Currently my favorite netbook but with some problems for me
Most current netbooks have a lot of similarities--with the same processor (Atom N270) similar size hard drives (most new with 160 GB) and similar LCD panel resolutions. The HP Mini-Note 2140 is no exception to most of these base tech specs except for the LCD panel resolution of 1024x576 (instead of 1024x600 like most others in the 10" range).
So why is this 2140 my current marginal favorite in comparison after trying out friends' and those available in stores?
- Unlike most manufacturers HP really got the keyboard right. The shift keys and enter key are large and where you expect them to be. Unlike other manufacturers things are in place for productive touch typing and the 92%-size of standard laptop keyboard is pretty easy to adjust to.
- The exterior casing is made of solid-feeling aluminum instead of plastic. The netbook feels more durable and looks beautiful in comparison to most netbooks which can look a bit cheap in my opinion. The aluminum adds a few ounces to the weight but mine is still under 3 pounds with the 6 cell battery.
- The netbook has a good selection of ports and connectors on the outside. It comes with an ExpressCard/54 slot which no other netbook currently does as far as I'm aware. Most of the other connectors are similar to other netbooks. It also has 2 USB ports an analog (vga) monitor out jack (see below for my complaints about it) an SD card slot and separate mic and audio out jacks.
You would think I would be raving about this netbook but I ran into some problems with my computer that make it less usable.
I am unable to get any resolution above 1024x768 on any of the three external monitors I've tried it on. Two of the monitors are 1280x1024 resolution and one is 1440x900. This is even with ONLY the external monitor enabled. At the same time my 4 year old notebook and my desktop detect and make correct resolutions available for the 1280x1024 monitors (my other monitor is a slightly odd resolution). Updating drivers seems to make no difference (the one from HPs site or the Intel drivers). The monitor will not detect correctly and free software (Monitor Asset Manager) that bypasses the windows registry to query the plug'n'play monitor properties directly cannot detect the external monitors correctly on this piece of hardware (works fine on both my other computers).
It seems other people are not having the same kinds of problems that I am encountering so I was either the lucky recipient of a computer with some highly ingrained software or hardware problems or it has difficulty playing nice with some monitors that have pretty standard resolutions.
Unfortunately HP support is somewhere between awful and abysmal and has not chosen to make any reply to my support request email aside from an automatic confirmation they received it (and it has been over two weeks).
A more minor quibble is that the built-in LCD panel resolution is only 1024x576 instead of 1024x600 like most other netbooks. Though it's only a 24-line difference on this small of a screen every pixel counts more than on a larger monitor. At least the resolution is properly advertised so you know what you're getting.
The touchpad also has it's buttons on the side which some people dislike but didn't bother me.
It's overall a good netbook. If HP would fix my external monitor issues I'd probably think it was the best one currently available. As it stands it's a good but mine is flawed and my experience with HP's support has been very poor so far.More detail ...
