HP Mini 210 Review

The HP Mini 210 netbook is one of the most popular netbooks on the market today. It’s not just a slim body and a flashy top that draws consumers to the HP Mini 210, which we are reviewing in hot red, but also the great design, HD screen, keyboard and usability. In essence, the HP Mini 210 is the total package — though like all good things there’s a little room for improvement.

HP Mini 210 Quick Specs:

The HP Mini 210 we reviewed had an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1 GB RAM, 160GB hard drive and a 10.1″ 1366 x 768 display.

Who is this Notebook for?

The HP Mini 210 is ideal for a college student, home user or on-the-go professional who doesn’t need the durability and long battery life of the HP Mini 5102 business class netbook.

HP Mini 210 Video Overview: HP Mini 210 video review

Display:

The display on the HP Mini 210 that we reviewed performed well. The 1366 x 768 resolution provided enough room to work on two documents side by side and the screen was able to go bright enough to satisfy my needs. Unfortunately the display is glossy, which means using it outdoors or in some bright lighting situations can be a pain. It’s not the glossiest display I’ve used and if you don’t plan to use the Mini 210 outdoors it may not be an issue for you.

The display does tilt back to a comfortable angle for a comfortable viewing angle on a table, couch or in your lab in the car.

Keyboard and mouse:

The keyboard on the HP Mini 210 is very easy to type on. The island style that HP went with offers good spacing and enough feedback to be usable even for extended typing sessions. Unfortunately the keys are not raised as much as those on the HP Mini 5102 netbook, nor do they have the slight curve on the top which is very finger friendly. All in all, still a wonderful keyboard and I am glad to see that they didn’t shortchange any of the important keys to fit the whole keyboard in this small package.

The mousepad on the HP Mini 210 is both a joy and at times a frustration. The mousepad is very large for a netbook and quite responsive which is always a plus, but to provide such a large mousing surface HP did away with dedicated buttons. The buttons are built into the mousing surface and the whole pad can be clicked. Ultimately, what this means is that you’ll end up zooming, or initiating another multi-gesture command when all you’re really trying to do is prepare to click the mouse button. You can get around this issue by re-training yourself or using an external mouse but it would be great if the mouse could tell when you were on a button and disregard multi-gesture commands.

Battery:

The 3-cell battery on the HP Mini 210 which we reviewed offered less than stellar battery life with 2 hours and 25 minutes with the screen at full brightness and Pandora playing. The optional 6-cell battery which other reviewers have used offers much more impressive battery life. With netbooks commonly approaching double-digit battery life it’s hard to overlook such low numbers. If you need a longer battery life make sure you pick up the 6-cell battery or both.

Video and Audio:

Even though the HP Mini 210 we had was not equipped with the Broadcom HD accelerator, and wasn’t prepared for HD flash playback, it did handle SD streaming video well. We tested out Netflix and Youtube on Full screen and had no issues with either.

Processing:

The HP Mini 210 is equipped with an Intel Atom N450 processor and 1GB RAM. This processor with just 1GB of RAM was much more usable for multitasking than the HP Mini 10000 that I own when equipped with 2GB of RAM. I was able to have 2 Chrome windows open, Windows Media Player going, Internet Explorer open, be tying n word and and alt-tab between programs with ease. I even had a Youtube clip playing in one of my many Chrome tabs. You won’t want to use this for editing a lot of photos or working on video but it performs well for most of the tasks home users need and would serve as a companion PC to a college student or professional very well.

Connectivity:

The HP Mini 210 has plenty of ports to keep you connected.

Left (left to right): Power, VGA, Vents, HDD Indicator, USB, Headphones

Right (left to right): Multi-card reader, Power switch, Vent, USB 2.0, USB 2.0, Ethernet, Kensington

Upgrades:

Another really nice feature of the HP Mini 210 is that you can swap out the RAM in 20 seconds as well as gain access to all of the internals at the same time. Here’s a video showing you how to take the HP Mini 210 apart.

Conclusion:

There’s a reason the HP Mini 210 is top selling netbook on Amazon. The beautiful display, easy to use keyboard and slim attractive design compensate for the less than stellar battery life and the interesting mousepad. Home users looking for a machine to check email and surf on the couch will love this machine. It is also a great choice for a back to school laptop when paired with another computer or an external keyboard, mouse and monitor. Given that you can find the Mini 210 from $259 it’s hard to pass this netbook up.

Pros:

  • Slim design
  • Good keyboard
  • Easy to upgrade
  • 1366×768 resolution
  • Price

Cons:

  • Less than stellar battery life
  • Mousepad can be finicky

HP Mini 210 Gallery:

HP Mini 210 Netbook Configuration / Specification :

Brand HP
Model Mini 210
Notebook type For consumers
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Starter 32
Processor Intel Atom N450 Processor (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Chipset Mobile Intel NM10 Express Chipset
Memory type 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, running at 667 MHz
Maximum memory 2 GB (Maximum memory is 1 GB with some configuration)
Memory Choices: 1 GB
Internal Storage Choices: 160 GB 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive
Upgrade Bay
Display Size 10.1” diagonal Widescreen
Display type LED-backlit WSVGA
Resolution 1366×768
Graphics Card Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 HD
Audio / Visual High Definition Audio, stereo speakers, combo stereo headphone/mic jack, integrated microphone; integrated VGA webcam
Wireless Support Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g/n or b/g
Communications Realtek Ethernet (10/100/1000 NIC)
Expansion slots 5-in-1 Media Card Reader: supports SD (Secure Digital), MMC (MultiMedia Card), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD-Picture card
Ports and connectors (3) USB 2.0 ports, VGA, power connector, RJ-45/Ethernet, combo stereo headphone/mic jack
Input Devices 93% full-size keyboard, click pad with gesture support
Software Corel Home Office , HP Support Assistant (Windows 7 only), HP Connection Manager, Microsoft® Office

Ready with 60-day Office Professional 2007 Trial Edition (select models),2 Adobe Flash Player, PDF Complete

Security Kensington lock slot, BIOS support for Computrace
Dimensions (h x w x d) 0.90 (at front) x 10.55 x 7.00 in / 22.9 (at front) x 268 x 178 mm
Weight Starting at 2.69 lb /1.22 kg (with 3-cell battery, weight will vary by configuration)
Power 3-cell (28 Wh) Lithium-Ion battery, 40W AC Adapter
Expansion Solutions HP USB 2.0 Docking Station, HP Essential USB Port Replicator
Warranty Limited 1-year and 90-day warranty options available, depending on country, 1-year limited warranty on

primary battery

Color Choices: Black Crystal, Silver Crystal, Pacific Blue or Sonoma Red HP Imprint

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