The Mini-Note's internals exposed

In the top, right-hand corner we can see a standard 2.5" mobile drive bay. This bay houses a 4GB solid-state flash drive with the $499 Linux-based Mini-Note configuration, but it's otherwise occupied by a traditional hard drive. Users can choose between 120 and 160GB models at 5,400RPM or a speedy 7,200-RPM drive with a 120GB capacity. You're also free to upgrade the drive on your own, giving the Mini-Note considerably more flexibility on the storage front than the Eee PC.

Speaking of flexibility, the Mini-Note can be configured with up to 2GB of DDR2-667 memory. The system features a single SO-DIMM slot, and users are free to swap in their own modules. Changing the memory or hard drive won't void the warranty, either.

HP manages to keep the Mini-Note cool with just a single fan, which isn't terribly surprising considering this laptop uses an ultra-low-voltage VIA C7 processor and Chrome 9 integrated graphics. The C7 runs on an 800MHz front-side bus and features 128KB of L2 cache, while the Chrome 9 IGP offers DirectX 9 support and MPEG2 (but not MPEG4) decode acceleration. 1.2 and 1.6GHz CPUs are available for users who pony up for Windows-based configurations. Those who opt for a Linux config can only choose between 1.0 and 1.2GHz processors.

With VIA's own Nano processor just over the horizon and Intel's Atom tipped for the next Eee PC, among other contenders, the Mini-Note's C7 definitely looks a little weak. HP wanted to make the Mini-Note available to consumers as soon as possible, though, and the system has been selling since April. Atom-based notebooks aren't expected to be available until later this summer, with those based on Isaiah to follow even later. Naturally, HP is eyeing both processors for a possible Mini-Note refresh.

Life with the Mini-Note
The Mini-Note's extensive configuration options are unique among the current crop of budget subnotebooks. $499 gets you the base model with SuSE Linux, a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of memory, a 4GB solid-state drive, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. $50 will upgrade that system to a gig of memory, a 1.2GHz processor, and a 120GB 5,400-RPM hard drive. Add another $50, and you get a copy of Vista Home Basic and 802.11a/b/g wireless.

The latter two configs are probably the best values in the Mini-Note lineup, because prices climb pretty steeply from there. It'll cost you over $700 to get an XP-based configuration, because that operating system is only available as a downgrade from Vista Business. With all the bells and whistles, including 2GB of memory, a 1.6GHz CPU, 7,200-RPM hard drive, 6-cell battery, and Bluetooth, expect to spend over $800.

The bottom end of the Mini-Note range stays within budget subnotebook territory, but the top configurations are a little pricey for our tastes. We're just not sure there's a point to loading up on memory and splurging on a faster hard drive with just a lowly C7 under the hood. HP sent us its most expensive Mini-Note model for testing, and in retrospect, we should have explicitly requested one of the lower-end configs.

So we can't tell you how some of the more reasonably priced Mini-Note variants perform, but I can say that the top model handles Vista about as well as the Eee PC deals with Windows XP. The system doesn't move with much sense of urgency, but then neither does the Eee—with either Windows or Linux.

I really didn't know what kind of performance to expect from the Mini-Note, and things didn't get off to a good start. Vista takes nearly a minute and a half to boot, during which the start-up sound stutters horribly, presumably because the C7 is overwhelmed by the task of simply loading the operating system. However, once within Windows, performance is acceptable. Sluggish, but acceptable. CPU utilization tends to jump around quite a bit, particularly when scrolling through web sites, but browsing with multiple tabs isn't a problem. Video playback is smooth, too, at least with the sort of DivX videos common on BitTorrent sites. Don't bother with high-definition content, though; CPU utilization with standard-definition video already hovers between 60 and 80%.

The only real problem with the Mini-Note's performance is that, with a proper keyboard and a fairly high-resolution screen, you get lulled into thinking that you're using a real laptop. Fire up Photoshop, video editing software, or even an encoding app, and you'll quickly realize that just isn't the case. The Mini-Note is really only fast enough for basic tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, SD multimedia playback, email, and web browsing, just like the Eee PC—but with a far superior screen and keyboard.

On the battery front, we can only report our experiences with the 6-cell unit. At full screen brightness with Internet Explorer rendering the TR front page and Wi-Fi enabled, the Mini-Note managed 2 hours and 51 minutes of run time. Swapping web browsing for DivX video playback only shaved two minutes of battery life, putting the Mini-Note well short of HP's 4.5-hour battery life claims.

Of course, we were running at full screen brightness (necessary to avoid the screen's annoying reflectivity issues). Dialing back the brightness to 40%—the "HP optimized" default in Windows Vista—coaxed 4 hours and 12 minutes of run time rendering the TR front page. That's a little more reasonable, although hardly a triumph given the screen's high reflectivity at 40% brightness.