Comments on: HP Mini 110—a netbook for the road

By: Social

Social — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:09:04 +0000

I can honestly say it would have been fantastic to have this little bad boy with me on my travels but I think from my point of view it may have been a bit of a headache not only carrying the extra weight but also the chance that it may get stolen.

On the flip side it would have been great for emails and keeping in touch with relatives. I presume if you are travelling with a ‘netbook’ then you would do thinks a little differently!

Love the style and design and have always been a fan of HP products.

By: Ayngelina

Ayngelina — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:50:03 +0000

If you’re willing to pay a bit more I would suggest the HP Mini 311 vs the 110. It has a 1,366×768 screen which beats the other netbooks. CNEt has rated it the best netbook so far:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-mini-311/4505-3121_7-33772608.html#cnetReview

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:00:56 +0000

I was considering a netbook, but I just coudn’t get into the concept. Guess I’ll always need a full fledged laptop. Great for the grab and go crowd though. Thanks for the great review.

By: Corbin

Corbin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:30:41 +0000

Superb review hombres. I bought a laptop just a few months ago. During the decision making process, I was considering the whole Netbook craze. I think they’re great pieces of hardware, my mom proudly sports her girly coloured netbook whenever she travels. I love the size, and the fact that they can handle day-to-day use by everyday users. I think within the next couple years we’ll see some serious “balls” increase behind the netbooks. But for web designers, video editors, and graphic designers, I could definitely see them causing a headache or two.

I however, decided to go with an HP Tx2, it’s small (12.1 inches), it’s quite a bit heavier thoe, so not quite as easy to haul it around. But the trade-off seems worth it. It’s a couple pounds heavier than the netbook, but it’s got some meat behind the potatoes, if you catch my drift. Definitely happy with it. And just 5 days ago it survived it’s first fall from a 4 foot dresser with the lid open. (although, i think I just got lucky, it should probably be destroyed) But yea, I think next full year trip I take I’ll probably just grab a 300 dollar netbook. Getting it stolen or lost or broken won’t make me cry, and they do pretty much everything you need.

@Andy – Agree with you, I was using live writer for a while, and it worked great as an offline editor.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:25:38 +0000

Hey Andy — thanks for the comment. Will check out Windows Live Writer — I’ve heard it is a decent product! I’ve also seen something out there by Adobe. I think it’s called ‘Contribute’ or something. Maybe will give that one a shot, too.

By: Andy Geoghegan

Andy Geoghegan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:03:01 +0000

You can end up becoming obsessed with finding wifi on the road.

I’ve just found that guesthouses that have free wifi in Laos are the exception rather than the norm whereas in Thailand the wifi flows as freely as Tiger Beer.

It’s important not to be too hung up on it. I make sure that I milk free wifi when I have it so if I end up at a place without I don’t get too out behind in my posts / uploads.

Having a good offline editor helps, there’s not much out there but I use Windows Live Writer – a decent enough free piece of software that allows me to drum up a post, I can then simply hop to a bar with wifi and upload it easily enough.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:19:35 +0000

Hi Louis. Some great points. I use the Flip Ultra (non-HD) and the HP Mini can handle non-HD video pretty well. I understand that you can order it with an upgraded HD-capable video card but that, of course, would drive up the price. I haven’t noticed any heat issues yet, but then again, I haven’t really cranked up too many intensive applications.

I wasn’t aware that the audio out only did one channel of sound — thanks for that info. However, the version of the HP Mini that I’m using has a standard VGA out; although, I understand that earlier versions (ie Mini 1000) had a poprietary connection.

After having googled around a little bit, I think that you might be referencing the HP Mini 1000. It’s known to run a little hot and, moreover, has a proprietary video out. Both of these issues were addressed in the 110, owing to customer feedback.

Thanks for the comment. Really appreciate it!

By: Louis

Louis — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:06:24 +0000

i have had this for a while, i like it alot – but here are some issues
- Video is sort crappy i have the mino HD and cant view HD video very well, but thats trivial i think for most people
-Heating – the unit heats up way too fast
-Other trivial issue are the audio in /audio out have same input which mean connecting to external speakers gets only one channel of sound [i know trivial but important sometimes]
-proprietary video out – in case you want to connect to an external monitor
- Otherwise pretty good for travelling

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:48:29 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Emily. Those wireless provider netbooks are interesting, as they are really beginning to blur the line between smartphone and netbook. Looks like both are going to converge into one appliance, eventually—when things get small enough that is! Until then, we’ll likely have to carry both!

By: Emily @ Maiden Voyage

Emily @ Maiden Voyage — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:20:15 +0000

I definitely want to get a netbook at some point to make staying in touch and blogging easier when traveling (you can only write so much with an iPhone!). I am intrigued by the ATT netbook since it offers 3G service in case you can’t get wifi or ethernet where you are. But the website doesn’t give much detail on the pricing for that service, so I’m wary…