate mode, they would have a stand-out product. It wouldn’t *have* to be an active digitizer or multitouch, just allow a second UI option to the keyboard. If they did this before year-end, they would clearly become the trendsetter in the low-end price craze. Even for $600-$800, which was considered notebook land (and a no-no for netbook entrants), they would grow marketshare without cannibalizing the low-end notebook segment.
Apple tablet Netbook was in the works for a long time. Last prototype they were working on was:
- Think bigger iPhone
- 9″ Diagonal Screen
- Thickness of iPhone
- All touch technology
- No Keyboard
- Simple stand
- I do not have hardware specs
- No expansion slots for anything (just like iPhone)
I know that Apple is working on a new design but it is not getting alot of attention. Their is very little action right now.
I would be interested in the service manual mentioned above.
However, the link does not work.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual〈=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId
Can someone provide the correct link?
Thanks.
After some searching, I found the proper link for the manual mentioned above. The above link was truncated and had some strange substitutions.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual&lang=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3687084