I really admire netbook hackers and modders for having to courage to tinker with their machines, opening up the guts and innards just to have features that netbooks would not normally have. I admit I don’t have the courage to do all these things on my precious Eee PC 1000HE.
Take the case of a MyHPMini forum member timm.mccoy who modded his precious HP Mini 1000 to add a 10.2-inch resistive touchscreen feature. Hence, turning his HP Mini 1000 as a pint-size tablet in the likes of the Eee PC T91.
The whole process was rather tediuous and it took a lot of guts from the modder put the touchscreen panel in-between his HP Mini 1000’s LCD and display bezel. He then plugged a USB out connection into one internal USB port of the HP Mini 1000 to get the touchscreen feature.
Interested? Check out the video below to see how the modder did this commendable feat.
Well it’s taken a while, but the high priced netbook has been cloned in China for a lot less. The original HP Mini 100 Vivienne Tam edition netbook features a 10 inch display, 1.8 inch HDD along with a selling price of $700. HP are now phasing out the HP Mini 1000, which includes the Vivienne Tam model, so it’s not surprising to see that it’s been cloned. From the photo, the colors look less vibrant, but it’s not clear if they are, or if it’s due to the photo light. Again, the clone model features a 10 inch display along with a HDD storage. The HDD on the clone however is a 2.5 inch HDD. It’s not clear if this affects the size of the netbook though. Whether it does or not though, pretty much becomes irrelevant when the price is considered. The Vivienne Tam clone is retailing for $300, making it less than half the price of the genuine model. The clone is created by Qifang Electronics and appears to only be available in China.
With more and more netbooks being announced or released almost on a daily basis, it’s surprising to see some netbooks go over $400 when similar speced machines go for less. If you want to keep your netbook cheap and portable, Liliputing have put together a list of 19 netbooks which all fall under $350 and come with a 9 inch display or 10 inch. The Asus Eee PC 1000HA, Lenovo IdeaPad S10, Acer Aspire One D150 and MSI Wind U100 are all available for $349. The MSI Wind U100 is also available for $299 and comes with a 3 cell battery. The $349.99 U100 comes with a 6 cell battery and in pink. Likewise the MSI Wind U120 comes in under $350 with a price tag of $319.99 and a 6 cell battery.
The HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition is available in a 10 inch or 8.9 inch model, priced at $279.99 for the 8.9 inch and an additional $40 to upgrade to a 10 inch display. The standard HP Mini 1000 comes in at just under $300, priced at $298.97, along with the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ($299) and the Asus Eee PC 900HA ($293.99). The upgraded 904HA is available for $15 more at $308.40 bringing with it a larger keyboard like you’d find on a 10 inch model. The Acer Aspire One with a 160GB hard drive teeters on the $300 mark with a 3 cell battery, but a 6 cell battery model will add an extra $30 to the price tag. Where as the 8GB SSD version with Linux will set you back $273.28. Interestingly, the XP model is cheaper at $239.
Other 9 inch netbooks noted in the list include the Dell Inspiron Mini 9n ($249), refurbished Eee PC 900s which sell for $180 and the Eee PC 901 ($279.99).
The Mini 1000 netbook from HP originally launched with two storage options, 16GB SSD or 60GB hard drive but HP have updated the storage options available for the Mini 1000. It’s now possible to get the HP Mini 1000 with SSD memory of the original 16GB or with 32GB. Where as the hard drive option has only upgraded it’s 60GB hard drive. The 60GB version is no longer available to purchase from HP, but an 80GB hard drive option is.
For most netbooks, 80GB is pretty minimal, but HP use 1.8 inch hard drives instead of the usual 2.5 inch hard drive which makes prices for more higher storage, much more expensive. The speed of the hard drive however remains the same at 4200RPM.
Other customizable options for the HP Mini include a choice between 512MB of RAM or 1GB, 8.9 inch or 10.1 inch display, as well as a choice between a 3 cell battery or a 6 cell. There’s also an option to receive both batteries so you have a backup. Bluetooth is also an added option when purchasing the HP Mini.
Things are starting to shed light Verizon Wireless’ upcoming subsidized netbook plan. What started as a rumor before is gradually becoming official, thanks to a confirmation from an HP representation. But now, The Boy Genious Report, ever notorious for coming up with breaking and exclusive tech news is reporting the the Verizon Wireless Netbook would be the HP Mini 1000.
According to an approved device list from Verizon Wireless, the HP Mini 1000 was listed as the netbook that will be released through Verizon’s data service package. A blurry image shot of the list show that the HP Mini 1000 was approved last March 24, 2009.
Unfortunately, there is no release date of pricing details stated on the leaked photos. But our guess is that Verizon will most likely offer the HP Mini 1000 for around $99 also, to compete with AT&T’s Acer Netbook.
Both the 2133 and 2140 share the aluminium finish, giving the netbook a professional look, as well as providing an excellent keyboard, which is very easy to use with it’s wide keys. Specifications wise though, the 2140 shares the features found on the 1000, including an Intel Atom N270 processor, giving the 2140 more power than the 2133.
The HP Mini 2140 is described as being the “business class” version of the Mini 1000, owing to it’s looks, unparalleled build quality and fantastic keyboard. The 2140 takes portability to a new level with Drive Guard technology, meaning if you drop it while travelling, the hard drive will be shut down, reducing the risk level of lost data. While portability is a high priority of the 2140, with it’s glossy screen, the netbook is hard to use outside and suited more to indoor use.
Other differences in the netbooks include a full sized VGA port on the 2140, as well as the Mini 2140 being slightly heavier and thicker. Unfortunately the number of USB ports on the netbook hasn’t been increased and remains at 2.
HP has announced that it will stop selling any more netbooks pre-loaded with the Linux OS in UK, due to consumer demand for the beefier, and infinitely more user-friendly Windows XP. All new HP netbooks starting from the HP Mini 1000 will have Windows XP (or some other form of Windows) out of the box, with no official support for Linux from HP. This in itself isn’t entirely surprising. Linux kicked off to a good start with the rise of netbooks a few months back, but slowly consumers started to demand the old desktop OS that was Windows XP on their new portable computing machines. With this, HP adds yet another nail to Linux’s coffin, which may finally be closed for good if and when Microsoft decides to offer Windows 7 for free.
The HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition easily qualifies as one of the best gifts to give your love this Valentine season. With its red coloring and flowery outer casing, it’s sure to sweep any old girly geek off her feet. But in case you’re not convinced that it will be totally worth the buy, and want to see how well it really performs with real world tasks and situations, then check out Gizmodiva’s review of the said netbook. Overall, the review deems it a good netbook, but the price is one major thing that might bog it down in the eyes of potential buyers. Chec out the link through to Gizmodiva for the full HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition Netbook review.
If you just can’t wait for the first touchscreen netbooks to come around and are eager to try out Windows 7’s touchscreen features, you can have a little do-it-yourself session with an HP Mini 1000 to solve all your problems. Poster Mako from the MyHPMini forums has put together a how-to for installing a touchscreen display on an HP Mini 1000. It’s not the easiest mod to do to a fragile little netbook, but the payoff should be worth it, if you manage to get it working. If you follow the instructions closely, you should. But be advised that this might void your warranty. Mod carefully.
If you own an HP Mini 1000 netbook and you are perhaps a fashion concious netbook owner that wishes to protect your Mini, then the news that HP have released a funky and rather stylish official protective sleeve for their netbook may interest you.
Of course, there are netbook sleeves already on the market but, this official product from HP is really quite nice and at $19.99, it’s not too expensive if like me, you prefer to buy the official accessories to enhance your products. The sleeve is available to buy from HP directly here and for a consumers view on the new sleeve, check out the MyHPMini forums here where a couple of members have actually ordered and recieved their sleeves from HP.
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