Price: $500 and up
BUY IT HERE
The skinny:
HP's metal-clad ultra mobile PC was designed for students but could be finding its way into carry-on bags everywhere.
The good:
They said mini and they meant it. The 2133 is definitely small enough to earn a permanant place in a backpack and won't make you look like a total herb if you whip it out on the train or anywhere in public for that matter. The wireless found service with no problem and Windows Vista ran surprisingly smoothly on the 1.2 GHz processor. The 120 GB HDD felt incredibly roomy after hanging with the its competitor, the Eee PC and its 8 GB solid state drive for a few weeks. The built-in SD and Express Card slot are excellent in supplementing the two USBs. Battery life was more than acceptable with the extended battery, which is what I had to test with. I never let it run from full to empty, but I was able to easily get a full day of sporadic use on a single charge. The high-res screen is extremely welcome and keeps the need to scroll sideways to a minimum. At 8.9-inches, it makes watching movies much better than any portable media player and even high-res (though cetainly not HD) video clips played back at more than acceptable rates. Unfortunately, it also makes it easier for looky-loos to see what brand of sordid material you're watching on the subway so try to keep it PG-13, would ya? There are children around.
{C}
The bad:
It weighs less than 3 pounds, which is awesome, but it feels heavier than it looks. It's not noticeable when it's in the bag, but it still feels heavier than I expect it to be each time I pick it up. Since all of those parts are crammed into a small box, it does get a little warm. It won't scald you, but don't be surprised if you have some leg sweat after a long train ride. The speakers sound exactly as you would expect them to.
The best part:
Like I said, I've spent some time with the 2133's competitors and I can easily say that this keyboard blows all of them out of the water, including the Macbook Air. The tactile response is perfect and it's big enough that you can use it with adult-sized hands. The only thing slowing me down was my 2nd grade typing ability.
Options:
Like I said, it starts at $500 for a Linux set-up and a 4 GB solid state drive, but in my opinion, it's definitely worth spending a few extra bucks and getting more storage. 4 gigs goes fast when you have connectivity this good.
The verdict:
It's certainly not meant to be your main machine, but if you need something you can lug around all day to abuse public WiFi with, then this is your best option so far. It's (relatively) fast, incredibly stylish and big enough for a grown up to use in public. Plus, it's pretty cheap. Score.
The rundown:
- Full-function PC with utmost mobility and durable all-aluminum case
- Ultra-portable light-weight design starting at 2.63 lb (1.19 kg) and 1.05 in (27 mm) thin at front
- 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA scratch-resistant display
- 92% full-size QWERTY keyboard and touchpad
- Optional 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth, HP Wireless Assistant
- Up to 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drive with HP 3D DriveGuard
- Optional integrated VGA Webcam
- ExpressCard/54 slot
- Secure Digital slot for SD and MMC media cards
- Upgradeable up to 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM