A netbook is often used in offices and schools. Rarely do you see anyone doing intense gaming on it. That is why they should be portable, cheap while still offering maximum functionality. The HP Mini 210-2000 costs $600 and offers extreme portability and fine performance.
This 10-inch netbook weighs only 3 pounds. That makes it easy to carry around and is comfortable to use on your lap. It is perfect for students as it is lighter than most textbooks and fits in almost all backpacks. Design-wise, do not expect much. It has a simple plastic chassis with no aluminum or matte finish. It does have a semi-gloss finish to help prevent smudges on it.
Being a 10-inch netbook, the resolution is expected to be 1024 x 600. There are only a few 10-inch netbooks that upgrade to 1366 x 768. Again, people who buy these small netbooks aren’t really in it for HD streaming so it is understandable. Being able to read text, browse the web and do some work is what it is best for. The keyboard is around 98% size but is comfortable to use even if not full-size. The chiclet-style keys help a lot in improving the typing experience.
The touchpad and mouse buttons are both combined into one. The touchpad is not that big though. It measures 1.75 by 3.6 inches. Still, it helps that multi-touch gestures are accepted. These include two-finger scrolling and pinch and zoom. These are absolutely important since the screen size is not that big and there will be times when the content is not fully visible.
One good thing about this netbook is the built-in Bluetooth module. Lots of netbooks and even mainstream laptops do not have this. Some laptops in the HP Pavilion dv line do not even have one. This is great for setting up a small PAN where you do not want to use WiFi for transferring data.
Another good thing about the HP Mini 210-2000 is its Splashtop OS. It is actually an OS that is loaded before Windows. You can use it if you want to directly visit the web or access your media. If you want to go to windows, one click does the trick.
The Intel Atom N455 processor and 1GB RAM are pretty standard. The HP Mini 210-2000 actually stands out when it comes to battery life. It has a 66Wh battery that can make it last for up to 10 hours. That is a phenomenal value which is unlikely matched by other 10-inch netbooks.