Laptop HP Mini 2140

This affordable, business-class netbook offers long battery life, durability, and a first-rate keyboard. by Joanna Stern on January 6, 2009 While HP’s recently released Mini 1000 is designed for consumers, its new HP Mini 2140 Notebook PC caters to the mobile professional. An update and replacement to HP’s original 2133 Mini-Note, the 2140 sports the same durable chassis and well-designed keyboard as its predecessor but adds a larger 10-inch screen and an Intel Atom processor that pays off in 7-plus hours of battery life (with a six-cell battery). Add in fast-charge technology and hard drive protection, and the $529 Mini 2140 is our top netbook pick for road warriors. Compact, Road Ready Design While HP claims that the Mini 2140 is partially aimed at the education market, its design will surely appeal to business travelers. It sports a brushed silver, all-aluminum lid and a solid magnesium alloy chassis (similar to the original 2133 Mini-Note). Making the netbook even more durable are its metal alloy hinges complete with hardened steel pin axles; HP claims this build can endure the closing and opening of the lid ten times a day for six years (or 25,000 cycles). When placed next to rival 10-inch netbooks (the Samsung NC10, ASUS Eee PC 1000H, Lenovo IdeaPad S10, and the MSI Wind), the 10.3 x 6.5 x 1.1-inch Mini 2140 is certainly compact. In fact, like its cousin the Mini 1000, it compares favorably to smaller 8.9-inch netbooks, such as the Acer Aspire one and Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (see our measurement chart below). However, it weighs 3.0 pounds with its six-cell battery (2.6 pounds with the flush three-cell battery), making the Mini 2140 heavier than other netbooks equipped with six-cell batteries, including the 2.6-pound MSI Wind and 2.8-pound Samsung NC10. Nevertheless, when we took the netbook with us on a weekend trip, it fit in a small shoulder bag, and even with its AC adapter (which brought the travel weight to 3.4 pounds) we felt no strain. Same Great Keyboard, Awkward Touchpad We’re glad that HP didn’t change the keyboard on the Mini 2140 from the 2133 Mini-Note. This netbook features a 92 percent full-size keyboard treated with a coating that HP claims makes the keys 50 times more resistant to visible wear than a standard keyboard (it’s also water-resistant). The panel had absolutely no flex, and the right Shift key is full-size and directly below the Enter key. To accommodate the spacious keyboard, HP kept the same touchpad and buttons as on the 2133 Mini-Note. At 2.3 x 1.1 inches, the Mini 2140’s touchpad is very narrow, requiring more movement and backtracking than we would like. Also, HP retained the awkward vertical mouse buttons, which flank the touchpad. The touchpad has a button above it for turning it off completely and a dedicated scrolling bar, which was useful for moving through long Web pages.


Quick Specs Full Specs : CPU: 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 Operating System: Windows XP Home RAM/Expandable: 1GB/2GB Hard Drive Size/Speed: 160GB/5,400 rpm Display/Resolution: 10.1 inches/1024 x 576 Price as Reviewed: $529

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