I have been reviewing the HP 2133 Mini-Note

This is a full-featured, small form-factor notebook PC is HP’s entry in the nascent sub-$500 ultra mobile PC category.

My review unit came with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB 7,200 RPM drive, Windows Vista Business, and Microsoft Office 2007.

Why an ultra mobile PC?

The latest sub format in the ultra mobile PC category, the sub-$500 laptop is meant to be ultra portable and inexpensive, targeting the education and ultra-mobile professionals segments.

In fact, the lamented OLPC and the Eee PC so far have been at the vanguard here.

However, there is no way those toys could be mistaken for either business–ready systems, or taken seriously in the enterprise*.

*In actuality though, I am wrong. David Strom, in an issue of Baseline, actually advocated the use of the Eee PC as a replacement unit for road warriors, leading me to wonder when, just when, this formerly respected (by me) industry figure totally lost it!

The HP 2133 Mini-Note

With their usual focused approach to market segments, HP came up with the Model 2133 Mini-Note. It is a nice-sized, mini laptop encased entirely in an attractive aluminum case with a near-full sized QWERTY keyboard.

My review system came with Microsoft Windows Vista™ Business Edition, and Microsoft Office 2007 installed. With 2GB of RAM, shared with the VIA Chrome 9 GPU, this unit was configured for the ultra mobile worker.

The tests

I reviewed the Mini-Note using the following scenarios:

• Mobile worker – a salesman
• Ultra mobile executive – making presentations, etc.
• A physician’s mobile unit

Mobile worker

The general ultra mobile worker needs a system that is extremely portable, but able to make him or her very productive.

In this scenario, the user’s primary concern is (ultra)portability, connectivity, and battery life.

The Mini-Note fulfils this need easily.

Running on Windows Vista, it allowed our test subjects to create and edit Microsoft Office documents easily. Access to the Internet was brisk, and viewing of downloaded content was sharp.

With the plentiful number of connectivity options, our scenario also involved using my favorite Realtor as a guinea pig. I followed her around for a day as she went along her tasks.

She was able to pull down information from her office from Starbucks using her Wi-Fi option, and connect at homes she was showing using a USB cellular modem from Verizon Wireless.

At all times, she just closed the lid to send the unit to sleep. Resuming from sleep was also effortless.

Mobile executive

Right now, most mobile executives carry around their primary desktop-replacement systems. While a good idea, it is almost always mostly overkill, as the horsepower required for their presentations does not require that much CPU power.

The Mini-Note allows such an executive to create the content required on the desktop or desktop-replacement unit, transfer it to the Mini-Note, and then use this extremely portable system to consume the content in the presence of the desired audience.

For this scenario, the Mini-Note’s output options allows sending information to projectors through the VGA output, or using the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi options.

In this scenario, the Mini-Note really shines.

Physician’s laptop

I decided to up the ante in my test of the Mini-Note to include a task possibly outside the design parameters of this device to test for durability. What better way to test this than by giving it to a physician to use?

I went over to our friendly Physician Test Labs, installed Infor-Med’s Praxis EMR, their EMR/EHR program on the Mini-Note, and decided to watch the doctor do her thing.

He first comment was, “This is not a Tablet PC!” I proceeded to tell her that this was a new, low-cost offering by HP, and I wanted to get her feedback on it.

The size of the unit meant that it could fit into a lab coat, it was light enough to not weigh that side of the coat down, and the battery life was long enough that she only needed to charge it during her lunch. (Then again, hers is a 2-hr lunch!)

The Praxis EMR electronic medical records program worked flawlessly, connecting to the clinic’s network via Wi-Fi without any issues.

She used the .Mini-Note for a few days, liking it more each day, and at the end, asked me, wearing the day job hat, to spec the unit for the secondary medical staff in her office, the physicians having been supplied the HP tx2000 as their work laptops. I complied.

Personal views

In my daily business life, I have tended to carry the HP tx2015 backed up by a Toshiba Tecra M7 Tablet PC.

No longer.

This system is a difference maker.

Why?

Display. The system comes with a scratch-resistant 8.9” display with 1280x768 pixel resolution.

Keyboard. The Mini-Note has a comfortable keyboard for a system of its size, no doubt a result of the keys being 92% the size of a normal keyboard. I am able to type as fast on this device as I do on a regular keyboard. The keyboard is also spill-resistant.

Touchpad. One of the innovative improvements I have seen in the notebook space recently has been in touchpads, first with the tx1000/2000 series of notebooks from HP, and continuing on to the system installed on this unit. It is functional and big thumb-proof. I like it.

Hard Drive. Mindful of the intended use, HP has the system shipping with (relatively fast) 7200 rpm, 2.5” hard disk drives. In tests, HP was able to see a marked improvement in performance from this ULV system when tested against mainstream laptops, where those laptops used the more common 5400-rpm hard disks.

Battery life. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on this system! With the included six-cell battery, the system is designed to give users about 4 hours of system life. I was able to consistently get nearly three hours and forty minutes of battery life on a full charge. Consistently!

Reliability. As an added benefit, again looking to the intended audiences, HP’s innovative 3D DriveGuard technology is included. This is a 3-axis hard disk protection system, helping, no doubt, to reduce the effects of bumps and jarring on the hard drive.

Windows Vista. While the Mini-Note can be configured with your choice of four operating systems, this is probably the only device in this category that can run Windows Vista. Not just the plain vanilla version of Windows Vista, but Windows Vista Business Edition.

Conclusion: Business Ready

This is one beautifully engineered and constructed machine.

From the looks and feel of the brushed aluminum case to the sleek, nicely-sloping keyboard, the bright screen, the numerous connectivity options, and the expansion ports, including a powered USB port, a very unusual but welcome addition to any notebook computer.

It has an extremely solid feel to it that most business users like, and appreciate.

It was engineered to be reliable, and durable, with magnesium alloy support around critical structures in the casing. Add the scratch-resistant display and the 25,000 open-and-close  lifetime cycles on the hinges, and you have a ultraportable user’s dream unit right here.

I find myself using the Mini-Note in conjunction with the tx2015. I am able to mostly avoid using any of the desktops at the Orbiting O’Odua and at Logikworx, to create the necessary content required for visits to clients for presentations.

As a result, the HP 2133 Mini-Note has been given the AbsoluteVista.com Business Ready Award without any reservation whatsoever.

This award was a surprise, as I did not think this device could keep up, let alone make it in the business world – unlike its competitors.

HP 2133 Mini-Note Specs

• VIA C7-M ULV Processor, 1.6 GHz, 128K L2 cache
• 2 GB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM
• 160 GB 7,200 rpm SATA drive with HP 3D DriveGuard hard disk protection
• 8.9” WXGA (1280x768) LCD
• VIA Chrome 9 graphics
• HD Audio
• 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• GigE Ethernet
• SD slot
• ExpressCard 64 slot

This system is available now.

My immense thanks to Jeremy Prody and Jesus Garcia for this opportunity.