Personally I rarely if ever shut my Mini-Note off, so the boot time is not as an important issue to me as how it performs once up and running. However I have had a few people ask me just how fast the boot time is. The official answer I usually give is, that it is not terrible, but could be faster. Anyway I just picked up a Flip video camera and wanted to test it out, so what better way than to record and upload a YouTube video of the Mini-Note booting up.
Just for reference, I have the higher-spec’d model that has the 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 2GB of RAM and runs Windows Vista Business. And without further delay, the video…
When it comes to ultra-portable style notebooks sometimes its the little tweaks that will make the user experience much, much nicer. When it comes to the Mini-Note, and I say this with some experience as compared to the Eee PC and Cloudbook, but the Mini-Note “out-of-the-box” is much more user friendly, but does still have some issues.
The display on the Mini-Note is 8.9-inches and when compared to the Eee or Cloudbook it seems much larger as compared to their 7-inch display. Which aside from the 1.9-inches of extra real estate you also have a much higher resolution on the Mini-Note.
The Mini-Note has a screen resolution up to 1280 x 768, which is incredible as compared to the 800 x 480 on the others. However with that comes some extra eye strain, so a quick tip, aside from lowering the screen resolution will make the viewing experience a little easier on the eyes.
Change the overall font size
Open Control Panel
Click on the Personalization icon
Then in the left hand column, click “Adjust font size (DPI)” and click Continue
This opens DPI Scaling
Switch from the default of 96 DPI to the “Larger scale (120 DPI) - make text more readable”
Let me start by saying that I am primarily a Mac user, which means that aside from OS X I am very familiar with Windows XP, and fairly comfortable with Linux. However aside from playing around a few times with Vista running under Parallels on my iMac and setting up a Dell Vista machine for my parents the experience is next to nothing.
When it came to my Mini-Note purchase I wanted to get the faster processor and have the notebook come with the 2GB of RAM pre-installed so that meant opting for the $749 model with Windows Vista Business installed. So aside from getting used to the notebook itself, its been a little bit of a challenge with Vista.
Overall I like Vista, well I don’t hate it is most likely a better statement but I don’t think it’s as bad as I had heard. I hate to make a rash or quick decision but I may like it better than XP.
A few things that I have had to change, well actually fix is the login and sleep issues. I am not sure if this is a notebook issue or something with Vista but I was forced to login in each time I turned on or woke the computer from a sleep state. Which although they only took a few extra seconds, I am impatient and it turns out that they were both easy fixes. So just in case anyone else is in the same boat as me, I thought I would share the fix.
Boot without a login:
Open the Start menu and click Run
In the Run field, type netplwiz, then click OK and Continue
This will open up User Accounts and on the Users tab there will be a checkbox towards the top
Uncheck the box next to “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer”
Click Apply, then OK
Wake from sleep without a login:
Open Control Panel
Open Power Options
In the left side column, click “Require a password on wakeup”
Click the link that states “Change settings that are currently unavailable”
While I have done my own unboxing and even some comparing between the Mini-Note, Eee PC and Cloudbook this latest unboxing set offers some great pictures and worth checking out if you want to see the Mini-Note in detail.
This latest set comes courtesy of tnkgrl Mobile. Here is just an example picture, and while there are many better images in her set, I just have a thing for self-portrait style laptop images. I encourage you to click through and check out the post.
Having purchased the $749 model, it came standard with the 6-cell battery, which most people would like because of the extra battery life. I on the other hand feel that I do not always need that amount of power and would sometimes prefer to opt for the smaller, and slightly lighter 3-cell battery.
Sadly they are not yet available for purchase. I had called HP to attempt to place my order, but was simply told that because it was a new item the batteries are not yet available. While I did not dig to deep with the representative that I spoke with, I was informed that she did not have any timeframe as to when they will be available.
Personally the extra power is nice, but a battery that sits flush and takes an albeit small amount of weight off would be nice to have. One positive thing about the larger 6-cell battery, aside from the obvious longer life is that it raises the notebook a little and makes typing a little nicer.
Go ahead and check out the unboxing pictures that I took. In the meantime I need to get some hands on time with it. Overall first impressions are that it feels like a real nice and solid notebook. It has a more “real” feel than other notebooks in it’s class.
I went with the $749 model, that features the 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 7,200 rpm hard drive, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth with Windows Vista Business.
I will that for anyone who is planning to get a Mini-Note, be prepared for that first boot up time, it is a real time waster.
Some good news came today; my Mini-Note has shipped! My order was originally placed back on April 12 and had an estimated ship date of April 18. That day came and went, and after calling HP I was originally told that my order was not going to ship until mid-May, what a bummer, but still I was prepared to wait.
This morning I received the welcomed “Shipment status EMail” from HP. I guess the Mini-Note will be arriving sometime next week. I did not order any special shipping, I just went with the standard shipping, only because after buying the notebook I was feeling cheap. Of course now that I know it’s on the way, I wish I had spent the few extra bucks. Oh well a few extra days will not hurt.
The Mini-Note that I ordered was the higher-spec’d model. The $749 model that features the 1.6GHz Via C7-M processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 7200rpm hard drive, built-in Bluetooth, a 6-cell Li-Ion battery and runs Windows Vista Business.
I went with this model, mostly because it had the extra (2GB) RAM, and also the larger battery and built-in Bluetooth. As someone who has used (and still owns) and Eee PC 701 and Everex Cloudbook (running XP) I hope the Mini-Note will be the notebook that I have been looking for.
This website while covering news about the Mini-Note and most likely some of its competition will also focus on my user experience and almost act as a long-term review type of journal.
The HP Mini-Note 2133, although rumored for quite a long time was officially announced on April 8, 2008. The launch of the Mini-Note offered four different configuration options with pricing ranging from $499 on the low-end and topping out at $749 on the high-end.
First up we have the $499 model, this features a 1.0GHz Via C7-M processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB SSD, 3-cell Li-Ion battery and runs SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.
Stepping up from there we have the $549 model which features a 1.2GHz Via C7-M processor, 1GB of RAM, 120GB 5400rpm hard drive, 3-cell Li-Ion battery and runs SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.
Next up we have the $599 model, this model offers the same features as the $549 model with one exception, it is running Windows Vista Home Basic instead of SUSE Linux.
Finally we have the top of the line model which retails for $749. The model features a 1.6GHz Via C7-M processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 7200rpm hard drive, built-in Bluetooth, a 6-cell Li-Ion battery and runs Windows Vista Business.
All four models include an 8.9-inch display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, integrated VGA webcam, Via Chrome 9 UMA graphics and a Broadcom 4311AG 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi Adapter. They also all come standard with a “limited 1 year standard parts and labor warranty.”
While things are getting underway here there will be a lot of initial changes. We are currently working on getting a user forum set up and customizing both the forums and blog.
Overall (and hopefully) we are looking to create a one-stop shop so to speak for all things related to the HP Mini-Note 2133. So make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed and check back often, the forums should be up and running shortly with HP Mini-Note related news beginning to get posted.
As well if you have any tips or comments feel free to send them over. We can be reached at:
Personally I rarely if ever shut my Mini-Note off, so the boot time is not as an important issue to me as how it performs once up and running. However I have had a few people ask me just how fast the boot time is. The official answer I usually give is, that it is not terrible, but could be faster. Anyway I just picked up a Flip video camera and wanted to test it out, so what better way than to record and upload a YouTube video of the Mini-Note booting up.
