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Topic: Enterprise Software

HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

Summary: Netbook sales are shrinking as quickly as you can say "iPad," but that hasn't deterred HP from pumping out a new model for a tepid market. The company says its Mini 1104 is designed for business pros and students on a budget.

Sean Portnoy

By for Laptops & Desktops |

Netbook sales are shrinking as quickly as you can say "iPad," but that hasn't deterred HP from pumping out a new model for a tepid market. The company says its Mini 1104 is designed for business pros and students on a budget.

It comes with the usual specs, like a dual-core Intel Atom N2600 processor, 10.1-inch LED-backlit display, 2GB of RAM, 320GB of hard drive space, built-in Webcam and Wi-Fi, and Windows 7. It also includes a hard drive accelerometer to prevent damage from drops, as well as a TPM 1.2 embedded security chip to keep your data safe.

Options include a 6-cell battery that HP claims will give you up to 9 hours of battery life, along with integrated HP Mobile Broadband capabilities.

The Mini 1104 will start at $399, which is a tricky pricing point since a businessperson might want the additional power and screen size of a full-fledged laptop that might only cost $100 more, while students might save their pennies a little longer for an iPad. We wish HP good luck with its continued commitment to netbooks, which the buying public doesn't seem to share.

Topics: Enterprise Software, Hardware, Hewlett-Packard, Mobility

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42 comments
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  • Agreed, poor decision ...

    ... I see you are continuing your lazy habit of repeating the first two paragraphs of your post as a summary. Might as well junk the summary, especially for a post this short.
    johnfenjackson@...
    Reply Vote

    • A tablet is a netbook withouth a physical keyboard!

      How can you say "it is dead"?
      kd5auq
      Reply Vote

      • Um, because no one is buying them?

        .DeusExMachina.
        Reply Vote

    • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

      @johnfenjackson@... +1
      Godmocker
      Reply Vote

  • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

    I'm skeptical of this "the netbook is dead" talk... at least insifar as it is motiveted by a desire to push higher margin ultrabooks. To the extent that people are still buying laptops so their kids can have a computer to write their book reports on, i suspect that netbooks still have more of a future than ultrabooks.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

    • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

      @dsf3g These netbooks are doing really well on emerging market. The author of this isn't think is not aware of the existance of the rest of the world.
      temp-
      Reply Vote

    • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

      @dsf3g Intel says that Atom sales did decline between 2010 and 2011 -- but only by single digits. That's the first time that we've seen an actual dip in sales rather than a dip in sales *growth* (which is what everyone was pointing to when they claimed netbooks were dead last year).

      So are netbooks dead? Not by a long shot. They're probably not even dying. But they're not quite as healthy as they were.

      You're right though -- a big part of the problem is that computer makers aren't releasing new models in developed countries, instead pushing higher-end ultraportable laptops. But netbooks shipments are actually up in developing markets.
      bradlinder
      Reply Vote

    • Look at IPAD price

      @dsf3g

      By the time you add a keyboard it's a least $700. At that point, feature for feature, why would a college kid on a budget or a business person with half a brain buy an IPAD? Memory > PC wins. CPU > PC wins. Ooops, I forgot. The IPADS are white..... PC's can't compete with that "feature".

      $700 on a PC platform goes a really long way. With a bit of shopping around you're looking at 2-core (even 4 core on sale), 15" screen, 500Gb-750Gb HD, HDMI out, Sata 3, and ~3-4 Gb RAM. You can easily virtualize for free, run just about any OS (other than MAC - legally, that is).

      Compare that to what the IPAD has for specs - you get way less bang for way more buck. Apps you say? ummm... freeware/shareware/opensource anyone? Android apps (virtualized) anyone? google apps?

      Give it another year or two and the IPAD will look stale. There's only so many things you can do with the color "white". There's "off-white". "grey-white". "almost-white". And my favorite: "old, stale, plain white."
      rock06r
      Reply Vote

      • Look at the iPad build of materials

        Apple's not in business to give you an iPad, and if you think their profit is to high don't buy one, but don't expect a copycat to be of the same quality and performance. And apps do matter, how many years did I hear the PC trolls tout the number of apps for Windows, hypocrites!
        @rock06r
        GoPower
        Reply Vote

      • $700?!?

        You can add a keyboard for under $20.

        As for your your last two paragraphs, the fact that you think people buy on specs shows you don't understand the market. The fact that you fail to realize that your comments on colour apply just as readily to laptops and netbooks shows you haven't really even thought out your argument.
        .DeusExMachina.
        Reply Vote

  • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

    At 399$, I sure hope the Windows 7 edition is Home Premium and not Starter which is probably a reason the netbook market almost died... Can't do much with that Starter crap.
    lepoete73
    Reply Vote

    • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

      @lepoete73

      I think I read somehwre that it does come with Home Premium.
      dsf3g
      Reply Vote

  • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

    I think the thing is: ZDnet is highly biased towards all things Apple. Netbooks have a market on other parts of the world and the world is not only the USA. As far as my experience go i see nobody using tablets either in my home country in Europe or in other countries i go in a regular basis. Most people uses either laptops or netbooks. I go to campus and i don't see tablets being used widely i see laptops and netbooks. Accounting that from the work i do for several universities in my country and abroad i can say that there is one tablet for 2000 laptops/netbooks in campus. So yes maybe netbooks still have a market after all in 2012.
    xpect
    Reply Vote

    • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

      @xpect It's not all that different up in the states to be honest. I've only seen one other person with a tablet.
      Aerowind
      Reply Vote

      • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

        @Aerowind - "I've only seen one other person with a tablet." Don't get out much, do you?
        cdhanks
        Reply Vote

  • Our company loves netbooks

    We have managers that are constantly on the move. They need to do lots of data entry so a tablet with its onscreen keyboard just won't cut it. Laptops tend to be too bulky, so the netbook is a perfect compromise. Not to mention they're fairly cheap, and come with 3G/4G. Combined with all you can eat data plans it makes life so much easier...
    wolf_z
    Reply Vote

  • RE: HP doesn't get memo that netbooks are dead, releases $399 Mini 1104

    if this thing is targeted for students on a budget, HP needs to take the red pill. $399? I paid $299 for an HP laptop for my daughter, and it had all the trimmings.

    But, I will agree with poster above that ZDnet is entirely biased towards anything Apple.

    That, and they're as eager to be proven right about the netbook being dead as they are the desktop being dead.
    UrNotPayingAttention
    Reply Vote

  • Netbooks are Not Dead, You Dont Know What You're Talking About

    I dont know where the author got the misconception that netbooks are dead. Netbooks are far from dead. I know many server/network administrators and many other individuals who use netbooks on a regular basis for their daily jobs, web browsing, checking email, etc.
    Boushe9849
    Reply Vote

    • Irrelevant

      It is TOTALLY irrelevant how many people you see using them. What matters is how many people are buying them.
      There aren't many.
      .DeusExMachina.
      Reply Vote

  • Someone forgot to send you a memo Sean

    The Netbook is alive and well, contrary to popular belief.
    Both ACER and ASUS at the very least have new SKUs coming out with Intel Atom Cedar Trail and AMD Fusion processors.

    Last year's 17Million unit sales is nothing to sneeze at.
    Dietrich T. Schmitz *Your
    Reply Vote
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