It shares the same 8.9in diagonal of the Asus Eee PC 900, but where even Asus' premium Eee has to make do with a 1,024 x 600 pixel screen resolution, HP's answer boasts a glossy 1,280 x 768 panel. The trackpad may be a little disappointing, but the Mini Note's display goes some way towards making amends. The light, indistinct feel of the buttons doesn't help matters either, though in its favour, HP has wisely included a button to disable the trackpad, to prevent errant thumbs pushing the cursor around whilst typing. The HP's tall buttons are set hard up against the trackpad too, so if you rest a thumb on the leftmost button you'll find that same thumb leaning across the trackpad's bottom corner and occasionally interfering with the cursor. If, like us, you're accustomed to guiding the cursor with a finger, and resting your thumb on the left button, poised to make a quick click, then it can cause problems. It's a change born of necessity, but it takes a little getting used to. With only a thin strip of chassis left fallow below the fine keyboard, the buttons are forced to either side of the trackpad. If you're one of those for whom the Eee's keyboard was just that bit too small, then the HP boasts the keyboard your fingers have been waiting for. ![]() ![]() There's not quite the depth of travel that you'd find on larger laptops, or desktop keyboards for that matter, but in a laptop this size, the positive feel and comfy layout is by far the best we've encountered. The 2133's silvery keys stretch right to the edges of its chassis, but apart from the shrunken Function keys and the diddy little cursor cluster, all the alphanumerical keys are, amazingly, full-sized. We've moaned time and time again about the Eee's tiny keyboard, and it seems someone at HP has been listening. Stop trying to physically assault the Mini Note's hardy little frame and you'll find it continues to impress in other key areas. If there's anything to moan about then, it's that the HP's bulletproof frame isn't matched by the slight wobble in the display's chrome-effect hinges, but it's no deal breaker. Similarly, grab the HP's tiny lid between two hands and, barring a tiny bit of give, it's startlingly resilient. We prodded and poked at the lid as hard as we could, but to no effect. There's a little flex in the base if you really tug at it, but the display is incredibly rigid and offers the 8.9in panel plenty of protection. Compare it to the plasticky, slightly creaky frame of the Asus' Eee, and it's in a different league entirely. Adding an XP "downgrade" to that model adds another $80 onto that (but also includes a faster 7,200rpm hard drive).But, let's be honest, 1.2kg is still far from overweight, and that weight also serves to make the 2133 feel impressively sturdy. For $50 more, a smart upgrade might be an identical version with 2GB of RAM, but that comes with Windows Vista Basic. HP offers a handful of fixed-configuration versions of the 2140, but we're perfectly happy with the basic $499 model, which has an Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. We rarely find that we actually need an ExpressCard slot for anything, but some rely on them for mobile broadband modems, memory-card readers, or even TV tuners. Lenovo's S10 has a half-size ExpressCard/34 slot, but there are fewer options for add-on peripherals in that size. Headphone/microphone jacks, stereo speakersīesides its big keyboard, the Mini 2140 has one major selling point that no other Netbook currently offers: a full ExpressCard/54 slot. The result is a comfortable typing experience that takes a tiny bit of adjustment (as the keys are very close together), but one that is, thus far, our favorite on a sub-12-inch notebook. By expanding the keyboard right to the edges of the system, HP is able to fit bigger keys into the tray than other Netbooks (and even ultraportable laptops). Other Netbooks have been plagued by tiny Chiclet-like keys, which make typing a pain and typos plentiful. The biggest selling point for HP's Netbooks has always been the fantastic keyboard, which HP claims is 92-percent of the size of a full-size laptop keyboard. Because it has an aluminum case, like the 2133, it's a half-pound heavier than the plastic Mini 1000 it's a trade-off that may be worth it, however, as the metallic Mini 2140 feels as if it'll stand up to the rigors of the road better than a plastic Netbook. ![]() The HP Mini 2140 shares the same basic silhouette as the earlier Mini 1000 and Mini-Note 2133 systems from HP.
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