HP Mini 1104
Just as Intel announced an all-time low of Atom processor chips (mostly due to tablets competing with netbooks), HP quietly announced updated versions to their Mini 1100 series of netbooks. The netbook, known as the Mini 1104, has a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 (I’m pretty sure we’ve been seeing this display for years now) and runs a 1.6 GHz dual core Intel Atom N2600 processor under the hood.
The Mini 1104 has a base memory of 2 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM and 320 GB hard disk running at 5400 RPM, though they are upgradable via HP’s web configurator (or by opening up the machine yourself). The netbook has the usual array of ports but USB 3.0 is not present.
The Mini 1104 comes by default with a 3 cell battery that will power it to up to a rated 4.5 hours, while an optional 6 cell battery will double battery life to a rated 9 hours. The Mini 1104 is available from now for a starting price of $399.
Everyone's happy with HP now!
Whew, after much confusion as to what HP was thinking and what would happen to HP Fansite if they did, and a sprinkle of hope when they swapped out CEO’s, the verdict is in this week. According to HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman, they’ve looked at the idea of spinning PSG (HP’s computer division, essentially) off, but have decided against it, saying it was the right thing to do for just about everyone (from customers to employees) if they just kept things as they were right now.
To add a little disco ball for us party-goers who are going out to celebrate not having to buy a Dell or Lenovo as their next machine (or icing on the cake if you will), HP will also be making Windows 8 PC when Microsoft’s revolutionary operating system (versus the Vista to 7 jump) debuts next year, along with the fact they’re gonna be making Windows 8 tablets to keep costs under control (yup, if you’re still hopeful about WebOS, you should really stop now).
Alright HP, now that you guys have ironed things out, how about finally launching them Ultrabooks soon after missing the initial rumored due date? And updated Pavilions and Envy’s sporting Intel’s very latest Sandy Bridge processors (those seen in the recent MacBooks and stuff)? And perhaps updating the rest of the Z-workstation line after just doing the Z210 updates earlier this year? How about an EliteBook refresh for those of us who like stepping on our notebook screens or have been using those reliable old-school models for too long?
But we’re just happy that HP has decided to make this decision, probably one of their smarter moves since making blunders with WebOS and such. Hopefully a sign of better things to come for HP indeed!
HP has just announced three new consumer-level notebooks: An all new HP Pavilion dv4 laptop, HP Mini 210 netbook (updated for 2011) and evolved Envy 14 with Intel Sandy Bridge processors.
New 2011 HP Pavilion dv4
First off we have the HP Pavilion dv4 (Note the “v” in the name; don’t confuse it with the HP Pavilion dm4 series) which acts as a more affordable alternative to the recently announced (last week), slightly more upscale Pavilion dm4x. It sports a plastic casing (versus metal on HP’s two other 14 inch laptops; the Pavilion dm4x and Envy 14) which comes in your choice of blue or black, has a 14 inch LED backlit display (1366 x 768 resolution), Intel Core i3 and Core i5 “Sandy Bridge” processors (naturally) and weighs less than 5 pounds. The HP Pavilion dv4 has a starting price of $600 and will be yours to configure and order starting next week.
New 2011 HP Envy 14
Next up we have the 2011 HP Envy 14 which features the most minor of updates of the three new HP laptops (and another three business laptop models) announced today. Three months after its big brother Envy 17 was updated, the Envy 14 has finally been refreshed with Intel Sandy Bridge processors (up to the top-end dual-core Core i7-2620M option) and USB 3.0 ports. Everything else remains the same as the original 2010 HP Envy 14.
While it’s slim, it’s no MacBook Air killer, but the Envy 14 will now retain its competitive position as a viable alternative to Apple’s 13 and 15 inch MacBook Pro models with its similar design, superior specifications (most notably a better graphics card, more ports and USB 3.0) and more affordable price tag… at least when it starts to become configurable with said Sandy Bridge options on June 15, at a starting price of $1000 (still lower than the 13 inch aluminum MacBook Pro’s starting price!)
New 2011 HP Mini 210
And finally, hot on the heels of the successful 2010 HP Mini 210 netbook comes the… you’ve guessed it… 2011 HP Mini 210! The Mini 210 this year adds a bunch of new colors for your choosing (black, blue, turquoise, red, blue, pink and purple!), Beats Audio branding for its speakers, redesigned 6-cell battery that fits flush with the notebook and powers it for “up to 9.5 hours” and HP QuickWeb, which is a separate web browser that starts up within seconds and without starting up Windows 7.
To the delight of some (and the dread and disappointment of the “I like my laptop to look as much like a Mac as possible” part of society), the HP Mini 210 brings back physical left and right click buttons this year; those disappeared into a single buttonless trackpad on last year’s model. Well, if you’re planning to pick one of these updated HP Mini 210 netbooks up, you’d better mark June 15th on your calendar and set aside $300 for the black model, or $330 for the other colors.
HP Mini 110 with new Intel Atom N550 and N570
HP has quietly slipped in a processor update for the Mini 110 netbook, giving you a choice between the 1.5 GHz dual core Intel Atom N550 or 1.66 GHz dual core Intel Atom N570 processors. The netbook is equipped with 1 GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM in its single RAM slot (which is overkill in speed, seeing Intel says the processor will only take advantage of DDR3 RAM up to 667 MHz), a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display, Windows 7 Starter, choice of 250 GB or 320 GB hard disk drive (both 7200 RPM), 3 USB ports and VGA port, 6 cell battery; all your standard netbook affair. The Mini 110 will be available in three colors: black, pink or white.
HP’s Malaysia website says the HP Mini 110 with Intel’s brand new dual core Atom N550/N570 processors has a starting price of RM 1099, which is around $360. It seems like the maxed-out configuration (though there’s not much to ‘max out’ really) of the HP Mini 110 will be available in the US soon, seeing this page is already online on HP’s USA website.
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).
