The net book market has matured and several companies have found it increasingly necessary to differentiate their products from the competition. Though, everyone has improved the quality and battery life of their offerings over time, but more extreme measures have been necessary as well. The screen sizes have increased, keyboards have grown, systems have gotten more expensive and many other changes have been instituted.
The HP Mini 5101 is the newest business release and the design language is closer to that of the other new Minis as well as HP’s ProBooks, but HP still makes it clear that the 5101 is aimed at businesses and high-demand users.
The HP Mini 5101 runs an Intel Atom N280 processor (1.66GHz) with 1GB of RAM and Windows XP. The HP 5101 gets HP’s 3D Driveguard, an on-board accelerometer that protects the hard drive during a fall or shock. and there is also a standard VGA out , a radio on and off switch, an SD card reader, HD display option and three USB slots, making it a premium netbook.
One of the biggest features that sets the 5101 apart is its build quality-aside from the size (10.30 x 7.09 x 0.91-inches and 2.64lbs) it does not feel like a netbook. The metal chassis and aluminum lid are downright solid, similar to a higher-end ultraportable.
The keyboard on the HP 5101 is still large, spacious, and one of the best keyboard on a 10-inch netbook. The trackpad is small but workable and the keys, palmrests, trackpad buttons and underside of the chassis get a soft-touch rubber coating which feel good on your hands, which gives the netbook a premium feel, as does the metal LCD lid.
HP Mini 5101 is a very capable system that never feels like a powerhouse, but for 2-3 hours of note-taking, emailing, or similar tasks it does it’s duties without issue. It even has some extra features including, cool blue-green LEDs and a battery indicator gauge.
HP Mini 5101battery lasts for about 7-8 hours, but the HP seems to have a performance advantage over many of them, thanks in no small part to the 7200RPM hard drive.
HP 5101 pricing starts at about $399 means that there are cheaper options, but if you demand a bit more of your netbook than most people, you want to use it as a primary mobile device or you plan on using it for business then that premium won’t seem like much at all unless you start upgrading the system, then it can get expensive.
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