Stan Beer
Monday, 26 May 2008 18:11
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
For those of you waiting to get your hands on Hewlett-Packard's new budget priced sub-notebook, the HP 2133 Mini-Note, it is one hell of a little computer. However, laden as it is with Vista, the tune it wants to play is a little off key.
Before we go any further, let's be clear about
one thing. As a piece of sub-notebook hardware, the HP Mini-Note is far
superior to the Asus Eee PC 900. It has a much more usable keyboard,
much more storage, a much better monitor and a far sturdier and more
stylish metallic construction.
Yes, at $899 in Australia, it is more
expensive than the Eee PC 900 ($649 Linux, $599 Win XP). It is also a
little larger and it weighs a bit more (1.2kg compared to 1kg). But
generally speaking, it is the right size and price for the budget
conscious road warrior.
However, as every computer owner knows, hardware is only part of the
story. If we were comparing the Mini-Note to the Windows XP version of
the Eee PC 900, I wouldn't even bother to write this story. The issue
is not whether the Mini-Note is a good computer. The issue is whether
the Mini-Note is good computer to run Vista - and it definitely is not.
Last week, after I had sampled and written of the delights of the Eee
PC 900 Linux version, the people from Asustek Australia kindly
forwarded me a review machine of the Eee PC 700 with Windows XP. I
hated it.
It seemed that everything that Asus had worked to achieve by
integrating its compact little sub-notebook with a fantastically simple
customised GUI built using the Xandros Linux distribution was totally
wasted if you loaded Windows XP.
Just in case you think this is a pro-Linux and trash-Windows rant,
think again. I believe an Eee PC 900 running say Ubuntu would also be a
waste. The whole concept behind Eee PC, the thing that made it walk off
retail shelves was the package of its hardware and that Easy to work,
Easy to learn and Easy to play operating system.
Getting back to the HP Mini-Note, after a few hours of using it, I
couldn't help thinking about how good it would be if it had some sort
of Linux-based custom built interface (not simply Suse or Ubuntu) along
the lines of the Eee PC. However, all I had was Windows Vista Business,
which happens to be a shocking choice of operating system for this
little computer. CONTINUED
