HP Mini 1000 6-cell Battery in the House
I’ve been enjoying the loaner HP Mini 1000 Mi for a while now but it wasn’t until this week that the power of this 10-inch netbook was revealed in its full potential. That happened when I installed Windows 7 RC on it and it really has been a great performer since then. I have used the Mini 1000 for several mobile outings and it’s worked well with the exception of battery life. The 3-cell battery is just not big enough to provide more than 2.5-3 hours of life and that’s cutting it a little close for my outings. I don’t like to carry power adapters with me when I’m out and about, so I ordered a 6-cell battery from HP, which arrived this morning.
The battery of the HP Mini 1000 is not like typical netbook batteries. Those usually attach to the netbook at the back below the lid hinge, so 6-cell batteries are a lot like the 3-cell versions, just bigger. On the Mini 1000 the 3-cell battery sits in a flush compartment on the bottom of the netbook so that it keeps the 1000 as small as possible. This is great for the 3-cell battery but provides a challenge for a 6-cell battery that cannot sit flush in this compartment.
HP went with a slight wedge shape for the 6-cell as you can see in the photos and it sticks out about an inch at its greatest thickness. They’ve done a good job making the battery fit and the wedge produces an ergonomic typing angle that is better than with the 3-cell. The Mini 1000 is completely stable with the 6-cell attached and it’s actually easier to use than with the 3-cell.
The 6-cell battery wasn’t cheap; I paid $103 for it. It adds about a half-pound to the system weight while attached, and so far it looks like I can expect about 6 hours of carefully managed usage. That’s more than enough and I’m looking forward to carrying the Mini 1000 around a lot more with that extended battery life.
you bought an extended battery for a loaner unit?
thats weird, what are you going to do when you return the loaner?
sell it.
…or keep it and buy a mini 1500 later this year.
Waiting for Pinetrail James? Me too!
I agree with you. I had bought the mini with a 16GB SSD drive with XP and thought it was sluggish, even though I upped the RAM from 1 to 2 Gigs. I then put the custom ubuntu on it, and now the Windows 7, and by far I enjoy it the most with Windows 7 on it. I just haven’t sprung for the extended battery yet!
Can you explain to me how to put the Windows 7 RC on the HP Mini?
Hi James, glad to see your article, Ive been thinking about ordering the 6-cell for my mini-1000! Looks good!
Cheers!
You mentioned you have Windows 7 RC on your mini 1000 – I put it on mine too, and it runs amazingly well. Only problems I have are the inbuilt microphone doesnt work, and the webcam, while it says it works, has no picture – just all black. Have you had those same problems, just interested to know
Audio driver:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-65503-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=2100&product=3769207
Webcam is dark but has a picture.
theres a protective film covering the camera from inside. there are a number of resources online that will help you out in removing it. just be areful not to crack the monitor of your mini.
Ok, I’m convinced to try putting Windows 7 on mine tonight. Any warnings or tips?
-Rob D.
No warnings, worked as advertised with the exception of the mic I mentioned earlier.
Rob…
Do you have a stable version of Windows 7?
Any problems with the 6-cell battery not being centered in the unit horizontally? Any signs of wobble?
“The Mini 1000 is completely stable with the 6-cell attached and it’s actually easier to use than with the 3-cell.”
The most interesting feature of the Mini 1000, aside from the keyboard, is its slim profile.
If you’re going to slap a battery like that onto a machine that thin, what’s the point in going for the slim machine to begin with? You may as well just pop for a larger netbook, with more features, that has a battery that actually fits the system.
With Win7 and the 6-cell battery it’s the best netbook I have used personally so far.
That’s nice, but it doesn’t change the fact that it changes a nice, slim, netbook into one with a (for lack of a better term) big butt. If battery life is important to the purchaser, there are better options available.
That being said, It is nice to hear that you like the machine. I’m sure neither of us is alone in our opinions of this setup.
… and I would like to point out that I love that you buy accessories for your review devices.
It’s stuff like this that make jkontherun, jkontherun. You and Kevin are regular guys, that really like gadgets, and you put your money where your mouth is.
Keep it up. That’s why I continue to come here.
Tell my wife that it’s a good thing for me to buy stuff, please.
Only if you’ll tell mine.
Does Windows 7 run in the Mini 1000 with the Aero user interface (semi-transparent window borders, etc.), or only with the classic look?
Yes Win7 on the Mini runs Aero. And beautifully I might add.
I love my Mini (and Windows 7) but one thing I don’t like is that the screen doesn’t tilt back very far. I’m a tall dude and use my netbook standing up a lot so it’s kind of an inconvenience. But, despite that flaw the Mini is the best netbook out there that I’ve seen.
I’m not usually away from a power outlet for more than a couple hours so I don’t really need the 6-cell but it would be nice to have for trips and stuff. Too pricey for me to justify though.
That’s a common effect from notebooks like this where the screen swings back behind the body. Macs are like that too.
Wow, that’s great! I’d thought that the current generation of netbooks was not powerful enough to run Windows 7. I guess the only reason to wait until the newer ones come out is so that you get the Windows 7 license right out of the box instead of having to buy an upgrade.
I heard that the Mini 1000’s screen is particularly glossy, more so than other netbooks, and that this can cause annoying reflections. Has that been the case for you?
It is glossy but that doesn’t bother me. YMMV however.
I don’t have any problems with the glossy screen indoors, but it is impossible to use outdoors.
I will have to try Windows 7.
I’m running Windows 7 Build 7100 everything works but the only issue i had was the lag of web browsers..
I tried Firefox and it lagged
Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera did the same thing. So at last i downloaded Safari and WHOOOLA is gone now. So if your suffering with the same problem try it out.
WIndows 7 build 7100
Ram: 2Gbs
Hard drive: SSD 16GB
I just wanted to note that I added a sony micro usb card in the hp proprietary storage slot and it fits like a glove in case anyone else had similar ideas. No need to buy the hp one
Hey i was wondering if it’s possible to have a mini 10 with ubuntu but then use the XP cds i have to install XP on it? Would everything function like normal? Is it even possible? Thanks
Jeremy, do you mean dual booting it? So when you turn it on, you can choose Windows or Linux? Yes you can do that but you’ll have to copy the installation files from your XP cd to a USB stick since there’s no optical drive on netbooks.
But, I’d suggest dual booting Windows 7 and Linux instead of XP. Or just skipping Linux altogether
Thanks james, the audio driver worked great! And you’re right, a little bit of monkeying and I got the webcam working too. My 6-cell battery is on the way too!