No, I doubt you’d buy an HP Mini if e-reading is all you want to do with it. But E would be a nice bonus if you’re after an affordable and practical laptop—at least judging from hands-on just out at jkOnTheRun, complete with a video.
Screen res is 1280×768 for the $749 deluxe version with an 8.9-inch screen, a 120GB hard drive, a bigger, easier-to-use keyboard than rivals, WiFi, a 1.6Ghz Via chip, Vista and 2GB of RAM, which, as I myself can confirm, is enough to do justice even to this infamous OS. Weight is barely more than 2.5 pounds, and JK praises the Mini’s ruggedness.
Promising screen specs
If the screen’s the same on the $499 machine, which includes linux and just a 1G of memory but as big a hard drive as the deluxe version, then you just might get a great little laptop that also doubled as a nice little e-reader. But screens are a subjective matter—see a different perspective, also with a video link, at TabletPCReview, where at least one of the reviewers had some glare problems and related headaches but still liked the screen overall. Not having beheld the Mini in person, I’ll reserve judgment. Another catch would be lining up the right software if you wanted to read DRM-infested books. But perhaps Wine could be your salvation.
“The high resolution display coupled with an absolutely awesome keyboard make the Mini a real trooper for field work,” jkOnTheRun tells us. “This review has been written on the Mini if that helps clarify it a bit.” The keyboard is 92-percent scale, and JK likes the trackpad, too. Hmm. I hope that before JK sends the Mini back, he can give FBReader, Mobipocket and other e-readers a spin, read for at least several hours and also share his take on on the glare issue.
Battery life: “HP provided me with both a 3-cell battery and the extended 6-cell battery so I’ve been able to use both in my evaluation. Battery life has been pretty much what I expected with the 3-cell battery giving me about 2.5 hours under power saving settings and the 6-cell about 4.5 – 5 hours.”
The market: As suggested by a news release, HP is aiming for the schools. Here’s yet another XO competitor. The full model name is HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.
Other coverage of the Mini: Techmeme roundup…and an updated Techmeme version…pus an eSchool News report.
[…] Rothman over at Teleread is musing over the use of the new HP Mini for e-book readers. The “gadgette” is compact, light-weight and easy to use according to a review […]