HP Mini 311 Review Roundup

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HP Mini 311 Review Roundup

HP Mini 311 is the first 11.6-inch netbook with NVIDIA ION graphics to hit the market.

Specification of HP Mini 311:

  • 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor (512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB)
  • 1 GB DDR2 RAM (1 Dimm), Max supported 2 GB
  • 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
  • 11.6-inch Diagonal HD LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768) NVIDIA ION LE for Windows XP with up to 319MB total graphics memory
  • Genuine Windows XP Home (SP3)
  • Up to 6.25 Hours of Battery Life

HP Mini 311 Overview

Just like many other netbooks out there, the HP Mini 311 comes with Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, and 160GB HDD. So for daily tasks like web surfing and document processing, it’s expected to perform just as well as many other 10.1-inch netbooks which comes with similar specs.

What’s special about this netbook is the NVIDIA ION graphics.

When it comes to tasks that really take advantage of the NVIDIA GPU like watching HD video and transcoding video (using software with GPU acceleration), the HP Mini 311 outperforms all of the netbooks which come with Intel Integrated graphics.

In terms of design, the Mini 311 has a pleasing swirly pattern in the glossy HP Imprint finish on the lid. It’s available in either black or white colors.

HP Mini 311 Review Roundup

The summary of good and bad about HP Mini 311:
Good:

  • Nvidia Ion graphics give excellent graphics performance, providing HD video and basic gaming functionality to this netbook
  • Stylish design and 92 percent of full size keyboard
  • Great battery life even with a discrete graphics card (more than 5 hours)
  • Loud speakers
  • Big 11.6-inch wide screen with high resolution (1366 x 768)
  • Reasonable price

Bad:

  • Touchpad has too much friction
  • Slow boot time
  • Mouse buttons are noisy

Customer reviews:
As this netbook is just released recently, there’s no customer review available yet.
Update: Customer reviews start coming in.. As expected, this netbook is getting great customer feedback!

Professional reviews:
The HP Mini 311 scores pretty good rating from most professional reviews:

  • Laptop Magazine: 4 out of 5 (Editors’ Choice)
  • Cnet: 4 out of 5
  • PC Mag: 3.5 out of 5

Video reviews:
HP Mini 311 quick overview:

Various video playback and gaming test on Mini 311:

Availability
The HP Mini 311 is currently available with a starting price of $399. It’s worth noting that the default color is black, and if you opt for the white color option, there will be extra $20 charge. Also, the current version still comes with Windows XP but will be available with Windows 7 on October 22 with a higher price tag.

Conclusion
HP’s Mini 311 adds a larger, high-definition display and advanced graphics to a basic netbook, while still offering long battery life and reasonable price. It’s definitely one of the best netbook around, especially after Windows 7 is made available on this netbook.

Source: Amazon, LaptopMag, CNet, PCMag

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