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HP Mini 100e is HP’s approach to high tech but low cost education

HP recently announced a new low-cost netbook: Targeting schools and education institutes, the “clamshell” shaped (it literally looks like a clamshell!) HP Mini 100e will be available for order (at least for those folks) in July, sporting various configuration options but none of which exceed the $300 mark. And speaking of configuration, there will be various color schemes and custom logo/patterns available for the Mini 100e’s screen bezel, lid and keyboard (ie a school can put their logo to ‘brand’ the netbooks).

HP doesn’t mention if the Mini 100e will be available through retailers to consumers in general, though I wouldn’t lose any sleep about that – the market is already full of (or shall I say, flooded with) netbooks with similar or better features, with various brands and designs, and with prices ranging from ‘super affordable’ (ie the old, discontinued Asus Eee 800 or 900 series) to ‘premium’ (ie HP’s own Mini 5102).

The HP Mini 100e features the typical netbook affair – An Intel Atom N450 series processor with integrated graphics, a 10.1 inch LED-backlit display (1024 x 600) and a single DDR3 RAM slot that supports either one or two gigabytes of memory. HP is also giving schools, and whichever other clients it chooses to sell this Mini to, a choice of a 3 or 6 cell battery (no word about battery life though). The Mini 100e has a chiclet keyboard which looks a whole lot like the one found on HP’s Touchsmart tm2 and 2010 Pavilion dv3 (it’s a brilliant keyboard to type on; see my review of the Pavilion dv3 here)

Acting as one of HP’s most basic of netbooks, the Mini 100e has several cut-down features (compared to its ‘regular’ Mini siblings and other netbooks), such as its two USB 2.0 ports (as opposed to 3 USB ports being the norm on majority of today’s netbooks) and choice of 160 GB HDD or 16 flash-based storage (netbooks nowadays are pushing hard disks upwards of 250 or 320 GB, depending on manufacturer).

HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition announced

HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition

Get this, less than five days after HP announced their new Elitebook 2540p, 2740p and new ProBooks, they made another separate announcement today! This time it’s the successor to the Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam consumer-designer netbook – introducing the HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition. This new designer netbook features a special Butterfly design(one of those love-hate things) on the lid and all-gold (just paint of course, not real gold) casing, and will be available for $600 in the near future. Other specifications like that Atom N450 processor, 1 RAM slot and other things are exactly the same as you would find on a regular HP Mini 210. Like butterflies and gold? Then the HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition is probably your dream come true (at a small price premium over a conventional Mini 210 of course!)

HP Mini 5102 business netbook arrives!

From the “Oh snap!” department (because my HP Mini 5101 is officially outdated) comes the new HP Mini 5102. HP’s latest netbook targeting business users comes 6 months after they launched the Mini 5101 last year. The Mini 5102 looks a whole lot like the Mini 5101 with an identical exterior design, 95% full sized chiclet keyboard, various operating system options and tool-less access to the single RAM slot on the netbook’s underside. The Mini 5102 is not what you think – it offers more than just a processor upgrade of the Mini 5101. The new features on the Mini 5102 include:

• Intel’s latest Pine Trail Atom N450 1.66 GHz  single-core processor (Mini 5101 had an Intel Atom N280 processor)
• Though HP does not mention battery life, from the point above, battery life is definitely going to see an improvement on the HP Mini 5102 thanks to the new power-sipping processor
• 10 inch LED backlit design with optional multitouch panel
• New handle connectors at the bottom of the Mini 5102 to attach an optional carrying handle
• New colors: Blue and red colors are now available, in addition to black

HP officiates existence of Mini 2101, Mini 210 and Compaq 201 netbooks

Though there’s a small chance that you may have already bought one before the New Year, HP decided to officially launch their Mini 210 consumer netbook anyway (with the latest Intel N450 processor and up to 2 GB of RAM). You can check out the full specifications of the Mini 210 here that we already posted last week (!!!). Along with the Mini 210 come two lookalike siblings, the Mini 2101 has mostly the same features as the Mini 210 but is aimed at professional users (I thought this was the Mini 5101’s job?!) and the Compaq Mini 201, which sports an older Intel Atom N270 processor and only 1 GB of RAM (looks those miscellaneous low-quality internet leaks on the “Compaq CQ10” and its specifications were wrong, huh?).

HP Mini 311 vs HP Pavilion dm1 – what’s the difference?

At present, there are two HP ultra-portable notebook models that look almost exactly like each other: the HP Mini 311 and HP Pavilion dm1. What’s the difference? On the outside, there are few design differences… the two main things that separate the two are the processor and graphics set used. The HP Mini 311 uses the single-core Intel Atom processor paired with Nvidia Ion graphics, which is a decent graphics card suited to playing some games (though on medium to low settings) and high definition video. On the other hand, the HP Pavilion dm1 uses Intel Celeron processors, allowing you to select from a decent range up to dual-core offerings (which are of course, more basic than their larger notebook counterparts). However, you won’t get dedicated graphics at all – you’re sacrificing the Nvidia Ion graphics of the Mini 311 for integrated Intel graphics (a poor choice for gaming).

• Mini 311 – Single core processor with Nvidia Ion graphics for video playback and basic/low-end games
• Pavilion dm1 – Dual core processor so you can run more day to day applications with less slowdown, but you make a sacrifice in the graphics department

HP Mini 210 selling anyway

Well, HP didn’t make any announcement or press release of the HP Mini 210 consumer netbook but it’s almost everywhere on the net already, even some online stores are taking orders. What’s funny is HP also has had a support page for the Mini 210 for a few days now. I wonder what’s up. Anyhow, here are the specifictions of HP’s Atom N450 running, buttonless trackpad sporting netbook for 2010:

• Intel Atom N450 AKA Pine Trail processor (Single core running at 1.66 GHz)
• Built in graphics (Integrated)
• 10.1 inch display
• 1 DDR2 RAM slot for either 1 GB or 2 GB sticks; model variations supporting DDR3 RAM unconfirmed
• 2.5 inch notebook hard disk with capacities up to 250 GB
• Chiclet keyboard first seen on the HP Mini 5101 business netbook; now with super-sized arrow keys
• Built-in front-facing stereo speakers
• Button-less trackpad ala HP Envy 13/Envy 15 and Apple’s Macbooks

The HP Mini 210 also has a variety of ports you’ll commonly find on netbooks: including a VGA port, 3 USB 2.0 ports (no powered USB like the Mini 5101 though), audio out port for your headphones/speakers, SD slot and LAN port.