HP Mini notebook has been a success among business class gadgets and today we have decided to review one of our favorites: the HP Mini 2140. This small notebook (which is actually a netbook because that is the main reason it was designed for: surfing the internet) has a very solid chassis, made from aluminum and magnesium, the link of materials used nowadays to produce durable laptops.
This 10.1 HP has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor with 1 GB of RAM. We really like the design of the notebook even it to some it may seem pretty dull; we think it's very elegant and business-looking like and it does not have that glossy lid that most small notebooks do, the one that make the computer look like it's made from cheap plastic. You have two solid hinges that are made of metal alloy just to make sure the display stays in place. One of the things that surprised us was the fact that this HP Mini notebook only has 2 USB ports instead of 3. Maybe it's because that ExpressCard slot takes up a lot of space. Compared to the previous HP mini model, the 2140 does not have any heating problems. That may be due to the Intel Atom processor which is not that powerful. We would give the keyboard an A+. HP really took advantage of all the free space it could find and the keyboard was stretched right to the edges of the notebook. The silver keys look like Scrabble pieces because they were all so flat. That is not a problem; you can type on these just as well as you can type on concave keys.
Unfortunately, we have found the same problem with this touchpad as with some other touchpads of Acer Aspire One models. The left and right mouse buttons are placed on both sides of the touchpad instead of underneath it. On the right side you can notice a small and faded line which is actually the scroll function; very useful for reading documents or web pages. The display is ok if you consider the size of the notebook (a bit too glossy for my taste). If you are not used to working with such small notebooks, you will easily become frustrated at first with the fact that the size of the screen allows you to read fewer text lines at once so you just have to keep on scrolling. You can choose between the 3-cell and the 6-cell battery. If you push the limits and use this small notebook at full display brightness and surfing the internet with wireless turned on, then you will get about 2 hours and 10 minutes of battery life. In our opinion, this is pretty nasty, since there is a lot of competition out there who can give you better features (at least as far as battery life is concerned). If you turn of the wireless features and use the notebook just to read/write a document then you will probably get around 3 hours of battery life.
As you can imagine, this HP Mini notebook also comes with a lot of preinstalled software. We have found the McAfee antivirus and the Microsoft Office trial versions to be pretty useful (at least until you can purchase the full versions). We also liked the Desktop Zoom feature because it's easier and faster to enlarge your desktop without having to change the resolution. Since you also have a webcam, HP has installed some useful software that will help you take photos or record audio and video tracks. As far as performance goes, this notebook runs quite well taking into consideration that it does not exactly have the latest technology inside. The Intel Atom processor is a good choice for a notebook the size of the Mini 2140 because you will mostly use it for your basic computer tasks and this was never designed to be your main computer. The HP Mini 2140 should have no trouble in letting you browse some internet pages, write an e-mail and edit a text document at the same time. Even if it's not exactly fast, it's an ideal choice for travelers that need to stay in touch wherever they are (common businessman feature). The speakers are ok and they produce decent sound. You could listen to some music if you are alone in a small room and really enjoy it but we still suggest you buy a good set of headphones or external speakers.
The graphics card is an Intel GMA 950 and watching some videos or playing Monopoly is pretty much everything you can do with it. The number of ports and connections should satisfy you like it satisfied us because 2 USB ports, an Express Card and SD card slot, VGA out, Ethernet port plus headphones and microphone jack are enough. Also 160 GB of free disk space should be enough for you to store all you files and folders even if you are away from your main computer for a very long time. Along with the 0.3 mega pixel webcam you also get an integrated microphone which should come in handy when you want to have a conference call or just video chat with your friends or family when you are travelling.
You can get everything we told you about above for a price of $450 dollars. Of course, there are cheaper options with similar specs but we didn't like the toy-look on them. The HP Mini 2140 has a business allure we really admire and we recommend it for those who want to show everyone they are not fooling around. We think it's a reasonable price if you consider other such notebooks like the Sony VAIO Lifestyle PC which is addressed to the same market segment. For you money, you will get some benefits that you may not find on other notebooks, like the spill resistant keyboard and the solid and durable chassis. You can also buy the 6-cell battery which HP claims will keep your notebook running about 8 hours
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