11:49 PM | Posted by Rocky
Another netbook to be reviewed, looks like the barrage of new netbook releases has started again. This time around, we have the HP Mini 2140 - the upgrade to one of the first netbooks to hit the market - the HP Mini Note 2133. It sports a refreshed though similar design, the same superb build quality but is powered by the Intel Atom N270 now, just like all other netbooks, instead of the Via Nano chips HP used in the Mini Note 2133 and sports a bigger 10 inch display. In this review, we will check out whether HP has managed to correct all the mistakes it did with the Mini Note 2133 in the Mini 2140 and how it stacks up against other netbook offerings by Asus, MSI and Samsung.
The good: Solid metal construction; full ExpressCard/54 slot; big keyboard.
The bad: Odd resolution loses a few pixels; no mobile-broadband options (yet); awkward mouse button placement.
The bottom line: HP offers a premium version of its plastic Mini 1000 while keeping the price down, making the Mini 2140 the Netbook to beat.
Specifications:
| Price as reviewed / Starting price | $499 |
| Processor | 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 |
| Memory | 1GB, 800MHz DDR2 |
| Hard drive | 160GB 5,400rpm |
| Chipset | Mobile Intel 945GSE |
| Graphics | Intel GMA 950 (integrated) |
| Operating system | Windows XP Home Edition SP2 |
| Dimensions | 10.3 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep |
| Height | 1.1 inches |
| Screen size (diagonal) | 10.1 inches |
| System weight / Weight with AC adapter | 3.0/3.8 pounds |
| Category | Netbook |
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| Video | VGA | VGA |
| Audio | headphone/microphone jacks, stereo speakers | headphone/microphone jacks, stereo speakers |
| Data | 2 USB 2.0, SD card reader | 2 USB 2.0, SD card reader |
| Expansion | ExpressCard/54 | None |
| Networking | Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Optical drive | None | None |
Pricing for the HP Mini 2140 starts from as little as $499 for the base configuration.
Design & Build:
The HP Mini 2140, like last year's Mini-note 2133, has a great design. Everyone in our office agrees that this ultra-mobile laptop has a solid chassis and attractive look. The brushed aluminum and plastic casing is durable and hides fingerprints well. It also keeps the Mini 2140 lightweight; only weighing in around 2.4 lbs as configured. The sleek business appeal feels at home in the corporate world, but the Mini 2140 is targeted toward students as well. One look at this machine and you can see why. Who wouldn't want an inexpensive mini notebook to toss in a backpack between classes, especially one that pretty much has a full-size keyboard?
HP was smart to keep the design of the 2140 mostly unchanged from the 2133. Nothing about the Mini 2140 feels cheap. The chassis is solid thanks to a combination of aluminum, plastic, and a magnesium alloy support structure inside. The larger 10.1" display is beautiful and easy to read indoors despite putting off some significant glare outdoors because of the protective coating. The Mini 2140 also comes with enough ports and storage capacity (thanks to the 160GB hard drive) that you might even consider using this business-grade netbook as your primary computer.
Display and Speakers:
The HP Mini 2140 sports a 10.1 inch display which is LED backlit. It has a native resolution of 1024 x 576 pixels - which now seems to be the emerging trend in newer netbooks. If you have beem following us, the BenQ Joybook Lite U101 which we reviewed recently also had the same resolution. This resolution offers slightly less screen space than the older standard of 1024 x 600 pixels which should be a slight deterrent to web browsing and reading large documents as you will need to scroll more. The display quality is superb and the brightness is nice. The screen offers good contrast. The viewing angles are decently wide, especially the vertical ones. You can easily open two moderate sized windows for multitasking and improved productivity.
Just above the display, you find the VGA webcam (0.3 MP) and two speakers next to it. The video capture quality is decent but we would have preferred a 1.3 MP camera. The speakers offer good sound quality and loud volume. The speakers should suffice for casual songs and movies, but as always, we would recommend good quality 3.5 mm standard earbuds if you have an ear for good music.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the Mini 2140 is simply fantastic. Last year we said the keyboard on the Mini-note 2133 "is the best keyboard we've seen on a notebook this small." That statement holds true for the new Mini 2140 as well. Sure, you can find better keyboards on larger notebooks, but HP currently has the best keyboard we've tested on 10-inch and smaller netbooks. The keys have the silver "HP DuraKeys" finish that makes them resist dirt and makes the letters printed on the keys last longer over time. The surface of the keys are also smooth to the touch.
The touchpad is located below the keyboard and is again the same as the HP Mini 2133. We surely wish they would have kept the touchpad buttons below the touchpad rather than besides them. This touchpad button layout is awkward. The touchpad surface offers a nice grip and helps in navigation. The buttons also offer nice feedback. It also has a vertical scrollingbar by the right. The touchpad is shorter than the standard size and so requires more scrolling.
Performance
The HP Mini 2140 sports the standard Intel Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.6 GHz instead of the Via Nano C7-M sported by its predecessor - the HP Mini Note 2133. It sports majorly the same configuration as every other netbook - Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 160 GB SATA HDD at 5400 RPM etc. This combo offers decent performance and is also very power efficient - a must for longer battery life in netbooks. It offers nice performance and can run the bundled Windows XP Home easily and also multitask multiple apps with no hiccups. The built in graphics are capable of some light gaming but are a strict no-no if you are looking to run newer high end games even at medium settings. The 160 GB SATA HDD at 5400 RPM has nice data transfer speeds. As all the netbooks sport the same hardware specs, the performance section of any netbook review has become totally redundant - performance is no longer a deciding factor as all of them offer more or less the same performance.
Battery
Overall, the HP Mini 2140 did a reasonable job in terms of power management. With the Mini 2140 connected to a Wi-Fi network and browsing the web with the display at about 80 percent brightness, we obtained 2 hours and 21 minutes of battery life with the standard 3-cell battery. Using the same settings we obtained 4 hours and 15 minutes of battery life with the 6-cell extended life battery.
Bottom line, the Mini 2140 makes an excellent mobile business companion with the extended life battery. The only possible negative to using the extended life battery is that the larger 6-cell battery sticks out from the bottom of the notebook adding both size and weight. However, this also has the advantage of providing a more ergonomic angle to the keyboard for typing.
Where to buy:
From Netbookreview & other sites.
Posted by Rocky
on 11:49 PM. Filed under
HP,
Netbook - Notebook
.
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