I’ve taken the jump and decided to buy an HP 2133 mini-note laptop. These seem to be a category of computer all on their own called UMPC – Ultra Mobile Personal Computer. Or alternatively an ULCPC (Ultra-Low Cost Personal Computer), since the HP 2133 seems to not match a number of people’s requirements for such a beast:
It’s certainly low-cost generally ($999 from Harris Technology) for a fairly well-specced notebook that is less than the size of a largish book. I did check out the eeepc, but frankly that machine’s keyboard is far, far too small to do anything serious with. I don’t think I managed to type a sentence without a typo, and even though I’m looking to get as light as possible, I would like to be able to some serious work with this baby when possible. See the comparison video below.
Overall the reviews seem to ping the HP2133 mini-note for its poor processor, trackpad, and battery life. Also the glossy screen gets pinged too.
Essentially I want the machine for using in meetings and on the plane – although the Vostro is great, it’s pretty darned heavy to walk around and, with my new life going back to Uni to do my PhD, it should be good to have the option of the smaller ‘netbook’. I don’t really care about processor speed so long as it does stuff – I don’t need high-end graphics to write stuff.
I couldn’t see myself doing any work at all on the eee pc, although the eee pc 9″ model has a great screen and is really really light – put a good keyboard on that machine and it’s mine, mine mine.
Perhaps I’ll try Ubuntu on the HP – it comes with Vista Business which, as I’ve said, I’m not all that keen on.
Oh – and beware – I think the sweet machine to get is the 1.7 Via with the 2GB RAM & 160 GB hard drive – Harvey Norman has the 1GB RAM Version for $100 less, but I’m not prepared to take THAT much of a performance hit.