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HP Mini 2140: Inexpensive Yet Limited
By business laptop |
The HP Mini 2140 is a portable minicomputer appropriate for mobile professionals. Because of its mobility, most probable users are those who are in the corporate world who travels a lot for business meetings and conferences. A small laptop for a minimum price is an ideal combination for entrepreneurs.
HP’s 10.1-inch notebook has a solid chassis. The plastic casing makes it durable and lighter. It also added beauty from the outside. But what made it really tough is its combination of plastic, aluminum, and magnesium alloy.
While on the inside is a screen with low resolution that intends only for easy viewing especially for small texts. It has only a 1024×576 resolution and could not provide pretty viewing angles. It could emit bright colors but the clarity can only be experienced by the user situated directly in front of it. And worse is the added protection layer. This plastic material is integrated to protect the display but on the contrary, it causes more reflections. So, if you don’t want to experience these bouncing lights and colors while in front of the notebook, you have two options – use it in the dark or wear a pair of sunglasses.
However, Mini 2140’s keyboard is exceptional. At its compact size, it still can provide the usual comfort as normal-sized keyboard can. The spacing of the keys is perfect. The key caps feel great. But its unique touchpad maintains the issue of oddity and awkwardness. The two mouse buttons are placed beside the touchpad, making it a little bit weird for the users. Also, there’s this little button found right beneath the spacebar which acts as a switch for the touchpad. You can turn off your touchpad when you are using the keyboard or a mouse.
HP’s Mini 2140 offers the usual reliable 1.6-GHz Atom N270 processor. Coupled with 1GB of RAM, it provides a customary performance like ordinary laptops do. Enough to make you listen to your music, watch movies and checking emails in a normal mode. But if you are to deal with heavy images, tasks like photo and video editing, this notebook is not the best choice.
Talking about music, the speaker of Mini 2140 is good, which might not be good enough for some MP3 freaks. To enhance its audio quality, headphones are vitally recommended.
One of the issues of last year’s HP Mini-note2133 is its uncontrollable heat. And it seems HP is not taking its notes very well. The keyboard and touchpad can stay relatively cool after a long period of usage but the bottom of this notebook can mount heat at a very high temperature. Its fan might be a little bit too slow or the exhaust might not be that functional. Whatever the cause maybe, HP should do something about this.
If we are to talk about endurance, with its six-cell battery, it can last up to 7 hours – a huge run over the 3-hour average life from typical notebooks. And more, it’s a fast charger at a speed of 90% per 90 minutes of charging.
Mini 2140 is short with ports and connections. On the left corner, we can see VGA out, heat vent, USB 2.0 port, microphone jack, and a headphone jack. On the right corner, we have the ExpressCard slot, SD card reader, USB 2.0 port, Ethernet, power connector, and the security slot. In the front view, we have the power button and the Wi-Fi switch. At the back, we can see nothing but hinges. Did HP forget to incorporate the eSATA port? It could be a big turn on for some.
At a price starting at $499, it can be a good buy with its strong casing, nice keyboard, nice touch for mobility, and long battery life. But with the mounting heat, low resolution, great reflections, and weird mouse buttons, it might be a flop.
Technical specifications:
· Operating system:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic 32
Genuine Windows® XP Home
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
FreeDOS
Supports up to 2 GB (one SODIMM slot)
· Storage:
Hard drive:
160 GB 5400 rpm SATA
160 GB 7200 rpm SATA
80 GB Solid State Drive
Optical Drives: Optional optical drives via External MultiBay II
· Display size:
10.1-inch diagonal HP Illumi-Lite LED SD; 10.1-inch diagonal Illumi-Lite LED HD (Coming Soon)
· Graphics: Mobile Intel® GMA 950
· Integrated camera: Integrated VGA camera
· I/O Ports:
External:
2 USB 2.0
1 microphone in
1 headphone/line-out
1 external VGA monitor
1 RJ-45
1 AC power
· Slots:
1 Express Card/54
1 secure digital
· Audio:
High Definition Audio, stereo speakers, integrated stereo microphones, stereo headphone/line out, stereo microphone in
· Network interface: Marvell Ethernet Integrated Controller (10/100/1000)
· Wireless:
Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/draft-n; Broadcom 802.11b/g; HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless Technology
· Weight: Starting at 2.6 lbs (1.19 kg)
· Dimensions (w x d x h): 10.3 x 6.5 x 1.05 inches (261.4 x 166.2 x 26.7 mm)
· Battery:
3-cell (28 WHr) high capacity Lithium-Ion;
6-cell (55 WHr) high capacity Lithium-Ion
· Power supply: 65W HP Smart AC Adapter, HP Fast Charge
· Battery Life:
3-cell with Hard Drive: up to 4 hours;
3-cell with SSD: Up to 5 hours;
6-cell with Hard Drive: Up to 8 hours and 30 minutes;
6-cell with SSD: Up to 10 hours
· Warranty Feature:
HP Services includes a one-year standard parts and labor warranty, pick-up or carry-in, and toll-free 7 x 24 hardware technical phone support. On-site service and warranty upgrades are also available.
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