11.6″ HP Mini 311 netbook gets official

HP has finally unveiled their very own version of the 11.6″ netbook. The HP Mini 311 will also feature a more powerful graphics chip, an NVidia Ion LE.

 

11.6″ display screen @ 1366 x 768 pixels
Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
NVidia Ion LE with up to 3,19MB memory
1GB DDR3 (max 2GB)
160GB SATA HDD
WiFi 802.11 b/g
HDMI port
5-in-1 card reader
6 cell Li-Ion battery

Will come pre-installed with Windows XP Home Edition SP3 and a DDR3 RAM is a welcome upgrade (the first netbook to have DDR3). It’s a bit heavy though at 3.22 pounds. Price starts at $399 so this is gonna be the cheapest in the 12-inch category (price could go up for upgraded the RAM and HDD capacity).

HP Mini 2140: The Mini Note 2133, Mini 1000 rolled into one Netbook

I've got good news for those who love the HP Mini Note 2133 for its design and form factor but hate its processor and Vista OS. HP has decided to continue their first netbook’s legacy with the Mini 2140.

The HP Mini 2140 comes with an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 10.1-inch LED display, 1GB (max 2GB) RAM, 80GB or 160GB HDD options, WiFi, Bluetooth, Express Card slot, and a ton of OS options that include Windows XP Home/Pro, Vista Basic/Premium, SuSe Linux and FreeDOS. The starting price for the HP Mini 240 is pegged at $499 which is exactly the same price of the Mini Note 2133 when it first debuted a while back. This, likewise, means that the Mini 2140 won’t be cheap at all.

However, with the best features of both the Mini Note 2133 and Mini 1000 all packaged in one stellar looking device, I certainly wouldn’t mind paying extra for it. While this is certainly good news for those holding out on buying a netbook, this latest announcement will definitely disappoint those who have already bought an HP Mini 1000 thinking that they were already getting the best of what HP has to offer as far as netbooks are concerned.

HP turns to Intel Atom for New Mini 1000

Despite being a bit on the expensive side and a bit slow when compared to its contemporaries, the HP Mini Note has garnered a following of its own thanks to its exquisite design. Now, HP’s improving on what they’ve gotten correct with their first netbook and is offering up something a bit more at par with rest of the pack the second time around.

The HP Mini 1000 will come in two variants: one with the same small 8.9-inch display, and a new one with a bigger and more adequately sized 10.2-inch screen. They’ve replaced the aluminum finish look for a sleek black plastic chasis. The new Mini will now also finally have an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor under the hood like the rest of the netbook pack, support up to 2GB of RAM, and have up to 16GB of SSD storage. Other options are yet to be disclosed, but the usual features such as Bluetooth, WiFi and VGA camera are still there. The Vista OS has been bumped off the specs sheet with Windows XP taking over the OS chores, but something to look forward to in 2009 is their new Mobile Internet Experience interfacebuilt on top of Ubuntu.

The UI shares similarities with their Touchsmart PC and aims at providing the user with an all-in-one interface for quick access to most commonly used features. This early on, we’re pretty psyched about it as it looks really polished. This is one added feature that might make users opt for the Linux version as opposed to the more popular Windows variant.

The HP Mini 1000 that sports an 8.9-inch screen, 512MB RAM, and 8GB SSD on Windows XP will cost $400 while the 10.2-inch version with the same specs is priced at $450. The price of the version that will feature an 8.9-inch screen and the Mobile Internet Experience OS on Ubuntu will start at $380 when it’s made available in January next year. There’s also a red Vivienne Tam Edition that will retail for $700 and 3G-enabled versions set to be announced in December as well. For more pics of the HP Mini 1000, you can check out Gizmodo’s photo gallery.

Sadly though, no international release dates were mentioned but we’re pretty optimistic it’ll become available before the first half of 2009 comes to an end. This is just another reason for you regret buying that insanely cheap-looking netbook just because you couldn’t wait for something better to come out. But then again, if there’s one thing you can count on in the world of technology, there will always be something new coming out in the not-so-distant future that’s sure to replace the latest and coolest gadgets of present time.

New HP iPAQ Messenger phones revealed

It seems like HP’s taking another shot at the mobile phone biz as they’ve just recently unveiled two new iPAQ Messenger handsets.

The HP iPAQ Data Messenger is a touchscreen phone that also has a QWERTY keypad hidden underneath its 2.8-inch 320×420 pixel touchscreen display. Slide it out sideways and you’ll get the convenience of a full keybaord plus the added appeal of a touchscreen device all in one phone. It comes equipped with a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G/HSDPA connectivity. It also has 128MB SDRAM for applications, 256MB flash ROM, microSD card slot for additional storage options, and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1.

The HP iPAQ Voice Messenger, meanwhile, offers more or less the same features in a candybar form factor. It doesn’t come with a touchscreen display, but also incorporates a full QWERTY keypad albeit the keys being much smaller than the Data Messenger. The HP iPAQ Voice Messenger is expected to cost $570 while the HP iPAQ Data Messenger will fetch for $680 when they both become available in the US this coming November. That’s roughly P27K and P32K respectively in the local currency.

While both iPAQ Messengers seems to be decent enough for the present market, the lack of something new to offer in terms of design and functionality might be its biggest disadvantage. However, if its performance is a lot better than the other phones in its category, then these new iPAQ Messengers might just be the pair that finally puts HP on the global mobile phone map. No word though on international availability, but a safe assumption would be in the early part of 2009.

HP intros HDX16 / HDX18 entertainment notebooks

Whoa, boy -- HP just went loony on us tonight, and in the midst of everything else, we found a new pair of HDX notebooks. Kicking things off is the X16, which boasts a woefully under-pixelated 16-inch 1,366 x 768 resolution display, a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, NVIDIA's 512MB GeForce 9600 GT, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB 5,400RPM hard drive, dual-layer SuperMulti optical drive and built-in WiFi / Bluetooth. As for the beastly X18, you'll find a lot of the same kit internally, but the 18-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display is one we can really salivate over; additionally, this one ups the ante with twin 250GB HDDs and a Blu-ray reader. Each unit includes the essentials: an Ethernet port, multicard reader, integrated Altec Lansing speakers, ExpressCard slot, four USB 2.0 sockets, audio in / out, HDMI / VGA and a 4-pin FireWire connector. Both units should ship later this month starting at $1,249 and $1549, respectively.

HP 2133 Mini-Note

HP's 8.9-inch 2133 Mini-Note is apparently a raging success, so it makes sense that the company would want to expand the line, and it looks like we might be getting a preview of what's in store with the Digital Clutch, a bright red 10-inch netbook that debuted last night during designer Vivienne Tam's fashion week show in NYC. Not much is known about the internals, but the case sports an Asian-inspired peony flower design, and the screen fills the entire lid with very little bezel. If we had to guess, we'd say that it's more likely that there's a VIA Isaiah chip in there instead of an Atom, given the C7M found in the current Mini-Note, but we'll see -- and hopefully soon, since at least one HP rep apparently confirmed that the machine is the next generation Mini-Note.