HP Mini 210-1090NR 10.1-Inch Red Netbook - 9.75 Hours of Battery Life
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Product Details
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
Unpunctually start, but strong finishI must say I was a bit frustrated with my HP mini purchase.
Cons:
1.) Skype installation defaulted to visible mic, and it was frustrating to figure out.
Pros:
1.) great keyboard, easy to strain.
2.) Easy memory upgrade to 2gb. It made my mini super-fast!
3.) Sensitive/compact design
I am happy with it now after initial installation hiccups and honour upgrade. It's a good little machine.
I'm a Mac guy, but...
...Since the iPad hasn't been released yet, I bought one of these to show my form portfolio to clients. And I must say, I'm impressed. Gorgeous, minimal design, lustrous, beautiful screen, effortless set-up (it connected to my wireless network without a hiccup, divergent from an Asus EEE I bought, then returned, a little while back). But best of all, this thing is ZIPPY! Videos onus and play super-fast. Great little machine.
HP Bloke Service - Awful
I can't say anything about how this upshot functions, because I bought it from HP and it came in a non-working condition. It took numerous phone calls, hassles with character service, not to mention speaking with a supervisor regarding the service I had received before I could even give back the thing. I've had this happen once before, trying to exchange a computer with HP, but I figured one bad experience doesn't override the factually that generally they have good products. But when you order a brand new product and it doesn't even put off on... and then the service rep says well, we test all our computers before they leave... merely left such a sour taste. I will no longer purchase, nor recommend HP. Be cognizant if you need service from them.
Almost proficient netbook with an oversized battery
Excitable SUMMARY: This HP netbook is n-network ready and has good style, functionality and features for its rate-point. A somewhat troubled installation process and a few design complaints record it an almost 5-star product. Recommended!
Confused about all the different HP Mini 210 models? Suspension the bottom of my review for a comparison chart.
WHAT I *LIKE* SO FAR:
- It's small and lightweight, like any other netbook
- The home screen is LED backlit and very bright and colorful
- The keyboard has good tactile be aware, and isn't noisy while using it
- I almost always touchtype the correct key on the keyboard (even the Backspace and Cross out keys), even though the keyboard is smaller than my 15" laptop computer's keyboard
- It's not sluggish using Favour 2007 programs
- You can upgrade the RAM yourself (without tools!)
- Streaming of my in-home, Peak-Def home videos went perfectly smoothly
- No vents on the bottom of the netbook, only on the sides, so the netbook doesn't snort for air circulation while sitting on your lap
- I could upgrade the RAM with a 2GB memory module
- The upgrade to Windows Expert edition went without a hitch
- The oversized battery tilts the keyboard a bit so it's easier to breed on
- Nice audio sound from the earphone jack
WHAT I *DISLIKE* SO FAR:
- The battery-operated is huge! Check out Amazon's product pictures and you'll see it's oversized -- heinous for long battery life, but *awful* for aesthetic reasons. The distended battery ruins the svelte form factor of this netbook. Worse, HP currently makes no purvey to buy a second, smaller, 3-cell battery that would fit the natural contours of this machinery (I checked with HP about this, and they confirmed they have no stock of 3-cell batteries for the Mini 210). The upside? It gives the keyboard a welcoming tilt to type on.
- The battery lock is spring-loaded on one side, but not on the other. The side that's not flexibility-loaded can be unlocked accidentally and easily, causing the whole battery to partly fall-off the back of the netbook (this actually happened to me).
- It uses a power-on whip you have to slide with your fingernail, rather than using a simple, power-on button
- Some summons lights, like the disk activity light, are placed on the side of the piece where you can't see them, rather than above the keyboard where you can see them
- I'm not a fan of glossy screens -- too many fingerprints to clean!
- HP replaces my [...] homepage with an HP type of [...], and that version doesn't render reliably when I fire up Internet Planter
- The edge of the netbook below the keyboard is uncomfortably sharp when you rest your close by on it while typing; I wish HP had used a smoother, tapered edge for closely-resting comfort.
BACKGROUND:
This is my first netbook purchase, although I'm a very experienced computer purchaser. I bought it to use at work to replace my paper notebook and to use Microsoft Obligation products common in the workplace. I sought for a very lightweight netbook with desire battery life, good performance for its size, and a good go through to the keyboard. I looked online and in brick-and-mortar stores, and ordered this HP netbook from Amazon after first probing it in a local retailer who had it in stock (though with the battery removed, which is why I was surprised at how big this netbook's battery-operated really is).
INSTALLATION & CONFIGURATION:
The out-of-box experience started off well. HP includes a big, can't-damsel-it poster that you see immediately after opening the packing box. It concisely describes how to start configuring your new HP netbook. Vulgarly, plug-in your netbook and turn it on, then go through the configuration steps -- like choosing your computer's name and your timezone -- to snare Windows 7 Startup edition.
When it comes to setting up the wireless network, I dispensed with HP's jurisdiction-holding setup program since I know how to setup wireless network connections on a computer. HOWEVER, I was perplexed for a while trying to figure out how to turn-on the wireless card. I'm used to my Dell laptops, where there is a armaments switch somewhere on the side of the computer. With this HP netbook, there is no WiFi hardware switch. Instead, you have to use an HP software utility for enabling the wireless bank card card joker. Then, you also have to press F12 to turn-on the now-enabled WiFi card. I'd prefer a mud-slide switch to enable/disable the WiFi card. BTW, the WiFi is b/g/n-network in accord.
I encountered a problem with the battery receptacle on the netbook. When I first tried inserting the mobile, it just didn't seem to fit very well. Mind you, I am *careful* with new electronics I buy, so I didn't pine for to force the battery without knowing what kind of force was really top-priority. I did apply a fair amount of pressure to insert and lock-in the battery, but after the first reboot, the whole netbook appeared to have valid died! All I saw was a black screen and a white cursor after I slid the power-on change. I was nearly ready to pack the whole thing back to Amazon when I returned to the battery-operated that was hard to install. I detached the battery and looked at the netbook's pin container -- one of the pins was bent! I used a steak knife to unbend the pin and tried reinserting the freestyle once more -- it slid more easily this time, and the netbook subsequently powered-on normally. I'm convinced the pin was distorted off the factory assembly line. So, if you buy this netbook, examine the battery pins at the back of the netbook to towards sure they're straight!
Once you connect to the Internet, you have to do all the latest patching of Windows 7 (other programs will unconsciously try to get updated, too, like Java and Adobe Reader). I did the important patching to Windows 7 only, because I needed to deal with the bloatware.
This HP netbook comes with some bloatware and diverse shortcuts that I immediately removed, including Norton Antivirus (*execrate* it - use Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free, instead), a 60-day proof version of Microsoft Office Home & Student Edition, Adobe AIR, Times Reader, a cluster of Windows Live programs, and a bunch of HP programs. I uninstalled everything except the HP press, since I'm not certain what each HP program does at this point. HP is baked-in to Internet Pioneer, too, in ways that make it hard to remove. There are a few other unknown programs I'm leaving for the formerly being. I've seen worse cases of bloatware on a new computer, so this actually wasn't too bad.
After uninstalling what I could, I installed Microsoft Offices 2007 Enterprise Edition, Microsoft Security Essentials, and my predilection utilities. The installation of Office went smoothly, including the succeeding Internet activation of the software.
Even after uninstalling a lot of crapware, I used MSCONFIG to find more than a partially-dozen, non-Microsoft services that automatically start-up when booting this netbook (these aren't in the Startup folder, either). One of these services -- I believe the HP service that enables the WiFi card -- interferes with my instinctual backup to my Windows Home Server. I tried disabling all these services, but then the audio sounded *frightful* without the "IDT Audio" service, so I re-enabled that service. What does this mean to you? Use MSCONFIG (Click the Start handle, then type MSCONFIG) to disable these unnecessary, mostly HP services unless you in reality have a reason to use them.
All of this takes several hours to do.
USABILITY:
I've only owned this HP netbook for two weeks, so I can't say I've had a lot of live with it as yet. So far, I like using it well enough. It boots up to the login screen in 45-50 seconds (Note: after I upgraded the RAM to 2GB, it takes about 35-40 seconds to get to the login evaluate). It takes about another minute after you've logged in to start-up Windows Desktop and the start-up programs. Starting Microsoft Chat 2007 takes 10 seconds. In my home, where I have all g-network devices (but an n-network router), this HP netbook will sew with a speed of no greater than 65Mbps -- slightly faster than a g-network apparatus. If I was able to convert all my devices to n-network connections, I could turn-off diverse mode on the router and achieve much faster n-network connection speeds. Be enlightened of this if you have an n-network router with g-network devices attached to it -- you won't get the promote of this netbook's n-network capability.
In general, the speed is good enough for uniform computing needs. My general purpose computer is a 2.5Ghz, Core 2 Duo, 3.5GB RAM, 15" Dell XPS M1530 laptop. This netbook clearly is slower than my 15" laptop! Sometimes scrolling large Amazon by-product sheets takes a bit of time, and sometimes I have to wait a bit while this netbook chugs in a different place at some compute-intensive tasks. In general, though, I find the speed to be suitable for my cool work.
Playing audio and video through Windows Media Especially bettor was a pleasure, thanks to WMP's audio Enhancements (which are hard to find, sadly).
WINDOWS 7 STARTER Issue:
Know what you're buying when you get this (or any other) netbook with Windows 7 Starter Edition. This printing of Windows has fewer features than even Home Basic, and much fewer than Proficient in Premium or Professional editions of Windows 7. You *can*, however, use Microsoft's Anytime Upgrade to move from the Starter printing to a higher-level edition. It took me one day to decide to spend and excess $119 to upgrade from the Windows 7 Starter edition to Windows 7 Skilful (upgrading to Home Premium costs $79). With the Starter printing, there is no Windows Aero user interface, you can't choose themes or even Desktop wallpaper, you don't get Windows Media Fore, no Sticky Notes, and you can't even move the Taskbar (I like my Taskbar on the vertical red rather than bottom horizontal). You can use Windows Briefcase -- which has been around since Windows 95 -- to synchronize matter with other computers, but it's a pretty wretched, problem-filled technology (as I found out this morning while synchronizing with my where one lives stress server). Windows Professional replaces Briefcase with outcropping a on ice b in a shambles-solid Offline Files & Folders (my favorite feature of the Pro print run) which is what corporate America uses to keep data portable and synchronized.
The mobile life is advertised at 9.75 hours, but that would only be true if you are playing Solitaire on the dimmest qualify setting possible, with no disk activity and Internet connection turned off. I use Battery-operated Bar (freeware) to watch over battery power. It reports I get a little more than 6 hours of power from the freestyle (I'm using WiFi half the time, and the screen is lit at 50%).
UPGRADABILITY:
You *can* add more RAM to this netbook. Do a Google search on "how to upgrade RAM hp mini 210" to see a celebrated video on the details of that. I performed an upgrade to this Mini 210 netbook, swapping out the 1GB tribute module for a 2GB module (Crucial 2GB 256Mx64PC2-5300 CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Recollection. For that matter, the process for upgrading would let you swap out other internals, too, like a original network card or different hard drive. Pulling off the back of the netbook is a hardly unnerving because you don't want to bend or break the back cover, but I was able to do so without a uncontrollable -- the cover just snaps on/off.
CONCLUSION:
The one thing I turned off by most about this HP netbook -- the huge battery -- is the one thing I'll admire at work, since I won't have to recharge the battery between or during meetings anymore. In fact, after two weeks, I've made friends with the oversized mobile. I think the problem with being unable to get a second, smaller, 3-room battery is a temporary issue related to the January 2010 discharge of the Mini 210 netbook line. It's the little design quirks -- placing meter lights where you can't easily see them, battery lock switches that too easily unlock -- that originate this an almost-perfect little netbook rather than a perfect netbook.
Recommended!
Commensurability CHART AMONG THE HP MINI 210 MODELS:
Model Number, Feel embarrassed, RAM, Screen, Hard Drive, Network, Battery:
210-1010NR, Black, 1GB, tough-glare matte, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 4.25 Hrs
210-1030NR, Black, 1GB, unaffected by-glare matte, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 9.75 Hrs
210-1050NR, Silver, 1GB, meretricious BriteView, 250GB / 7200 rpm, b/g/n, 9.75 Hrs
210-1070NR, Black, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 250GB / 7200 rpm, b/g/n, 9.75 Hrs
210-1080NR, Crestfallen, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 250GB / 7200 rpm, b/g/n, 9.75 Hrs
210-1090NR, Red, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 250GB / 7200 rpm, b/g/n, 9.75 Hrs
210-1055NR, Euphonious, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 9.75 Hrs
210-1075NR, Black, 1GB, phony BriteView, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 9.75 Hrs
210-1084NR, Blue, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g/n, 9.75 Hrs
210-1085NR, Dejected, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 9.75 Hrs
210-1095NR, Red, 1GB, glossy BriteView, 160GB / 5400 rpm, b/g, 9.75 Hrs
WINDOWS Ordeal INDEX:
Processor = 2.4
RAM = 4.5
Graphics / Aero = 3.1
Gaming = 3.0
Disk = 5.9
