HP unveils aluminium-clad Eee rival
Summary: The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is being promoted as ideal for schools, although its pricing and features are targeting the same market as Asus's iconic Eee PC
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HP has made its first foray into the low-cost subnotebook market that was kicked off last year by Asus with its Eee PC.
The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, which is being pushed out to the educational market, is slightly heavier and larger than the Eee, but is also more rugged. It sports a "scratch-resistant" 8.9-inch WXGA screen, while the Qwerty keyboard has a special coating to protect the letters from wear.
Also featured is HP's 3D DriveGuard technology, which uses a signal from a three-axis digital accelerometer chip to turn off the hard drive if the laptop is dropped suddenly. The notebook comes in an aluminium shell and weighs 1.27kg.
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Talkback
Not much of a competitor
HP's offering, if you include VAT, works out
Not cheap but its Linux!
The really intersesting thing here is this is a desktop where the default option is Linux - the long-awaited rise of the Linux desktop seems to actually have arrived but in a way that not many people predicted. It didn't come from companies announcing whole sale migrations but rather from this kind of low-end hardware erroding the Microsoft's hold on the market in a kind of death from a thousand cuts.
Competing with the Eee
@Harpless
HP could take small affordable Laptops to the next level
HP doing this being the size they are and with the respect that they have will really make these devices future alot more sound. Obviously people want small laptops like the Eee so it inevitable but the HP laptop will bring a whole new level of build quality that hopefully others will follow.
Also the entry level with Linux will be for the right reasons, HP are such a company that they dont need to offer linux, they can just charge you the extra for a windows liscence and people will buy regardless. Not like Dell who introduced Linux as a way simply to increase profit.
Harpless sometimes i think you should follow the words of Homer, thats Simpson not the Philiosipher. "Never say anything unless your sure everyone else thinks the same" (or near enough)
Where's the edge?
The new Eee won't be as cheap as you think
Secondly, I'm not ragging on Windows per se (well, not today at least) - it was Vista I was referring to specifically. XP and I still get on fine, all things considering. My personal view is that Linux is almost at the point where it's easier to use than Windows - it really is darn close, and I can testify to this as someone who started using it for the very first time just a month or two ago.
Build Quality and style
Also HP aren't new to making small devices, but now they're making it affordable and offering it as a product everybody likes.