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HP Mini-Note users listen up, VIA has just released an updated set of drivers that seem to be well worth the time it will take to complete the update. Now don’t get me wrong this update is not going to completely change your trusty little notebook, but the update has been noted as offering improved video playback, which for a lot of people has been a major issue.

According to the benchmarks from the folks over at HP 2133 Guide, they are claiming that the “video playback was improved quite a bit on each OS.” They ran the benchmarks on a Windows XP (with SP3) and Windows Vista (with SP1) based Mini-Note that featured a 1.6Ghz VIA C7-M processor, 2GB of RAM, and the standard 120GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

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Coming a little over a month after the notebook was released, HP has finally made the spare batteries for the Mini-Note 2133 available for purchase by themselves. It looks like the 6-cell battery is retailing for $129 and currently available for order. The 3-cell, although it has been reported to be priced at $207 could not be found on the HP website as of this posting. The model number for the 6-cell battery is 482263-001, and the 3-cell model number is 482262-001.

Hopefully the 3-cell will be closer, if not lower in pricing than the 6-cell when it becomes available on the website. Personally I have a 6-cell battery but don’t always need the extra bulk and power that comes with it. I also would not be all that willing to pay around $200 for that smaller battery, especially considering the notebook itself was just $749.

Product [HP] Via [MiniNoteUser.com]

IT giant HP has taken the fight to their competitors’ home turf – by releasing its Mini-Note for sale in the land of the rising sun. Japanese OEM’s such as Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba are beset with HP’s latest value-rich offer.  It’s nice to see that the pricing will remain similar to what we have seen here in the US, the high-end Mini-Note packs 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and comes with Vista Basic for less than $800 and the lower-end Vista configuration will sell for less than $600.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

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. 

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While there has been some reports of the HP Mini-Note 2133 shipping out and landing in users hands, we have seen reviews as well as unboxings begin to appear online, but it turns out that not all of the Mini-Note’s are shipping as expected.

I placed an order for the 1.6GHz Windows Vista Business model on April 12 and was initially given an ‘estimated’ shipping date of April 18. Without any notification from HP and no sign of HP charging the card, a quick check of the status online revealed very little information, it actually told me that the order number was “not found in the Vista.” With a little bit of worry beginning to set in a quick call to HP resulted in yet worse news.

An agent was kind enough to take the order number and place me on hold, only to come back and let me know that she would have to get back to me in a few hours. I simply cannot imagine it taking several hours to check on whether an item is going to ship, but I guess that is how they do things. After a few hours, well actually about 6 hours later I received the dreaded email stating the Mini-Note 2133 was indeed delayed, until mid-May.

“The supplier is reporting a 5/16 ship date but we are working on bringing this date in.
Please check back on Monday for an update.”

Of course we are still unsure if this delay is affecting all models, or just some. Has anyone else been experiencing Mini-Note shipping delays? I would hate to think I are the only one, of course there is still hope, albeit little that the Mini-Note will ship before May 16.

HP has recently released their highly anticipated Mini-Note 2133, and in some good news, reports are now trickling in that they have begun to ship. When originally announced, HP offered potential customers a choice of either Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Home Basic or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. Even with a decent amount of choice available, a good amount of users would have liked to have seen and been able to choose Windows XP, simply because, as proven by other low-cost ultra-portable laptops it will run much better than Vista.

Sadly it seems that those who ordered early and would have preferred XP are about to become a little upset. HP has confirmed that it will begin to offer Windows XP as an installation option when ordering. As of now they have confirmed that XP will become available in May, but have not announced any specific date or just what the pricing will be or what models it will be available with.

Hopefully HP will offer XP drivers on their website for those who ordered the Mini-Note with another operating system and plan on installing their own copy of XP once the ultra-portable arrives.

Via [Laptop]

It seems that with each passing day the estimated shipping dates for the recently announced HP Mini-Note 2133 seem to be increasing. What began as an estimated shipping date of April 15 has quickly moved up to April 20. As Liliputing noted yesterday the estimated date was April 19, a quick check this morning showed it as of April 20, it seems the date is moving up by one every day. If you were looking or considering placing an order, you may not want to wait to long.

Although having the estimated shipping date seem to increase at such a rapid rate, we have to think that this is just based on popularity of the item and the amount being sold and not an actual product delay. I had placed an order fairly early after the announcement and have yet to receive any notification about a delay in shipping, hopefully the already placed orders will ship as originally expected.

Via [Liliputing]

The recently announced and highly praised HP Mini-Note UMPC is now available for pre-order. With pricing beginning on the low-end at $499 for a 1.0 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB SSD, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and running Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and topping out at $849 for a 1.2 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB 5,400 rpm hard drive, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth and running Windows Vista Home Basic.

Personally I would think the less expensive model that features a 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB 7,200 rpm hard drive, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth with Windows Vista Business for $749 seems to be the better value. Either way, pre-order away.

[Update] New product page link with slightly different pricing, although the original link that I had below still works.

Product [HP]

Asus has decided to release the 8.9-inch Eee PC in the second half of April, instead of the originally planned May/June launch. This decision, which comes at the eleventh hour was due to the recent announcement of competing UMPC’s, the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and a soon-to-be released model from Acer.

The early launch of the 8.9-inch Eee PC will mean that it will be released without the Intel Atom processor. The original launched models will will use Intel’s older-generation dual-core ULV processors, but Asus is still expected to ship its Intel Atom processor based 8.9-inch Eee PC in June. Changes in prices and the exact release date of the 8.9-inch Eee PC are yet to be confirmed.

Via [DigiTimes]

HP has just formally announced the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and we are already seeing quite a few hands on reviews coming in. Judging from what is being written the Mini-Note is going to be a solid force in the UMPC market. As we mentioned earlier today, the Mini-Note PC will be priced (starting) at $499 and be available later in the month.

Lets get on with the reviews…

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