HP Mini 110-1018tu

Full Review

The HP Mini 110-1018tu is the latest in HP's burgeoning netbook offerings. Noteworthy features include a 10.1-inch screen, long-lasting 6-cell battery, and an easy-to-type keyboard.

Gloss is all the rage in netbooks these days, but thankfully the HP Mini 110 keeps it at a bare minimum, restricting it only to the screen lid and bezel. The 10.1-inch screen's optimized for watching movies with a 16:9 aspect ratio. There's a 1.3-megapixel webcam, integrated with microphone, placed at the top screen bezel. An interesting design element on the Mini 110, owing to its six-cell battery bulge, is that it has an inclination. So when you prop open the netbook on your office table, you'll notice the Mini 110's keyboard is slightly raised and, therefore, better for typing. The keys on the HP Mini 110 have a slight inward curve on them—similar to the ones we saw on the Dell Inspiron 12—and they are a treat to type on. To make room for the fine keyboard, the onboard speaker is neatly tucked away into the bottom screen bezel—not the best placement as it muffles sound from it.

Also due to the relatively larger keyboard, the HP Mini 110 sacrifices its palmrest and touchpad—both are tinier in comparison to other netbooks from Asus, Samsung, Sony, and Acer, for example. The touchpad is okay, but we didn't like the vertical mouse buttons on its either side. They aren't intuitive and take some time getting used to.

In terms of hardware, the HP Mini 110-1018tu isn't different from most other netbooks. An Intel Atom N280 1.66-GHz processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM, and a 160GB hard drive comprise the barebones. It has three USB ports, 5-in-1 card reader, VGA-out and an ethernet port. Disappointingly, the HP Mini 110 doesn't include Gigabit ethernet and Draft-N Wi-Fi. The whole unit is very well built and weighs 1.3-kg.

The netbook comes with Windows XP Home Edition operating system. Port placement is well thought out on the HP Mini, with a nifty Wi-Fi toggle button on the chassis' front edge. The performance was good, in line with our expectations. A WorldBench 6 score of 33 is standard for a netbook. Whether it was watching movies or listening to music, we had no complaints from the screen and onboard speakers. However, the Mini 110 couldn't quite play 720p HD videos without stutter. But, its six-cell battery performed well, lasting 214 minutes on Battery Eater Pro's benchmark—expect over six hours of real-world battery life.

Bottom Line

At Rs. 24,000, the HP Mini 110-1018tu is definitely a good contender for a mainstream netbook. Buy it for its very good keyboard, tapering design, and good overall performance.