Coffee Break

The HP Mini 2133 was one of the most stylish not-quite-netbooks we saw last year. It was one of the few that looked like a real notebook, but at the time we bemoaned the inclusion of Vista.

So it’s pleasing to note that the new Mini includes XP Home as the installed operating system. Microsoft’s XP licensing deal means that as a result the RAM in the Mini 1001TU is reduced to 1GB, rather than the 2133’s 2GB, but XP with 1GB performs better than Vista with 2GB, as our recent RAM performance tests showed.

While we benchmark all the netbooks and notebooks that come through our labs, we’ve found amazing consistency for the Atom N270 processor. Even so, the HP Mini rates on the higher side of performance.

It’s score of 0.41 is better than the other nbetbooks we’ve seen bearing this processor – The Eee PC 901 scored .39, for example, and the Wind 0.38. But it’s not in performance that the HP Mini stands out.

Instead, it’s style and usability where HP has focused its efforts. The lid has a silver spiraling pattern across the piano black surface, making it the most attractive netbook we’ve seen.

The Mini-note 2133 had a beautifully stylish silver keyboard, and the only way in which the 1000 is inferior is in colour – the keys are ... [Read full story]