Tag Archives: Netbooks

HP Mini 5101 Netbook: Classic Review

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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.

hp5101

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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MacBook Pro (MBP): Classic Review

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I wanted a computer with plenty of power and long battery life as I was seeking a notebook that would replace the need for both a netbook and a more powerful desktop. Mainly, I sought the MacBook Pro (MBP) because of its solid reputation as a top of the line machine with plenty of power and upgrade options.  The new MBP’s support large hard drives of up to 500 GB, up to 8 GB of RAM, 802.11n wireless, FireWire 800, the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor, an integrated SD slot and a battery that’s stated to last up to 5 years or 1,000 charge cycles.

Apple MacBook Pro Specs:

  • 13 inch, Aluminum Unibody
  • 160 GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Superdrive 8x (DVDRW/CDRW)
  • 2 GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • 2.26 GHz Intel Core Duo 2
  • Accessory Kit & Software

Design:
The 13 inch MacBook Pro’s unibody design gives it a more solid feel than the plastic of the white MacBook. The MBP’s LED screen appears crisper and brighter than the white MacBook. The black frame on the MBP’s screen seems to draw the eyes inward, drawing attention to whatever image or movie is being displayed.

This generation of MacBook Pros has done away with the trackpad button and replaced it with a large, clickable trackpad which trackpad allows for multitouch finger input including, three finger swipes, pinching and rotating gestures that are similar to the iPhone. The backlit keyboard provides enough light to easily see the keys quickly in a dark room. The keyboard is very similar to the white MacBook but feels much more solid.

Battery Life:
The 13 inch MBP is advertised to achieve 7 hours on a full charge with its revolutionary battery technology, although I haven’t had that experience earlier with other netbooks. It would be entirely possible to get over 6 hours with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off and the screen dimmed when I’m surfing, watching videos and occasionally listening to music.

Software:
Apple’s Migration Assistant software easily transfers your desired data to a new Mac works flawlessly. Also, all of my documents, music, photos and applications were successfully transferred to my new MacBook Pro after following a few simple prompts.  My main concern was about transferring over 3,000 digital photos from my personal album.