HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

Customer Reviews:

Vista is too much for this [Posted on 2008-07-09]
With all of the coverage about poor Windows Vista performance on conventional (aka more powerful) hardware, it is surprising the anyone would think that an ultra-portable form-factor could run it successfully.

Other ultra-portables from ASUS and others are shipping with far leaner and more stable operating systems like Windows XP or Linux.

I love this form factor, but we're a long way from ever seeing Vista run well on any of the units in this class.

Love it [Posted on 2008-07-12]
Wow this thing is amazing. I have to admit that the processor is a little slow and the initial set up took about an hour but for its size it is a great PC. I haven't had any trouble playing video with it. It doesn't have a optical drive so if I want to add programs i have to load them on a thumb drive or from my home wifi network. I have a pocket pc that I payed 750 for and it runs Windows Mobile 2005 and has 1 gig storage with a storage card so this PC just amazes me with full Vista and 120 gigs. I love it. However if price is a concern and you are looking for a primary PC you might want to look for something with a faster processor.

Machine is nice, SUSE a bad choice [Posted on 2008-07-12]
I love the machine size, keyboard and display. The SUSE Linux as installed is a very limited version and appears to require a service fee to maintain and upgrade. The wireless does not work. An external USB drive does not auto mount and there is no sdb entry in the /dev directory. HP dos not include an install disk as is required to install additional software. Example: gimp and locate are not included in the as delivered install. Yes I can call HP for an install disk -- but I have no time for going through their phone mail etc.

My plan is to purchase an external USB DVD drive, blow away SUSE and install Ubuntu.

Bottom line this machine shows a lot of promise. My advise is do not buy one unless you are comfortable with either putzing with SUSE and paying their subscription fees or installing another option like Ubuntu from scratch.

--- One added note -- The HP mini-note users guide is unreadable under linux due to the extensive use of "\" rather than "/" for the directory symbol. To me this implies that the product was rushed to market without sufficient quality control and feedback from test users.

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mini wid da hemi .....vrrrrmmmmm [Posted on 2008-07-18]
i have tried way to many umpc's or small wifi tablets. some i have enjoyed for their size and connectibility. especially the nokia 8110?

Anyway this is the "mini note" not too big and not too small as someone once told me.

I am using it to type now, lounging on the couch with the dog and i can move around, get up and down and do what i want without worrying about the unit. and my fingers feel at home on the large keyboard with large flat keys that must be only barely smaller than a regular laptop. Those two things were most important to me. even though my laptop is very portable or even though things like the Jornada were perfect 7 years ago for what you could expect, this is small, light, sleek, smart and intelligent design. It has great speed and memoryand I actually like windows vista.

Before, I have always sold my umpc. I had the current little sony that is cute for two handed action, i tried a nice small asus that ran on linus? and it was nice but i just didnt make the transistion and it was still bigger and not as slimline as this HP.

I originally priced it on HP's site where I could do more of the building but I don't do that stuff or read about processors and memory and details. I just want a super convenient computer for writing and for wifi access that i can carry as easily as my mobile phone without giving up the comfort of a laptop keyboard and windows. (never thought i would say that) (windows...) but i got what i wanted and all i had to do was 1-click buy and with the Preferred Membership, had it next day for 3 bucks or something. So for me this was a dead on perfect machine. oh --and the battery life seems good. which is another great thing. and it cleans up at night, feeds the cat and waters the plant before doing the dishes

Nice idea but flawed design [Posted on 2008-07-19]
I read the reviews on this before I decided to purchase. I am an amateur photographer and wanted something small and light to display my pictures on and also to use browsing the web. It did a good job with both of those things. My pictures displayed beautifully on it. Web browsing was OK, not that it was slow, it is just that on a 8.9" screen the text was a bit small for these 50+ eyes. Keyboard was great and the touch-pad was easy to get use to. I loved the fact that I could pair my PDA with this unit's Bluetooth connectivity to surf the web. The SD slot eliminates the need for a card reader. The speed issue really wasn't that bad provided you turn off all that useless eye candy Vista provides. However the heat issue was a real killer. Not only was it burning hot on the bottom, but even the keys on the top were uncomfortably warm. Only 3 days after I got it, I decided to reboot it. It comes back up to the HP POST screen and freezes. Restarted it again and nothing. Only after it had completely cooled down did it come back on. After a few days of this it just stopped booting all together. HPs online help was no help. I am sure I could get HP to fix this, but even if they do, I think the heat issue will greatly shorten the life span of this unit. Mine is going back.

My advice is to pass on this. I hear there a new processors for these UMPCs that run cooler and better powered.

This is a real shame. This is a good size at a great price point. The eee pc is too junky and the Sony offering is too pricey.

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