HP Mini 1151NR Laptop

[Charlton]

First scooped in February then confirmed in March Verizon Wireless’ first netbook, the HP Mini 1151NR finally came to the market.The HP Mini 1151NR is essentially an identical netbook to the HP Mini 1000 with built-in EV-DO Rev data powered by Verizon. The 10.3-inch laptop has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1024MB DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive, integrated ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, and a keyboard that is 92% the size of your traditional computer keyboard. It is the first of its breed to be offered at a subsidized price from a cell phone carrier, solves this global Internet access problem thanks to its built-in dual EV-DO Rev.

The 1151NR is just $199.99 after rebate and two-year mobile data subscription. But the news isn't all good. That monthly subscription drives the actual cost of 1151NR way up, plus you'll be stuck with an otherwise sub-par netbook for 24 months minimum.I am sure that Verizon subscribers will be very pleased with the netbook especially thanks to its low price and good specs, however, the HP Mini Notebook will cost a lot of money if you consider the two-year commitment.But mobile broadband data is expensive no matter how you slice it, and having anytime, anywhere Internet access on one of our favorite Netbooks is very appealing.

Introduction

The HP Mini 1151NR's marriage of 3G with a Netbook feels like an obvious mashup of two useful technologies, but the overall package ends up being somewhat expensive.Like its predecessors, the HP Mini 1151NR is one of the most compact netbooks on the market, measuring only an inch thin and weighing 2.4 pounds. The swirl pattern on its glossy black lid gives this machine subtle elegance, as do touches such as the silver speaker bar above the keyboard and the 10-inch screen’s flush display bezel.it comes with an 80 GB hard drive; and pre-installed Microsoft Works, Outlook Express, Windows Explorer, Migo Mobile Desktop 4 for PC synchronization, Norton Security 2009 and Pandora software.Up front you’ll find two switches with their own LEDs, one for power and another for wireless.

Although it’s sold by ZVW the 1151NR netbook is a HP Mini 1000 that comes bundled with an internal Verizon Wireless 3G/EVDO Rev. A card. The built-in EVDO is the defining feature in the 1151NR and it’s easy to get online with Verizon’s Mobile Broadband using the pre-installed VZAccess software.The HP Mini 1151NR was capable of performing any Web-based task we could throw at it, from streaming TV to Skype video calls to basic Web browsing, but the aging, working class OS didn't add any excitement to this burgeoning product category. We'd also like to see a larger hard drive on board and maybe an extra 6-cell battery bundled in.

[Charlton]

Size

At 6.6 inches deep, the 1151NR also is about an inch less deep than most other netbooks, and at 2.45 pounds, around a third of a pound lighter. Built into the grilled hinge are the stereo speakers, which pump out a surprising amount of volume.At about 2.4 pounds, the HP Mini 1151NR is small enough to throw into a backpack or even a small shoulder bag, and we hardly noticed it in our backpack after a day of walking around with it. Our biggest complain with the design is the trackpad, or rather the button placement around the trackpad.

The buttons are placed laterally, with left click on the left and right click on the right. This was uncomfortable for our fingers, especially when we had to click and drag, so we usually ignored the buttons and simply tapped the keypad for input. On the other hand, the Mini 1151NR retains the awkward touchpad straddled by two mouse buttons. We’d prefer that these buttons reside beneath the touchpad; and if you’d rather use an external mouse, you can easily deactivate the touchpad with a dedicated button just beneath the keyboard.

Connection

The HP Mini 115NR seems to be at the pinnacle of today's connected devices. Wi-Fi is still limited to b/g flavors, but wireless-N is too expensive for a bargain netbook. The most exciting feature for wireless connectivity is the Qualcomm Gobi chipset. Gobi is network agnostic, so it will work on Verizon Wireless' fastest EV-DO Rev. Using the Yahoo Bandwidth Meter widget, we measured a speedy 680 kbps using Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A service in Manhattan, not that much slower than the 762 kbps we were getting via WiFi.

A network, and it will also work on AT&T's fast HSDPA network, even though these two are usually incompatible. It has has fewer ports and connections than many other Netbooks, but the two USB ports should be enough for most users, especially if you don't need one for a USB mobile broadband modem. Watch out for the split, single headphone/mic jack, which can cause problems if you need to record and monitor audio at the same time.

[Charlton]

Battery

One area we were concerned about was the battery.Thanks to its three cell battery most netbooks are equipped with six-cell power cells battery life is an extreme disappointment. Even with the 3G modem turned off, the Mini 1151NR ran for only 2 hours and 30 minutes on our video file playback test, about 15 minutes less than the original HP Mini 1000.Using WiFi, we squeezed out two hours of surfing, 15 minutes less surfing via EV-DO.HP offers one if you buy the Mini direct from them, but we didn't see any way to get it as part of your Verizon order. But it takes longer to recharge the batteries than it takes to drain them, around three hours.

The integrated 0.3-megapixel Webcam on our review unit provided decent images in a video call over Skype; our caller could see our face clearly. The microphone, located to the left of the Webcam, picked up some background noise, but our caller could hear us just fine without our needing to speak up.The HP Mini 1151NR ships with a light assortment of productivity software. Microsoft Works comes free with the netbook, and this will probably be enough for light Office work. Microsoft Works isn't as compatible as Office, so don't expect every document to open properly, and not every doc created with Works will translate properly to the full Office suite, especially if colleagues are using Macintosh computers.

Specifications

• Microprocessor
  
  • 1.60GHz Intel Atom Processor N270
  • 512KB L2
  
  
• Memory
  • 1024MB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
  • 1024MB
  
  
• Video Graphics
  • Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
  • Memory upto 128MB
  
  
• Mobile Broadband – EV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) Embedded
• GlobalAccess – Qualcomm Gobi chipset (quad-band GPRS/EDGE/GSM and tri-band HSPA/UMTS)
• 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth®
• Wired Ethernet RJ-45
• Display – 10.1” Flush Glass (1024 x 576) diagonal LED BrightView Infinity display
• Weight – 2.4 Pounds
• Dimensions – 1” x 10.3” x 6.6”
• Power – three-cell battery, 30W AC Adapter
• Processor – Intel Atom N270
• Processor Speed – 1.6 GHz
• System Memory – 1 GB RAM
• Storage Hard Drive – 80 GB hard disk drive
• Operating System – Windows XP Home Edition; Service Pack 3
• USB Ports – Two USB 2.0 ports
• Video – VGA out (requires optional accessory); built-in Webcam 640 x 480, 30 fps
• Audio – Stereo speakers, integrated microphone, combo headphone/microphone jack
• Removable memory – combo SD/MMC card slot
  
• External Ports
  • 2-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards & MultiMedia cards
  • 2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
  • 1 Headphone out/Microphone-in combo jack (iphone compatible)
  • 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
  • 1 notebook expansion port
  
  
• Power
  • 30W AC Adapter
  • 3-Cell Lithium-Ion Polymer battery

[Charlton]

Those specs are enough for everybody. The HP Mini 1151NR comes packed with everything necessary for a netbook to do its job. Finding a WiFi spot could be hard, but thanks to the Verizon CDMA network, you will have access to the Internet anywhere, anytime.Intel's single-core 1.6GHz Atom CPU offers enough computing power for the basic tasks for which Netbooks are designed--namely Web surfing, working on documents, and some basic multimedia playback but it lacks a VGA port, and it has only a combo mic/headphone jack, rather than one dedicated for each.

Pros

1. Built-in EV-DO Rev. A, HSPA and WiFi b/g connectivity
   
   
2. Small and light
   
   
3. Bright 10.1-inch LCD screen
   
   
4. Large, spongy keyboard keys
   
   
5. Pre-installed Microsoft Works

Cons

1. Short battery life
   
   
2. Vertical mouse buttons
   
   
3. Requires two-year mobile data subscription plan
   
   
4. Only two USB jacks
   
   
5. Short LCD screen
   
   
6. No 802.11n