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HP Releases Notebook to Compete Against Asus Eee PC.

Category: Mobile

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/10/2008 | 11:34 AM ]

HP, the world’s largest maker of personal computers, this week unveiled a small form-factor laptop designed for education markets. The new HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note will compete for the market of affordable sub-notebooks that are becoming more and more popular across the globe, even though official positioning of the device is a cost-efficient solution for education markets.

“Education shouldn’t end at the bell. HP believes providing each student with an affordable, creative multimedia tool like the HP Mini will better prepare them to live, learn and work in an information-rich society,” said Jeri Callaway, HP’s vice president and general manager of personal systems group in Americas.

Business and mobile professionals value the same mobility, usability and cost concerns of the education market these days. The “HP Mini” provides mobile professionals a sleek, lightweight device that gives access to information and the ability to collaborate with others as well as to communicate via email, instant messaging or blogging.

The announcement by HP further outlines importance of low-cost personal computers during fears about recession of the economy. What is even more important, HP does not save on quality of the device and the Compaq 2133 sports numerous features that are aimed to make it sturdier: the system itself comes in anodized aluminum shell that is sleek and sturdy yet lightweight; HP DuraKeys, featuring a clear coating applied over the notebook keyboard that protects the finish and printed letters and characters; HP 3D DriveGuard, which sends a signal to shut down the hard drive upon sudden movement or shock by using a three-axis digital accelerometer chip; the display of the device is scratch resistant.

HP’s Compaq 2133 Mini Note is based on Via C7-M central processing unit, Via core-logic with built-in Chrome 9 graphics core and comes with 8.9” (1280x720 resolution), built-in webcam, speakers and other modern input and output capabilities. The Compaq 2133 Mini Note laptops weigh 2.63lb/1.19kg when equipped with 3-cell battery as well as solid-state drive.

The cost of HP’s low-priced sub notebooks begins at $499 for the model with Via C7-M 1GHz processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 4GB flash memory for local storage and SUSE Linux 10 operating system. The most advanced HP Compaq 2133 for $749 comes with Via C7-M 1.60GHz chip, 2GB of DDR2 memory, 120GB hard disk drive and Windows Vista operating system.