Customer Rating:  
Summary: Great laptop for travel
Comment: I actually have had two HP-2133's. The first one I ordered directly from HP with Linux installed. The wireless LAN did not work properly from the start and after trying to update the Linux operating system both the wireless and wired networking failed.
After a huge hassle I finally returned the Linux machine to HP and got a refund. HP could not even ship me a replacement with Vista in a timely manner, so I ordered one from Amazon.com.
I have been very pleased with the Vista based HP2133 (Vista Home Basic).
I have been avoiding Vista, but I have found that the HP 2133 seems to work fine with Vista Home Basic. The only problem seems to be very slow performance when playing video files, but that is not why I bought this machine. As a travel notebook for web surfing, E-mail, and digital photo management it works just great. The wireless LAN found both of my WiFi networks without a hitch, and the Built-in SD card reader is very handy for downloading images from my Canon digital camera.
The only problem I have had has been with Google Earth. Whenever I try install and run the latest version of Google Earth it causes the HP2133 to crash and gives me a blue screen.
I uninstalled the trial version of Office that came with the machine and installed Open Office. It seems to work fine, and I am having no issues using the Windows Briefcase software to synch with my other XP based computers. It also works great with my LaCie external DVD burner and 80GB hard drive. There is plenty of power to run both of these devices from the "powered" USB port when you are operating on AC power.
As a light and compact laptop for travel the HP2133 with Vista Home basic is doing just what I want it to, and Vista Home Basic seems to be about the same as XP with a different set of graphics.
Just don't make the mistake of trying to do business directly with HP. Their customer service and Linux tech support is a joke, and they cannot even supply their own products in a timely manner. Order from Amazon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: HP Mini-Note - Fine with XP
Comment: My mini-note arrived all packaged up on Monday night. I opened it up, and the first thing I noticed was the absolutely astounding build quality. The thing is made of high quality aluminum alloy, and it feels just amazing to touch and look at.
When you open up the notebook, you are going to notice a couple of things right off the bat. The screen is extra glossy, and the speakers are large, providing scratch resistance as well as clear sound to both pieces of the unit. Upon listening to some videos, the audio quality was crisper than I would have thought, and rivals some expensive, larger notebooks. It is also very loud (this can obviously be adjusted). The screen is absolutely magnificent, and isn't too reflective so that work can be done in all but the brightest rooms and sunniest days. The native resolution is 1280x768, providing unsurpassed clarity when compared to other UMPCs and netbooks. Text is extremely small though, so the resolution might want to be lowered for older folks or people with not-so-keen eyesight.
The keyboard is magnificent, and one of the reasons why I didn't go with the EEE PC. It is a wonder to type on, and if you are used to the non-raised keys of standard notebooks, you shouldn't have any trouble using the keyboard on the mini-note. The keyboard is 92% full size, and provides enough room for touch-typers to have their way with. It is also spill resistant.
The track pad is much more wide than it is tall, but this shouldn't be a problem for people used to notebooks. It also features a scroll bar. The left and right buttons flank the track pad, which might need some getting used to for people that use notebooks frequently, but for everyone else, it should be fine. There is also a built in 1.3MP Camera, which is nice.
The 6-cell battery adds some weight to the system, but not much as it clocks in at around 3-3.5 pounds with everything equipped. It doesn't jet out of the back, but does give the unit a bit of tilt providing better ergonomic support for typing.
There is no hinge that keeps the laptop closed, but the screen hinge is sturdy enough to keep it from opening up.
Note that I have the top model, with the 1.6ghz Via C-7m Processor, 2gbs of DDR2 667 RAM, a 6-cell battery, and a 120gb 7200RPM hard drive.
Upon turning on the system, I didn't even attempt to set up Vista. I went right in and installed XP Pro w/ SP2. When that was done, I noticed that the boot time was over a minute. I then installed all the drivers and booted her up for the first time while fully-functional. The boot time was less than a minute, and once I installed SP3, it dropped to around 30-50 seconds (I have not clocked it). That is a HUGE improvement over Vista, which would range from 1:18 seconds to over 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Windows opened up as fast as my core2quad q6600 (With Vista Home Premium 32 bit and 3gbs of RAM), and Web Pages rendered around the same speed as my Pentium IV 3ghz.
I tried out Youtube, and videos played full screen with no drops in frames. I then tried playing 2 Youtube videos at the same time, and received the same result. Then I tried 3 and noticed a slight drop in frames while all 3 were playing. Then I closed all windows, went to IGN, and played a High Def video. It worked perfectly until I upped it to full screen. At full screen, it lost some frames, but was still watchable. Keep in mind that I was using the WMP codec. Gametrailer HD Videos in their full aspect played smoothly too, with occasional pauses and drops in frame rate. A 720p video from Microsoft worked find with the K-lite Codec, though audio did noticeably stutter even though frames did not drop at all. I also tried out Hulu and everything was perfect except for a couple of pauses here or there.
Next I installed and tested out the notoriously slow office programs. Word was ready to type on in a couple of seconds, and Powerpoint instantly switched between frames. Installation speeds were not up to par with my quad core, or even my Pentium IV, but they were adequate. Wifi preformance rendered web pages very well, though download speed was noticeably slower with the built in Wifi adapter than with my linksys adapter (note that I was running Broadband Cable), but not nearly as bad as dial up or low-end DSL.
I then opened up Word, Excel, and Youtube, played Youtube at full size without frame droppage, and then instantly switched between the different applications. They all closed instantly as well.
Note that applications open up as fast as my Pentium IV opened them.
Flash does function at full speed with XP installed.
I have not yet tested any games on the system, but all 2D games will function on it, and War Craft 3 will also function. Those are the only games that I can confirm will function at the moment. Note that it will not be able to play Call of Duty 4 or Crysis at all. Razz
In terms of Skype, though video calls are unusable in Vista as noted by everyone who owns an HP mini-note, in XP they worked fairly well. The video quality wasn't that great, and frames did noticeably drop, but it was functional. As for audio calls, those were great too. Note that audio stayed consistent whenever frames dropped with any of my tests.
My model has a 6-cell battery, as stated before, and it gets around 3-4 hours depending the min-note's the brightness, volume, and work-load.
People say that the Unit doesn't go to sleep when the lid is closed, but if you have XP on the system, it does. To wake it, you flip the power switch so that if the mini-note were to open up in your bag (because of the absence of the hinge, the power still won't drain).
It does get noticeably hot on the keyboard and even more on the bottom of the unit, but it won't burn you. The fan is constantly going for some reason, but people say after a couple of reboots, this will stop. The fan isn't very loud anyway.
Rumors and negativity aside, with XP the Mini-Note preforms basic tasks just as well as any mid-range laptop. If you're the kind of guy or gal who needs an ultra portable laptop for word processing, internet browsing, spread sheets, video watching (in 720p or less), or even light graphical editing, this is the notebook for you. The competition might be a bit faster, but they can't beat the astounding build quality of the Mini-note.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great!!
Comment: Pros: This notebook is beautiful! The screen is very bright and plays back video and does web browsing wonderfully! I now have it do a dual boot of XP Pro and Ubuntu and it works great. Keyboard is small but for a notebook this size I have NO complaints!
Cons: My only issue was with the linux distro included in that it did not go well with my wireless needs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: IT professional
Comment: Computer is good.
But it runs with heat. It is better if it is not so hot.
Linux is not running very stablely. Sometime I have to run with falsesave mode.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic computer.
Comment: I bought this laptop and replaced the 1 GB of RAM with a 2 GB. I bought the two GB. at newegg.com for $39 and had it installed at Geek Squad in Best Buy for $40. Even with the addition it still came out cheaper than the hp website.
It runs at a nice pace. I love the size I can take it anywhere without feeling weighed down. The keyboard is real nice. The speakers are pretty loud for being such a small laptop. The screen is real glossy, I love it. I have to say this is a nice laptop to have if you're a girl on the go.
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