HP has now unveiled the Mini 2140, a netbook that now uses Intel's Atom N270 CPU as the base, sat on top of an Intel 945GSE chipset. There's a choice of hard drives, ranging from 160GB 5,400rpm, 7200rpm, and an 80GB SSD, which is nice.
The keyboard is reckoned to be 92 per cent of full-size, and the Mini 2140 can ship with Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, ExpressCard54, SD, two USB2.0 ports, and integrated webcam. Phew.
Whilst most netbook manufacturers use a 1,024x600px screen in their models, HP does it differently, offering either 1,024x576 or the lovely 1,366x768 in a 10.1in (16:9) display. HP also includes a coating over the keys and screen to make them more wear-resistant, too.
A glut of operating systems can be chosen, including Vista, XP, and SuSE Linux, and the base price for the netbook in its lowest-specification form will $499, plus tax, when released later on this month. That's fine for the business user on an expense account but a little too expensive for most consumers, I reckon.
Keeping the weight down to 1.19kg is the standard three-cell battery (28WHr) that it ships with, but users can also purchase a six-cell (55WHr) for longer battery life, at the expense of a bit of weight.
What you can't really see is how good it looks, replete with an all-aluminium casing and magnesium alloy hinge.
As a fully-featured, light netbook the HP Mini 2140 has few peers, but you pay for the extra engineering and attention to detail by a commensurately higher street price. I suppose the Mini 1000 (with Mobile Internet Experience), a consumer-focused model, would be a better choice if your budget doesn't extend as far.
Here are some pictures we snagged from HP's stand at the Las Vegas Convention Center:
It feels better than it looks, by the way.
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