AT&T Tech Support 360
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 15 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
Full user review
-
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Why I think twice before buying - An ambivalent reaction to a device with obvious compromises."
Pros: Sleek, beautiful chassis and design; bright, crisp high-res display; comfortable-sized keyboard; nice form-factor (size and weight); large capacity 2.5" HDD; powerful speakers; low pricing options
Cons: Miserable CPU; VIA is a miserable chipset with poor performance (graphics and cpu-wise); heats up a lot; fan-noise is a bit high; fat, large ugly bezel; awkward touchpad and awkward 6-cell battery
Summary: First let me say I am an EEE 701 (4G) owner and much of my opinion is formed on a comparison between the HP Mini and the EEE. Since I cannot do a formal review (I have never seen an HP Mini in person), take my words with a grain of salt. HOWEVER, I sure have read a lot of reviews on the HP Mini and I feel my opinion is well-informed.
Overall, my suggestion is to wait before buying the HP Mini. HP crippled this laptop by incorporating that VIA C7-M processor. This is the very same crap CPU that is in a Cloudbook and in various other UMPCs with extremely sluggish, weak, miserable CPU performance. Furthermore the onboard VIA Chrome GPU (graphics) blows; this is quite evident in numerous reviews, wherein I read the HP Mini CANNOT support video SKYPE calls. That's pretty miserable. I seriously wonder if there is video conferencing potential for this device, with such poor performance as that.
HP needs to jump board to a better processor immediately if they expect to command a lead in this particular niche in the laptop industry. I will never commit any of my money toward the purchase on a device with a VIA C7-m powering it. Trust me, you want Intel-brand quality.
The best comment that I've seen that pretty much sums it up is a comment I read on the eeeuser.com forums: HP has pretty much released a nice, sleek corvette-class laptop, and then ruined it by using a lawnmower engine under the hood.
For the "premium" version at $750, you are not getting your money's worth with that CPU powering the device. If you doubt that statement, then you probably aren't aware that Dell was selling its D420-series laptop (12", ultraportable, slightly larger/heavier but otherwise superior in every aspect) at just $699 a couple weeks ago. Yeah... and that was for a Intel Dual or Single Core ULV Centrino.
Do the smart thing, wait and demand a better CPU chipset. Intel Atom or better. None of this VIA garbage.
(PS the other thing that drives me wild is the big, fat, obtuse bezel... they could have easily slipped in a larger, 10 or 11" LCD in there, and then Sony would REALLY have something to sweat over.)
- 4 replies to this review
-
I thought that the eee pc had the big ugly bezel around it, and is it really much worse than the eee?
-
Via's upcoming Isaiah CPU is actualy better than Atom, it performs better and has similar power draw. hopefully a future version of this will feature isaiah.
-
Sometimes it is good to get a no holds barred, straight forward review of an electronics device with all of its' compromises included. I appreciate the honesty of this review as I know that I have been ripped off numerous times in the past from electronics companies. Thanks for making my decision, I think I'll get an EEE.
-
As someone who's used a Via C7 system (not the mini-note, so once again take with a grain of salt), I'll go ahead and come to its defense. It's no speed demon, but it gets the job done and is at least on par with the celeron cpu in the eeepc.
Mostly though, I'm going to pick at your statement about waiting for an "Intel Atom or better. None of this VIA garbage."
In preliminary benchmarks, Via's upcoming Isaiah chip actually outperforms Intel's atom. Since the Isaiah and C7 are pin-compatible, HP could switch to these with no other modifications to the hardware (hence more quickly and easily than changing to a different chipset altogether).
Anyway, I agree with most of your sentiments, but I thought it should be clarified that
1) Performance of the current model should be on par with the eeePC (so the $500 or $550 mini-note might be a consideration if you were looking at the eee).
2) A new Via CPU and a new Intel CPU would both bring a welcome (and about equal) performance increase. There's no need to avoid an updated model just because it's still Via.
Where to buy
HP 2133 Mini-Note PC:
$639.00 - $829.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$799.99 | Yes |
|
|
$639.00 | Yes |
|
|
$679.00 | Yes |
|
|
$799.99 | Yes |
|
|
$679.00 | Yes |
|
