Woo-hoo! First post! Anyway, let's kick this blog off with a netbook review of the HP Mini 110-3138TU.
First off, the
basic specifications (taken straight from the box - no originality here):
- Intel Atom N455 Processor (1.66GHz)
- 1GB (1024MB) DDR2 SDRAM (1 Dimm)
- Windows 7 Starter (32-bit)
- HP Quickweb
- Webcam (0.3 MegaPixels)
- 10.1" Diagonal WSVGA HP Anti-glare LED Display (1024 x 600)
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator with shared graphics memory
- 802.11 b/g/n WLAN
- 2-in-1 Digital Media Reader
- 3-cell 27WHr Lithium-Ion Battery
- 160GB HDD
- 3 x USB Ports (1 x left side, 2 x right)
- Audio In/Out Jack (left side)
- Kensington Lock (right side)
- VGA Port (left side)
Design
So the physical aspect of the HP Mini. The outer shell (top lid) is glossy black and looks very nice indeed. Except when it's covered in fingerprints, of course. And glossy outers are always and invitation for fingerprints and worse, scratches. The bottom outer shell, what HP call "HP Envy" is made out of plastic with a few rubber bottoms in the corners to keep in grounded. The keyboard is also made out of that plastic, which I am thankful for, since it's much more scratch and stain-resistant than that glossy stuff. Although it looks a little wide and thick from side views, it's pretty light at just over a kilogram. If I
can be bothered get the time, I'll try and get the dimensions so you get what I mean.
Operating System
Now this configuration is all standard fare for most of the netbooks out there, these days (though some netbooks may still come with our older but very stable Windows XP). So the operating system - Windows 7 Starter is what the name suggests, an entry-level kit, which is slightly limited. It'll do the job for most people, although it is lacking some programs, such as the very useful Snipping Tool. But you'll be able to find other free third-party programs that will fill in those gaps - such as
Snippy (which I'll talk about later). Windows 7 Starter is still much easier to use and more likeable than Windows Vista, though. Personally, I think Vista was released way too early for proper testing to be done and for bugs fixed. People have said that Windows 7 was what Vista was supposed to be. And I have to say that I agree with that. I think I should also mention that when you first turn on the HP Mini, you'll be asked to go through a lengthy registration and set-up process (you can opt-out of the registration until later but not the set-up) and that HP likes to put a lot of their own programs onto their computers, like HP Games, HP-this, HP-that. Might like to add, I could usually hear the fans going when I was doing some slightly heavier stuff on the HP Mini, like video watching or something.
HP Quickweb
An interesting thing about HP netbooks is the inclusion of HP Quickweb, which is an application that comes pre-installed on HP mini-notebooks. Instead of taking time to boot up Windows, which can take up to a few minutes, HP Quickweb boots up in less than 5 seconds when you turn on your computer and you can do things like instantly surf the web, check your e-mail, instant chat, Skype with friends and family, play games or listen to music. HP Quickweb is a potentially useful application for those who just want to quickly check their e-mail without the fuss of Windows booting up. However, for many users like me, having access to your hard drive for downloads and files seems to outweigh the benefits of HP Quickweb - but this would have more to do with how you mainly use your computer, as a net-surfing device or as a small computer to do some of your work on. And there is always the option to load the Windows operating system from the HP Quickweb taskbar.
Screen
The screen seems somewhat stretched - perhaps this being the first netbook I've owned and my eyes being used to larger screens being stretched. But still, I can say the anti-glare aspect of the screen is very good, giving it a sort of matte screen effect. I've never been a fan of glossy screens because of the strange angles and brightness settings that you have to go through to see decently. With the HP Mini's screen, you don't have to worry about that. Even at the lowest setting of brightness, you can still see the screen fairly well in most settings. I can't even say the same for the Macbook, which costs a lot more moolah and doesn't even have an anti-glare screen like the HP Mini. Come to think of it, pretty much all of Apple's products have a glossy screen or exterior. Guess Apple must have a thing for glossy things.
Magpie.
Wi-Fi
And as for the Wi-Fi reception. Excellent. It seems that this little netbook can receive wireless signals from a far distance. It says on the box that the 802.11n was a draft specification but in a country where data transmission speeds are capped, it's not like I would really care. You could always opt to use the Ethernet 10/100 LAN port, of course.
Digital Card Reader
The SD card slot can also read MMC cards and the like, which is quite handy if you take a few photos here and there. My Macbook doesn't even have an SD card slot and I've read that although the Macbook Pro does have one, the SD card sticks out like a sore thumb. But with the HP Mini it's like the usual bounce-in, bounce-out combination, with no sticky-outy bits.
Webcam
The webcam works just as it should and the resolution (0.3 MP) is what you should expect from a netbook camera. Works great with lots of lighting but not so great without.
Battery
As for the battery, I haven't actually done a formal battery test yet but from a 3-cell battery, I would expect something like 2-3 hours of usage - that is, web browsing and watching some online videos, such as those from Youtube. I'll update on this when I get more usage and do some sort of battery test.
Keyboard and Touchpad
By the way, the keyboard is fantastic. You'd think that they would've shrunk the keys to make them so unbelievably hard to type but nope. All spaced out and very nice to touch and type on. This coming from a small-handed person, of course. But still, bigger hands should have no problem on it. It's a shame that the touchpad isn't anything like the keyboard. It does feature tap-to-click, as well as the external left and right mouse buttons but no scrolling. So you're gonna have to get used to using the down and up arrow keys or buy a scroll mouse, like
my mini Toshiba retractable one. It's good to see that HP put USB ports on both sides, just in case you're a lefty and need your mouse on that side. I mean, you could get a wireless mouse, but I prefer not having to worry about batteries.
Speakers
I'm not sure whether I should have called this section speakers or speaker, because I'm pretty sure the HP Mini only has one - on the front right side (which looks like an air vent). The speaker works quite well and can go surprisingly loud. And the audio jack works well with headphones, which you're more likely going to be using.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is a little bit on the small side (there are models that start from 250GB) but should be ample for those who listen to a bit of music here, take a few photos there, do some web-browsing and word-processing over here and download some files off the net. I remember than when the ASUS Eee came out, it only had 4GB. And my old desktop computer has about half of 160GB for hard drive space and I still haven't used up all that space. So let that be your judge.
Conclusion
A great little netbook for those on the move. Light and easily portable to carry around. Even better as a secondary computer. I would recommend getting an external mouse and possibly an external hard drive, though. And you might want to buy a 6-cell battery if you find that the 3-cell one dies out too fast for your needs. The price was really good on this model when I got it, so if you can get it at less than $350, go for it.
