HP

HP Mini 210 Overview

The HP Mini 210 is the latest generation of consumer class netbook from HP. This 2.7-pound netbook features Intel’s latest Atom N450 processor which gives it a longer battery life and a more unified design due to the N450’s smaller package size.

Here’s the run down of the specs for HP Mini 210:

• Intel Atom Processor N450 (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 Cache)
• 1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 DIMM)
• A choice of 160GB or 250GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)
• Windows 7 Starter
• A choice of 3-cell battery that supports up to 4.25 hours battery life or 6-cell battery that supports up to 9.75 Hours of Battery Life
• 10.1″ Diagonal WSVGA LED Anti-glare Widescreen Display. 1024 x 600 resolution for standard version and 1366 x 768 for HD Edition
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 (shared) with up to 256MB Total Available Graphics Memory

The starting price of the HP Mini 210 is just around $299.99, but will vary according to the configuration that you select. HP offers a ton of options to trick out your system, including a full HD display and Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator for smoother full-screen video playback on sites like Hulu.

HP’s commercial on the Mini 210:

Unboxing video of the HP Mini 210 by nDevil:

Review Roundup

In terms of design, the HP Mini 210 looks pretty stylish and are available in several color choices including white, black, silver, blue, and red. The chiclet style keyboard and large touchpad are both pretty comfortable to use. It has integrated touch buttons on the touchpad instead of real physical buttons which some people might not like, but according to Laptop Magazine, the Mini 210 is one of the better implementations of the integrated touch buttons that they have used on a netbook.

In terms of performance, the 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU and 1GB RAM on the HP Mini 450 delivered a score of 1,365 on PCMark05, which is slightly lower than Toshiba mini NB305-N410 (1,383) and ASUS Eee PC 1001P (1,384). There’s no problem performing everyday computing tasks on the HP Mini 210 (eg. web surfing, email checking, word processing, etc..), but playing 1080 HD video is not be possible without installing Broadcom Video Accelerator. Below is a video from nDevil demonstrating HD video playback, gaming (Counter Strike), and running Abobe Photoshop on HP Mini 210. Note that the unit shown in the video is a standard version with no video Accelerator installed.

Here’s another video showing how World of Warcraft (WoW) runs on a HP mini 210 netbook.

In terms of battery life, the Mini 210’s six-cell battery lasted 6 hours and 37 minutes on Laptop Magazine’s battery Test. It’s shorter than other Pine Trail netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, 1001P, and Toshiba NB305, but should be enough to get most users through a full day of on-and-off use.

Customer Rating

3.5 out of 5

PLUSES: Takes 2gb memory module; SD card can be used for ReadyBoost; easy access to memory, PCI-e card slot, and hard drive via “pop off” bottom cover; available slot for PCI-e card (in my case, a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, $25 mail order, but you may want to insert a 3G card etc.); MATTE SCREEN for glare free viewing; more ergonomic keyboard than most in this… (Read all reviews >>)

Availability

You can find the HP Mini 210 netbook with various configuration on Amazon. The lowest price that you can get for this netbook is $299.99.