HP Mini 5101 Review

Laptops — on November 24, 2009 at 4:46 am | Comment Now

A great net book but expensive considering the features it offers.

Sum and Substance

Thumbs Up

Great keyboard, good collection of bundled software like HP 3D DriveGuard.

Thumbs Down

Expensive, no ExpressCard slot.

Inside the Trunk

Power Cables, Software Adobe Flash Player, Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 (60 days trial), McAfee Total Protection for Small Business (60 days trial), HP Help and Support Center

The Whiz Kid Speaks

Processor
Intel Atom N280 / 1.66 GHz, Data bus speed 533 MHz, Chipset type Mobile Intel 945GSE Express, L2 cache, 512 KB, RAM 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM – 533 MHz (expandable to 2 GB) Hard disk – 160 GB – Serial ATA-300 – 5400 RPM, 2.0 megapixel webcam.

Display 10.1 inch TFT active matrix, widescreen, Resolution 1024 x 600 (WSVGA)
Graphics – Intel GMA 950 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0
Shock Tolerance – 125 g @ 2ms half-sine pulse (operating) / 200 g @ 2ms half-sine pulse (non-operating)
Vibration Tolerance – 0.75 g @ RMS (random) (operating) / 1.5 g @ RMS (random) (non-operating)
Supported flash memory cards – MultiMediaCard , SD Memory Card

Data link protocol
Ethernet , IEEE 802.11a, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0)

Networking standards
IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.3z, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.3ab, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.3i, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0), Bluetooth 2.1

Interfaces
1 x Display/video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45 , 3 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A, 1 x Audio – Line-out/headphones – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Microphone – Line-out – Mini-phone 3.5 mm

Features
System password, Power-on password, HP Disk Sanitizer, Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately)
Compliant Standards
CE, UL, CSA, FCC, BSMI, GOST, CCC, ICES, SABS, VCCI, MIC, A-Tick

Razzle Dazzle

When it comes to looks, we must mention the solid metal construction of the net book. The outside of the net book has a sharp edged brushed metal chassis. The size of the net book is bigger than what HP made earlier and it is a little costly too.

Inside Dope

hp mini 5101 HP is here with a brand new laptop the Mini 5101. Now a net book is just like a notebook with more mobility and slower speed. Plus it is really tiny so it won’t occupy too much space on your backpack. A net book also comes with modest hardware to ensure that it doesn’t tax the battery too much.

This net book has a diagonal screen size of about 10.1 inch, which a standard net book has. The small display will give you a resolution of 1,024X600 pixels, so forget tiling two windows side by side, the resolution is too small for that. The resolution is not the only problem; the processor is too slow to handle two applications at a time. There is option for higher resolution; you can get 1,366×768 pixels resolution for about $25. But we haven’t tried that yet. A smaller resolution also means you will have to scroll more when you are working on documents or surfing the internet, since a small resolution will accommodate little data at a time.

HP made one of the best keyboards ever in net book market and we were skeptical when we heard that HP was revamping its keyboards. But HP Mini 5101 keyboard is still all style and playing with those keys is real joy. The keys have some more space in between them and they are flat on the surface of the board.

The computer is bundled with Microsoft Windows XP Home edition and it works fine without any stutters as long as you don’t do multi tasking.

One thing that HP has changed altogether is the usage of function keys (F1-F12). What we mean is, if F1 key is associated with muting the speaker, you can straight away press F1 key. And if you want to use the F1 key as in ‘help’ function, then you have to press Fn+F1. So if you want to close a window using a keyboard, you have to press Fn+Alt+F4. We don’t know if you will find this use full or not, it all depends on what kind of keys you use more. We thought this was a good move since we don’t use the F1-F12 keys much.

The touch pad of the net book is a traditional one, nothing has changed. The mouse buttons are located underneath the track pad and are pretty comfortable to use.

The net book is powered by 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280, which is slow as a snail when compared to standard computer processors. It cannot take multi tasking process and running even two applications at a time will be a serious problem for this computer. But this comes at a cost of longer battery life of the computer.

The battery of this computer can last for about six hours, it is not great but it is not that bad either. With six hours power you can comfortable watch one or two movies and still have some juice left over to listen to music. Or you can work on this machine for six hours continuously before you go looking for wall outlet for charging.

There is no ExpressCard slot on the computer and there is no optical drive either. You get two USB ports at one side and one the other side of the computer. Along with it, on the sides there is a VGA port so you can attach this computer to a bigger screen if you are watching a movie. Finally there is a headphone and microphone port and an Ethernet jack.

The RAM on the computer is 1 GB DDR2 800 MHz frequency which will compliment the processor well. Often it happens that a faster processor doesn’t give you the results because RAM is insufficient. Contrary to the popular belief, both RAM and processor are responsible for faster speeds.

There is 160 GB hard disk space on HP Mini 5101 and the speed is 5,400 RPM. Well, don’t expect a 7,500 RPM disk in here because it will dry up the battery quicker. HP gives a hard-drive accelerometer called HP 3D DriveGuard for the hard drive.

There is 802.11n Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth in the HP Mini 5101. You can pay $125 more and get mobile broadband which works with Sprint, Verizon or AT&T.

The inclusion of 802.11n Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth is a plus. A $125 optional Gobi mobile broadband module works with Sprint, Verzion, or AT&T. HP has included Corel Home Office software suite (which costs about $69 value), but we’d be perfectly happy with the free Open Office suite as a Microsoft alternative.

Nitty Gritty

The net book is great for web surfing and basic use, the keyboard is great but we are the problem is the price. The HP Mini 5101 is a little expensive for the features it offers. Why would you buy this when there are other net books which offer the same features at a smaller price? Asus Eee PC 1005HA and Acer Aspire One AOD250 are alternatives for you.