HP's 2133 Mini Note: Great Design, But Compromises Abound

[Jason Dunn]

Nearly two months ago I did my unboxing and first impressions video of the HP 2133 Mini Note, and now here's my full video review. As a recap, the version I look at in this video retails for $599 USD and can be purchased directly from HP. It has a VIA 1.2 Ghz CPU, an 8.9" LCD screen (1280 x 768 resolution), 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, a 3 cell battery, and runs Windows Vista Basic. Check out the video after the break.

[click through to YouTube to see it in higher quality]

I was a bit rushed with my conclusion at the end (apparently my YouTube video limit has been raised beyond 10 minutes, but no one told me that until recently), so let me summarize my thoughts here. I think the HP 2133 Mini Note is a great first step for HP, and while it may be a home run in the education market for which it was designed, it has some significant compromises in the general consumer space.

First and foremost, the CPU performance limits its usefulness in many of the scenarios that a consumer would want - namely watching videos. The 1.2 Ghz CPU is fine for basic word processing and Web use, but even then it requires a certain amount of patience - screen re-draws are sluggish, and quite often I'd start up a program and I'd wonder if the system had hung because nothing happened for several seconds. I've been told the 1.6 Ghz CPU version is faster, and capable of playing DVD-resolution video, but I can only report on what HP sent me to review. I really want to see the next version of the HP Mini Note to utilize a different CPU. Perhaps Intel's Atom processor?

The battery life is also unfortunately quite short: just a bit over 90 minutes with the three cell battery. I consider that unacceptable, because there's little point in having a small and light laptop if you have to haul the large AC power brick with you wherever you go (an explanation as to why it's so big is found in the video). The six cell battery should double that to a full three hours, but even that's just barely adequate, and it adds to the bulk of the Mini Note. HP needs to squeeze more battery life out of this product - especially when you consider the higher price point that HP is charging in relation to other competitors on the market. If HP is going to charge a premium price, they need to deliver a product that out-does competing products that are 50% less expensive.

If you're a benchmark fiend and you want to compare this laptop to your own, here are the results from PC Mark Vantage:

PC Mark: would not complete
HDD Test Suite: 2148
Productivity Suite: 771
Communication Suite: 438
Music Suite: 734
Gaming Suite: 262

Figure 1: Just for fun, here's what the HP 2133 Mini Note looks like sitting on top of an HP HDX 9200 (The Dragon).

So would I purchase an HP 2133 Mini Note today? No. The design and aesthetics are impressive - it's by far the highest-quality product of it's type that I've seen - but the underpowered CPU and short battery life make this a product I wouldn't get much use out of. It might be perfect for your needs though, so watch both videos and decide for yourself.

If you have a YouTube account, please rate the video, comment, and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for your support!

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He's still looking for the perfect little laptop that will last 5+ hours.

[Jason Dunn]

Nearly two months ago I did my unboxing and first impressions video of the HP 2133 Mini Note, and now here's my full video review. As a recap, the version I look at in this video retails for $599 USD and can be purchased directly from HP. It has a VIA 1.2 Ghz CPU, an 8.9" LCD screen (1280 x 768 resolution), 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, a 3 cell battery, and runs Windows Vista Basic. Check out the video after the break.

[click through to YouTube to see it in higher quality]

I was a bit rushed with my conclusion at the end (apparently my YouTube video limit has been raised beyond 10 minutes, but no one told me that until recently), so let me summarize my thoughts here. I think the HP 2133 Mini Note is a great first step for HP, and while it may be a home run in the education market for which it was designed, it has some significant compromises in the general consumer space.

First and foremost, the CPU performance limits its usefulness in many of the scenarios that a consumer would want - namely watching videos. The 1.2 Ghz CPU is fine for basic word processing and Web use, but even then it requires a certain amount of patience - screen re-draws are sluggish, and quite often I'd start up a program and I'd wonder if the system had hung because nothing happened for several seconds. I've been told the 1.6 Ghz CPU version is faster, and capable of playing DVD-resolution video, but I can only report on what HP sent me to review. I really want to see the next version of the HP Mini Note to utilize a different CPU. Perhaps Intel's Atom processor?

The battery life is also unfortunately quite short: just a bit over 90 minutes with the three cell battery. I consider that unacceptable, because there's little point in having a small and light laptop if you have to haul the large AC power brick with you wherever you go (an explanation as to why it's so big is found in the video). The six cell battery should double that to a full three hours, but even that's just barely adequate, and it adds to the bulk of the Mini Note. HP needs to squeeze more battery life out of this product - especially when you consider the higher price point that HP is charging in relation to other competitors on the market. If HP is going to charge a premium price, they need to deliver a product that out-does competing products that are 50% less expensive.

If you're a benchmark fiend and you want to compare this laptop to your own, here are the results from PC Mark Vantage:

PC Mark: would not complete
HDD Test Suite: 2148
Productivity Suite: 771
Communication Suite: 438
Music Suite: 734
Gaming Suite: 262

Figure 1: Just for fun, here's what the HP 2133 Mini Note looks like sitting on top of an HP HDX 9200 (The Dragon).

So would I purchase an HP 2133 Mini Note today? No. The design and aesthetics are impressive - it's by far the highest-quality product of it's type that I've seen - but the underpowered CPU and short battery life make this a product I wouldn't get much use out of. It might be perfect for your needs though, so watch both videos and decide for yourself.

If you have a YouTube account, please rate the video, comment, and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for your support!

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He's still looking for the perfect little laptop that will last 5+ hours.

[txa1265]

Personally I love mine. I have been using it as a secondary computer for work, as it is nice and small and can handle lite tasks. Also I have been doing loads of gaming on it - and just posted a Retrospective of the 1998 FPS Unreal played on the HP2133.

All UMPC's are a compromise - the HP has the best build quality I've seen outside of Apple in quite a while, I have the high-end version with 2GB RAM, 1.6GHZ processor and 160GB HD ... and the all-important 6-cell battery. For me it feels like money well spent.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by txa1265

All UMPC's are a compromise - the HP has the best build quality I've seen outside of Apple in quite a while, I have the high-end version with 2GB RAM, 1.6GHZ processor and 160GB HD ... and the all-important 6-cell battery. For me it feels like money well spent.

Yeah, the built quality completely rocks. I have a feeling my impressions of this unit would have been better if I had been sent the 1.6 Ghz version with 2 GB of RAM...but I can only give my opinion on what I've been sent. I'm glad you're enjoying yours.

[txa1265]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

Yeah, the built quality completely rocks. I have a feeling my impressions of this unit would have been better if I had been sent the 1.6 Ghz version with 2 GB of RAM...but I can only give my opinion on what I've been sent. I'm glad you're enjoying yours.

Yep, Jason, that is why I specified my system. On one of the fan sites people have similar complaints to yours. The 6-cell is a mixed bag - love the battery life and ergonomics, but not so much the way it fits in a bag.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by txa1265

The 6-cell is a mixed bag - love the battery life and ergonomics, but not so much the way it fits in a bag.

Yeah, that's one of my chief complaints about these "hump" batteries - they often don't quite fit right in neoprene sleeves and whatnot.

[Damion Chaplin]

One thing I'd recommend to anyone who own one: Install Media Player Classic to watch your videos with.

I bought myself a Samsung Q1U-V and it could not play videos from within WMP without stuttering and audio sync problems. I installed MPC and now all my videos play perfectly...

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Damion Chaplin

One thing I'd recommend to anyone who own one: Install Media Player Classic to watch your videos with.

I prefer VLC myself:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

...very lightweight, very fast, and works with virtually every type of video file out there - all without needing to install a bunch of different codecs.