HP 2133 HR922UT Mini Notebook Review

The HP 2133 HR922UT mini notebook has received excellent ratings and is a best selling computer that ranks in the top ten. The 2133 features an 8.9-inch scratch-resistant display and weighs only 2.8 pounds. It includes 512 MB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), 54g Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11b/g), lightning quick Gigabit Ethernet, VGA webcam built into the screen’s bezel for video chats, and up to 2.25 hours of battery life.

Due to its size, the keyboard on the HP2133 is only 92% of regular size. It takes a little time to get used to but many user hardly notice the difference. This is an excellent second (or third) computer to be used when you are on the go. The hard drive is small with only 4GB of flash memory. You can choose a larger hard drive.

Excellent HP 2133 Review by Linux Journal

HP 2133 Mini-Note – Small Is Big

HP has managed to enter the netbook market with their HP 2133 mini-note model. It has the potential to be one of the most successful mini laptops on the market, with an 8.9″ screen and 1280×768 resolution, massive keyboard (92% of the size of a standard notebook), wifi and bluetooth and finished in brushed aluminium, it is a recipe for a serious contender to already established netbooks, selling for slightly more than the leading Asus Eee PC 901 at around £350.

Unlike other models which seem somewhat “toy-like” in comparison, the 2133 is designed for durability with an attractive brushed aluminium top and magnesium alloy chassis. A scratch resistant screen ‘using an innovative treatment on the top surface of the notebook’s LCD display’ further boosts robustness, although it has been know for people to find this “treatment” too reflective, particularly outdoors which leads to poor overall viewing quality.

The reinforced frame does take the overall size and weight notably higher than other similar sized netbooks, to 1.27kg compared with 0.99kg for the Acer Aspire One and Asus Eee PC 900, and 1.1 kg for the newer Asus Eee PC 901 – these are however tiny differences.
You can find the 2133 mini-note with a SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, Windows Vista and XP, although most models available are the Linux and Vista Business edition.

A welcome bonus with the bigger mini-note is the large interface. HP states that the keyboard is “92% full size” which is a far cry from competing models. The touchpad is reasonable, and in an effort to optimize space, the mouse buttons are located on the sides; similar to the Acer Aspire One. I found this somewhat clumsy, but considering the trade off for the larger keyboard, it does seem to be a better model out, especially for typing.

It does however have hopeless CPU performance and battery life (for the 3-cell version, as little as one and a half hours!) which really undermines the superb features on the model. The HP 2133 mini-note has a ridiculous boot-up time, as long as one and a half minutes (as apposed to 20 seconds boot-up from cold on the Eee PC 901).

There is also the question of whether you could “upgrade” to a 10 inch mini laptop given the overall bulkiness of the mini-note compared with other 8.9 inchers. The marginally bigger Asus Eee PC 1000 could be more productive. Yes, it’s slightly larger in all dimensions, but it has the added benefit of 8 hours battery life and vastly improved performance. Equally, the MSI Wind, another 10 incher could also be considered.

In conclusion, there are many nice features of the HP 2133 mini-note, the keyboard, the smarter look and feel, high resolution screen and good connectivity. Still, the poor performance and battery life will forever hinder the user. In general, the mini-note is good buy if you’re not running demanding programs (for example, word processing in which case the large keyboard will lend itself handy) but otherwise, the Acer or Asus is the way to go.

But all is not lost! HP is launching an updated mini laptop trio, under the HP mini 1000 brand. Promising improved performance from an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, both 8.9 and 10.2 inch screens and testing the MacBook Air at less than an inch thick, weighing nearer 1 kilo. There’s little news on improved battery life, but I suspect some enhancements will appear when it comes out in the UK in January 2009. But it’s already in the States retailing at $399, and has its own mini site

Ed Fry owns http://www.mini-laptops-and-notebooks.com/index.html – The dedicated website to mini laptops and notebooks

After carefully researching prices on the HR922UT model at over a dozen electronics stores, we found the best price at Amazon.com. Visit Amazon for the best deal on the HP 2133.