Customer Reviews

HP Mini 210-1010NR 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 4.25 Hours of Battery Life

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

PLUSES: Takes 2gb memory module; SD card can be used for ReadyBoost; easy access to memory, PCI-e card slot, and hard drive via "pop off" bottom cover; available slot for PCI-e card (in my case, a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, $25 mail order, but you may want to insert a 3G card etc.); MATTE SCREEN for glare free viewing; more ergonomic keyboard than most in this category; earphone jack is also compatible with "headsets" with combined stereo earphones and mono microphone; no bottom vent slots that are easy to block if set down on a carpet or other soft surface.

MINUSES: Shorter battery life (on this entry level 3 cell battery model); "standard" netbook screen resolution (there is an HP Mini 210 HD version available with a higher than normal resolution screen); "simpler, " non-multi-gesture touch pad (but it works very well); "speed step" is not implemented, although the N450 Atom chip now supports it (see the Asus 1001p if you want this feature for extended battery life); fan runs a little more to circulate air, there are no bottom slots to pull air through; no stereo microphone slot.

Since these netbooks have a built-in microphone on the screen, and speakers under the keyboard, it's easy to Skype on them without a headset in "speakerphone" mode.

On the horizon (next 3 months): N470 Atom processors running at 1.83 ghz instead of the N450 in the current models running at 1.66 ghz; but the fact that this one has a PCI-e card for the Broadcom Crystal HD card is probably more important than the upcoming boost in speed (which will also run the battery down more quickly).

INITIAL IMPRESSSIONS:

Prices have come down on the HP Mini 210 series at Amazon to the point where there is no reason to go with another maker (Acer is generally the price leader) unless you are looking for a particular feature (like wireles "n" instead of "g", a 6 cell battery for the same price etc). As promised by the reviews I read, the HP Mini 210 is slightly better designed (keyboard doesn't flex, keyboard is more ergonomic) and finished than its competition (I have owned Acer, Gateway, eMachines, and MSI Wind netbooks - no Asus so far).

The HP Mini 210 is also "cleaner" finished - no advertising stickers on the front panel below the keyboard, even the Win7 license sticker and other "bottom of computer" stickers are gone, the Win7 license sticker is inside the case (where it can't get smudged, a big plus, should you set it down on a gob of jam on your breakfast counter).

I purchased this 3 cell battery model expressly to keep weight down and keep the case smaller (the 6 cell battery version isn't flush to the case). I got to save $40 as a result, which is an extra bonus. The old HP Mini 110 was rated at 3.75 hours with a 3 cell, with the new chipset in this one, battery life jumps to 4.25 rated hours. Keep in mind reading the NY Times on line with the screen dimmed will give much better battery life than watching transcoded h.264 videos with full screen brightness (in non-geek speak, reading is less taxing than movie watching).

Please note this has a MATTE screen. Not impressive in a showroom, where glossy screens just seem to sparkle, but MUCH better for actually watching video and working, no reflections to reduce image quality. Matte screens are actually rarer than the glossy variety - most Acers are glossy, the Asus 1001p (nearest competitor to this HP Mini 210 "no frills" edition) is matte too.

Manufacturers approach upgrades 3 ways: the Acers generally have little hatches held down by screws and snaps which allow access to the memory module, available PCI-e slot, and hard drive; MSI has no hatches but lots of screws (to remove the entire back panel) and an ominous "warranty voided!" sticker; and this HP seeming has no hatches OR screws.

Fortunately before this arrived I was reading the HP on-line documentation (which is much better than Acer's and eMachines) and they showed how to pop off the bottom panel to access the memory module, PCI-e slot, and harddrive - it's pretty easy to do, and I marveled at HP's design team when I snapped it back together. The PCI-e slot, BTW, is included in most netbooks so you can install a 3G telephone wireless card; some netbooks have two such slots; some have a slot shared with the wireless LAN card; but this HP has a single, uncluttured slot and I used mine for the Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator card. This card is designed to accelerate certain video streams (but not all); it is supposed to work with Windows Media Player if it is decoding H.264 video (the current "standard"); with Hulu and other sites running Flash for video support (but not too well yet, Flash 10.1 has not yet been released and is still buggy); and with some DVD/BluRay software player programs. For $25 mail order from Hong Kong (off eBay) I was willing to give it a try.

This HP accepted a standard netbook memory module upgrade to 2gb without a hitch - no BIOS adjustments required. Check crucial dot com for memory specs; usually, but not always, when Amazon tells you other customers ordered a particular memory module to go with a particular netbook, you will be ok.

The fit and finish, ergonomics, and software welcome windows on the HP are much nicer than on any of the Acer variants (Acer makes Gateway and eMachines too) or the MSI's I have - even the keyboard is easier to use, although still shrunken. The mini-led's (really tiny dots) on the wireless function key on the top row of the keyboard, on the power slide switch on the side of the keyboard, and on the other side of the computer to indicate hard drive activity, each looks very classy. Be careful about pressing the top row function keys - unlike other netbooks, where you have to press the Fn activator key next to the space bar to access netbook functions (like wireless on or off, speakers on or off, volume, brightness) on this HP the top row keys default to netbook functions, and you have to use the Fn key next to the space bar to use them as normal F1-F12 function keys - while trying to hit F11 to maximize a browser window, I accidentally turned off my wi-fi.

I would have preferred to have the power switch under the cover, where it can't accidentally be activated - it is on the right side of the case instead.

The touchpad works well - I don't have my usual problem accidentally clicking when I meant to slide.

Although Pg Up and Pg Dwn aren't labeled on the arrow keys, they are actually there, and activated by the Fn key near the space bar. The arrow keys themselves are laid out nicely in inverted "T" style.

Initial set up operations and downloards were quite zippy, felt quicker than on a 1gb Acer ao532h I just returned (but that may have been a function of the limitaton to 1gb on that Acer). Here are the Windows Experience Index numbers for this HP with an SD card inserted in the card reader and set up for ReadyBoost:

Processor, calculations per second: 2.4
Memory operations: 4.6
Graphics, Aero Desktop: 3.1
Gaming Graphics: 3.0
Disk operations: 5.3

Processor power # is the same as on my recent Walmart special eMachines 250 (N270 chipset, same as Aspire ao250 etc.), as are all the other numbers EXCEPT Graphics, Aero - Aero graphics on this new chipset jump from 2.1 to 3.1, a sizeable increase. (This number is not influenced by the Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator card I added, it is the same number I saw on an HP Mini 210 at Costco).

So basically the new chipset, just introduced in December 2009, mainly just saves battery power, with some small performance increases - except for the graphics, which is one generation better than the last GMA 950 processors but not capable of DirectX functions (you have to get a machine with GMA 4500 or an Ion for that). (FWIW the new N450 chips also run Win7 64 bit, and have Speed Step instructions for changing the clock speed to save power on netbooks that have software support built-in).

I don't intend to load a lot of programs on this netbook, so the 160 gb hard drive is fine for me. Part of that space is used by HP for a restore partition (in lieu of providing restore disks), and that restore partition, which mostly goes to waste, is thankfully smaller than usual.

If you intend to haul around a lot of converted video or lossless music (FLAC or Apples loss-less) or photos, you should definitely pop the extra $40 for the 250gb harddrive editions. My personal strategy is to use an external USB hard drive to hold my "library" and just download to the netbook as needed, so I am not as sensitive as some to hard drive sizes, and can remember then an 80gb hard drive in a laptop was "big."

Finally, there is one very nice "feature" on this netbook that the others I have seen don't have - it doesn't have any vent slots on the bottom. It is engineered to vent solely through the side vent. This means you can actually set it on your lap or a soft surface without blocking any vents and overheating the unit. With our other netbooks and laptops we are scrupulous about placing them on a laptop board or cutting board, to keep access to the air vents open, but on this one we don't have to worry about that. I'm good about keeping air vents open, but if you have kids who are going to set a netbook down on a plush carpet or on the bed, the HP Mini 210 is a better choice - they only have to keep the one set of side vents free and clear. Conversely, with no bottom vents, the bottom tends to get hot, but this does not bother me.

The HP Mini 210 is a great netbook overall. It features a Intel GMA 3150 which is capable of streaming video over sites such as youtube, hulu, etc; it doesn't stream any type of HD that great, however. I was even able to play older games such as Deus Ex, Aliens vs. Predator and even Unreal Tournament just fine. If you can't afford to pay the extra $100 for the HP 311 which sports a Nvidia ION, this netbook will serve you well.

The keyboard is 93% full size and is great to type on. I'm a computer science student and I was delightfully surprised to see how comfortable it was to program on this netbook. If you plan to do any type of creative writing or programming, this netbook is ideal for that.

I admit, it's taking me awhile to get use to the slower execution speeds and limits of multitasking with a netbook, but this HP seems to be faster then other netbooks I've tried. As long as you aren't trying to perform more then 2-3 tasks at a time, all is well and speedy.

My major grip is with the touchpad. The left and right buttons aren't independent of the touchpad itself; you can move the mouse if you move your finger within either click buttons. I like to keep my finger on the left button as a I navigate the touchpad with my other finger, but on this netbook it causes the pointer to jump around the screen. It's just going to take a bit to change my style, but I would have preferred two buttons that were separate from the actual touchpad.

Battery is life is advertised at 4 hours, but I've seen around 3 thus far. As soon as a replacement 6-cell battery is released, I will be purchasing and that should satisfy my needs.

4 out of 5 stars for this netbook due to the touchpad and inability to stream HD videos properly.

Okay, I'm just going to write a short, straight to the point review on this netbook. I first purchased this netbook here on Amazon when I received a $300 Amazon Gift-Card for completing online surveys. I originally owned an Acer Aspire and mostly IBM ThinkPads. So this was pretty much my first netbook I've ever owned. When I first opened it, I was surprised how small and lightweight this laptop was. It obviously has a 10.1" screen and weighs less than 3 pounds so you can easily fit this laptop in a small backpack or even a larger purse! What you get out of the box are power cables, 3-cell battery, cleaning cloth, manuals, and the netbook. The netbook itself does a have a decent keyboard and a very sleek design compared to most other netbooks. Unlike most HP laptops, this one does not have any imprint finishes or designs on the cover. If you are getting this HP Mini or any netbook out there for the first time, it'll take some time to get used to it since the screen is considerably much smaller and the computer runs slower. A few things I didn't like about this netbook is that the cover of the laptop gets fingerprints very easily and the touchpad isn't that good. Also, you'll get only about 2 hours at most of batter life when fully charged. The main problem I have with the touchpad is that the clicking buttons are also part of the pad and you can move the mouse even by touching the clicking buttons. What happens is that your cursor may move all over the screen. Also, the screen it has is not one of those shinny, glossy ones, it's a matte finish. This is a great laptop to buy if all you'll need to do is listen to music, browse internet, do homework, or to check emails. If you're like me, that creates websites and does video editing, this laptop is definitely not for you since this laptop will keep freezing. Netbooks are just for basic things and can only runs like 2-3 programs smoothly. I would definitely recommend this laptop and it runs at a very good price ($298.95) when I brought it.

I had this notebook for about one month. Only put about 10 hours on it. The battery stopped working. I can't say it went dead because it didn't. The computer said it had no charge and was not plugged in. It was plugged in and last night the battery was fully charged. After almost two hours on the phone to the service department in "CALCUTTA", I think they said it could not be fixed and needed to be sent back to HP. (AT MY COST)...really..at my cost! It would take 2 to 3 days to get the box to me and then I would pay to ship it back to hp. I said I didn't want to wait 3 days for them to send me a box that they weren't going to pay for just give me the address and I would ship it myself since I had to pay for it anyway. Well, they didn't have an address and no way of getting one. I would have to wait for them to send me a box. Anyway, it went down hill from there. I really liked the little computer. It's a shame it's turning out to be a piece of &***& and that the service is worse than ##&***.

I wouldn't recommend dealing with hp for anything, least of all service.

The best thing here is really just the price. For well under the $299 benchmark you get a functional laptop with all the basics but no frills. The second best thing is the styling, which is slick even for a netbook, especially with the practical anti-glare screen. Otherwise, there's nothing special here.

It's one of the few laptops with an anti-glare screen, and I love that. Even then, the coating is a bit distracting in its own way--you can see the speckling when you look for it. It was worth it for me, but I'm starting to think HP is a little bipolar with its screens: too much reflection or too much anti-glare coating.

Battery life really is just four hours max, so that's about two hours of streaming video or music with the screen open. It's more than worth getting the bigger 6-cell battery separately or standard with the Mini 210 1030, which is identical otherwise. Since the "4.75 hours" claim is accurate, I gather the Acers & Asuses claiming 5 to 10 hours are telling the truth too, so if you plan to stream video on the go or expect it to last the whole work day...spring for that 6-cell and be prepared for a heavy netbook.

But the presumably wimpy battery does result in a super-slim and light form factor measuring a tidy 10.5x7 inches. The Mini 210 feel like an actual paper notebook or appointment book! It makes the Dell Minis look bloated and clunky. Combined with glossy black finish and the almost shell-shaped lid, this netbook look very slick.

Performance? As usual modify your expectations and you won't be disappointed...but one note: 1080p video will be a disaster, and streaming 720 will be choppy, but downloaded 720 videos can be played reasonably well using VLC Media Player 1.1.

I'm sure there are better software solutions out there, and the Crystal HD chip is only $100 or so, but once you start optioning up these netbooks with RAM and everything, you end up with a $600 10-incher.

See, one of the things that makes a netbook a netbook is price, so there will always be compromises.

I got this machine recently at a Radio Shack. Went in just for some blank DVD discs, and saw this cute little thing. It jumped up and down and wagged its tail until I had to take it home. I didn't need it, but it was too adorable to pass up. I already have a (first generation) Kindle that I love, so I did not need to read Kindle books on the hp, but I do. [One drawback to that is, altho I can access my books on the hp Kindle function, I cannot access my samples!!! What's up with that?] Being a long-time Mac person, I am less enthralled with anything pc than most, but am getting along OK with the hp's Windows 7 Starter OS. I like being able to take it to bed with me and play card games, or read without having to leave the light on, as I do with the Kindle's non-backlit screen. And, even though someone complained about the battery life on this, it is good enough for me; I can carry the hp to doctor appointments and amuse myself in the waiting room while waiting too long to be called. So this is not going to make me leave my Mac in the dust, but it is fun. I may break down and get the mouse for it ... am not fond of the touch pad on the hp because the cursor jumps unexpectedly around the screen. Oh, and tho I have not skyped with it yet, am looking forward to using the built in mike, cam, and speakers. Would not recommend it for playing music; speakers are a little tinny for that.

I recently bought this netbook for my wife. She didn't need anything fancy. Just something to use the Internet and check e-mail. This machine does much more than we expected. I am going to keep this review simple since there are many others that go into technical details. I will just say that this review is for a machine straight out of the box with no upgrades at all. She soon realized that she could do much more than she originally expected. The (slight) problem is that out 6 and 9 year-old sons also realized this. They are all able to use it for all of their gaming web sites, to watch streaming video, download and store music, watch TV and Movies via our Netflix account, chat with friends and family, download, manage, and share digital photos, and much more. Right after she got it, my wife got tapped to work on an article for publication. My wife thought this would mean purchasing some productivity software such as MS Word. However, I showed her everything Google documents had to offer. She wrote the entire article using Google docs and everything worked like a charm.

While I haven't used this netbook as much as the rest of my family, I have spent some time playing with it. My first concern was that the keyboard would be difficult for someone with my fat fingers to use. This was not the case at all. I had no problem at all using the keyboard. After using this for a few hours, I began to want one for myself to replace the bulky laptop I carry back and forth to work (and on trips) every day.

The only thing we have tried to do on this little guy that has not met with success is to use Skype for video calls. We are able to connect and once got an image from the other participant but it immediately disconnected. We frequently get the message that the computer is not functioning at optimum level. Skype suggests we shut down all other applications. Even if we only have Skype running this continues. After doing some research, I learned that if we were to upgrade the operating system this would no longer be a problem. We may do that in the future but since we have other computers in the house, I don't see a need to.

We did opt for the shorter battery life. This isn't really an inconvenience. We easily get four hours from the battery once it is fully charged. This might be hard for some people but we have been used to using my laptop which can barely hold a charge for two hours.

In summary, this is a wonderful machine for the price. While it probably will never replace our main computer, it seems my family can do 95% of the things they have always done on machines that cost 3 to 5 times as much. Since it has come into our house, this netbook has been the most popular item we own. In fact, we have had to place time limits on the boys when using it, which we never had to do with our other computers. It is a very appealing and easy to use machine. I would not be surprised if one or two more of these little guys found their way into our house by Christmas time.

This is my first netbook. Overall it is a very good product.
pros
good battery life
quick startup
durable
quickly connects to wifi hotspots
added conveience of windows 7
webcam
very lightweight and portable
reliable

cons
as I just figured out, this and in fact most netbooks are not made for multitasking or high memory applications, having a smaller processor and only 1 gig of ram.
It is sometimes frustarating downloading software such as autocad, just to find out that the program crashes due to the lack of memory.

In addition Windows 7 stater has limited functionality, which includes the inability to change the desktop image or use the windows media center.
Obviously this laptop is not for gaming either, but thats why its called a netbook.

Can freeze of lag severely if you run too many applications at once.

Conlusion
This netbook is perfect for typing documents, listening to music, and using the internet, however if you plan on doing any more than that, I suggest that you either upgrade the ram to 2gb or higher or invest in a laptop with a better processor.

I love this laptop! it is small and at a good price and most of all extremely portable. I have have laptops in the past but never really took them any where because of the size and weight. That is why I bought this HP mini and it really does great for occasions where you traveling or going to an event where you don't want to be bogged down but would like a full computer.

Things I was worried about:

1) the keyboard would be to cramped - this was one of my big worries in that i tried it at the store for a little big but wondered how long time used of such a small keyboard would feel. I am happy to say even though the keyboard is so small it feels very natural. when i type on it i dont have to think about it or look at the keys to make sure im hitting the right ones. it feels natural and comfortable even after long periods of use.

2) speed - i got the two gig ram upgrade and it boots up very fast and is ready to use in about a minute or two. if you put it in hibernation mode it is even faster with minimal battery wasted.

3) battery life - it goes for about 3 hours which is pretty great. I have had laptops in the past that don't go longer than 20 minutes so this was a pleasant surprise and you can buy better batteries for it if that isn't enough time.

Things that I was not pleased with:

really the lap top is 5 out of 5 but windows 7 starter sucks. you can't change the background on the computer and it doesn't come with windows media center. i was really annoyed with that because i like to watch netflix from media center and the whole program doesnt come on starter. to get the regular windows 7 features you have to upgrade for like 70-80 dollars which is really lame.

I purchased this netbook to take notes for reports I write, and it way exceeded my expectations. The main thing I like about it is it's portability. You can take this anywhere. If you're watching TV you can't help but having this on your lap doing stuff. I was going to wait for the Ipad but this is better because it's way cheaper and has the attached keyboard. With the Ipad you have to pay extra for the keyboard and then you have two things to carry around with you.

The other thing I like is that you don't have to fire up the system to use the internet. You just open the lid and viola! it's there.

Another thing that's good is that I haven't run into any performance problems. Videos, internet, movies all run great. I haven't played any games on it. Battery life is great - at least 3 hours.

The one thing I don't like is the integrated touch pad left right click thing. For example you have to have your finger at exactly the right spot to left click otherwise either nothing or something crazy things happens.