I’m really enjoying playing with the HP Mini 1000 (specifically the 1033CL). Windows 7 and the 1.6GHz Atom processor work reasonably well together. The keyboard is wonderful too. I’ve had very little problem adjusting to it–outside of the page up/page down keys which share with the up/down arrows. The 10.2″ display with the matching keyboard size are just right for a small notebook. I can imagine a smaller display would make this a bit too tight, but with it probably comes the need for other UI tools. Another great thing about the Mini? It’s weight or should I say lack of it. 2.25lbs is just about right.
Just so you know, there are some things about the the Mini that are rather disappointing, so don’t take this as a recommendation for the device, but rather devices of this nature.
For instance, the built-in webcam is atrocious. In regular indoor light the image is all but black. And with the poor low light performance comes lots of noise. It’s not even worth having buil in. Put another way, this component does not pass the Steve Jobs test. He’d never allow a product to shipp with it. HP should have tried harder.
Drivers. I don’t know what it is, but HP just seems to have a problem keeping up their drivers. Part of the issue is that the Mini only technically supports XP and so HP only supplies drivers for it. Technically. But the world has moved on and as you know Vista-grade drivers are different and HP doesn’t supply a full set. It seems no one has figured out the secret recipe to get the mic working, for instance in Vista and Windows 7. So think about it: A Netbook with no working built-in mic and a subpar webcam. That basically means the Mini isn’t going to work out of the box for most messaging, or life streaming, etc. You’ll need to add an external camera and mic. Fortunately this works. I saw somewhere that the forthcoming Windows 7 beta has the same issue with the mic: No driver. Eh.
On the good side, I did get my Verizon (Novatell) EV-DO USB modem working in Windows 7. It’s nice. The video streaming is a bit jumpy on EV-DO depending on the light conditions and the signal strength, but outdoors or in very bright conditions it’s passable for UStream. I still wonder if a Qik or similar client wouldn’t work better though since a 3G phone with video is more like what a Netbook setup would be like.
I also should add, the battery isn’t that bad. It lasts a couple hours although I haven’t made any rigorous tests. Yes, a 6 cell battery would be much better, but for dabbling the 3 cell is a reasonable sweetspot and keeps the weight down. I understand why HP went this route. Spare batteries or a 6 cell option are the way to go, with the 3 cell being standard. That’s my take anyway.
On the software side, I also think there’s some missing software opportunities. More on that in another post.
Lastly, you know what? The Mini reminds me a lot of the first Tablet PC I owned, the Acer C100. No doubt the Mini blows the C100 away in performance and usability, but the sizes are comparable. I just wish that the Mini had some Tablet features :-). Specifically, I really think touch is missing on a small device like this. Capacitive comes to mind, but a Lenovo-quality resistive touch would be OK too. (Lenovo seems to be about the only company I know that does resistive touch well enough–there may be other though.)