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Following up on the earlier rumors, HP has begun to officially offer the Mini-Note 2133 with Windows XP. Although HP has commented that Windows XP will be pre-installed they are doing it by way of the free Vista downgrade option, so when the notebook arrives it should include an install disk for both XP and Vista Business.

In addition to the Windows XP offering, HP has also added a few new configurations to the Mini-Note line-up. Instead of the original four configurations to choose from there are now eight. This should sound like welcome news with more to choose from, however it makes the XP downgrade offering seem just a little on the shady side.

Take for example the high-end Mini-Note model KR964UT, that retails for $819. That comes with, for the most part the same specs as the slightly lowered spec’d model KX870AT that retails for $749. The only items that we can see that are not the same between the two is the option to downgrade from Vista to XP, which should be free and the hard drive. The model that retails for $819 has a 160GB 5,400 rpm drive, while the model that retails for $749 has a smaller but faster 120GB 7,200 rpm hard drive. Is that 160GB drive really worth the $70 difference?

Either way its nice that users will now have the option to have their Mini-Note arrive with XP installed and working properly.

Via [SlashGear]

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