CES 09 Using The HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition at CntrStg

I am here at CntrStg (CES) typing this post on my HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition series review unit. CntrStg not only has interesting seminars by day, but food, beverages and lots of good techie discussions at night.

I find having a mini notebook at conferences very useful - it does not take up too much room in my briefcase and is light to carry (2.45 pounds).  I also find that the color and design is a head turner when I bring the computer out next to a sea of black laptops. I get lots of oh's and ah's.. While some men at the conference said that they would like to get one for their wives, one man asked why he would have to give it to his wife - that he wanted one for himself. I said that the HP Mini also comes in black so he has choices.

HP Mini 1000 Vivianne Tam series operating system is Windows XP, which is easy to use. For the installation, I basically just turned the computer on and followed the instructions on the screen. The wireless functionality on the PC identified the wireless networks in the area, and accepted my USB Broadband card when I tested that by plugging it into the USB port.  The built in webcam and speakers drivers were loaded and ready to go while Intel's Atom processor enabled  enough speed for web surf/social networking on the go. The only limitation I had when trying to Twitter was that the site was over-capacity. 1GB ram is adequate for mobile blogging and the 60GB hard drive has plenty of space for moblie apps, documents and media (such as pictures, MP3 files and videos).

The keyboard is smaller then standard keyboards on bigger computers (but still 92% of standard size), but my fingers quickly adjusted. The 10.1" high-definition screen is easy on the eyes. Mouse options are a matching peony patterned optical mouse and keyboard touchpad or using the keyboard mouse buttons and touchpad. I have an HP Pavilion laptop at home and adjusted to the different set up: On the Pavilion the keyboard mouse is a small button on top of the touchpad but on this HP Mini there are left and right side mouse buttons on either side of the touchpad. I did have to play with the pointer speed settings to find one I was comfortable with, but that seems to happen with every new PC I use.

While I still prefer my full size HP Pavilion laptop as my main computer, it ended up being too heavy to carry on the road. The HP mini is small enough to fit in any of my handbags and light enough to carry all day - which makes it a great choice for any computing I need to do outside the house. It would also make a great computer for teens/college students to carry to school.

More details to come as I use it more on the road.

Here is a listing of specifications from the HP website on the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition series: 

• Featuring an original Vivienne Tam peony-inspired design in the vivid shades of violet and sophisticated reds

• Available matching accessories - exclusive Vivienne Tam peony scarf and tote Standard

• Windows XP Home, 10.1" (diagonal) high-definition flush glass display, 16GB solid state drive, wireless-G card, integrated webcam, built-in microphone. Optional 3G broadband.

• Also includes 6 months of one-on-one assistance and a year accidental damage protection

• Perfect digital clutch for highly mobile, fashion forward women at just 2.45 lbs and a mere 1" thin

• ENERGY STAR® qualified

Disclosure: I was given a Vivienne Tam HP Netbook for a review program.

Comments

[MJ Tam]

I love my cousin Vivienne's design! lol...Major drooling here in Chicago!!!!

[Donna]

When the MOMocrats went to the DNC, I was so jealous of the ones with the mini-computers. How I would love a cool looking one like that Dell!

[Jessica (from It's my life...)]

LOL. I clearly need a scarf that matches my laptop! How did I not realize that that was what I was missing!?!
Aw, I'm just kidding, I'd give my right hand for one of those minis!