HP Mini 311 1037NR

From: Verizon

After using the HP 311 1037NR for a few weeks I came to like its portability, convenience, and long battery life.   With its small size, it was much easier to travel with and unlike when I use my regular laptop, the battery lasts for roughly 5-6 hours so I wouldn’t have to bring the charger out with me which was a noticeably lighter burden to carry.

When using the HP I noticed it had a very fast start up time.  The processing speed of the 311 was also good and I was able to complete simple tasks such as web browsing, word processing, and emailing without any problems.  It runs on Windows 7 and comes standard with an 11.6 in. screen, Intel Atom N270 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive.  It uses Nvidia ION which helps the computer with video playback.  This feature worked surprisingly well and I was even able to watch HD movies without any lag.

The design was very durable.  The plastic is thick and felt really sturdy when carrying the laptop around.  The keyboard was very easy to use and the buttons were normal size so there was not much adjusting that needed to be done.  The track pad however is a lot smaller than what I was used to.  It was wide, but they didn’t make it as tall as a regular pad which could have been done based on the free space left on the computer.  It was positioned close to the keyboard so when I was typing I would occasionally tap it with my palm which caused me to mess up what I was typing.  The computer has three USB ports, a SD/MS/MMC/XD card reader, an Ethernet port, and the computer even has an integrated webcam.  It also comes with HDMI and VGA outputs and uses a combined microphone/headphone jack.  While the HDMI and VGA outputs worked great with HD TVs, if for some reason you need to use headphones and a microphone at the same time, you can’t with this computer.  Not too big of a problem unless you are a big microphone user.

The HP comes with a WWAN card which if you purchase a data plan, receives internet service from Verizon to your computer whenever you’re in their coverage area.  You can shut this off to save battery power if you’re in range of WiFi or not using the internet.  The Verizon service had to have been my favorite feature about the netbook.   I could take the computer with me whenever I went out and not have to worry about trying to find a hotspot in order to use it.  While it can get to be a little pricey, this feature is great for people who need to work on the go and since the computer is small, I found myself trying to make up reasons to bring the computer out with me.

Other than the issue with the track pad, I didn’t run into many problems with the HP 311.  The ION helped out a lot with video and provided a noticeable difference compared to other netbooks.  It’s a great netbook if you’re looking for one and the fact that you can purchase a data plan for it from Verizon just makes it that much better.

Hardware

Product Number	VM262UA#ABA
Microprocessor	1.60GHz Intel Atom Processor N270
Microprocessor Cache	512KB L2
Memory	2048MB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
Memory Max	3072MB
Video Graphics	NVIDIA ION for Windows 7
Video Memory	up to 895MB total graphics memory
Hard Drive	160GB (5400RPM)
Multimedia Drive
Display	11.6” Diagonal HD LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768)
Network Card	Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity	802.11a/b/g/n WLAN Bluetooth HP un2400 Mobile Broadband
Sound	Altec Lansing Speakers
Keyboard	92% full sized keyboard
Pointing Device	Touch Pad with dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down (note: no on/off button)
PC Card Slots
External Ports	5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 Headphone-out/Microphone in combo jack (compatible with 3.5mm 4-conductor jack with stereo audio and mono mic) HDMI 1 VGA (15-pin) 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
Other Devices	HP Webcam with integrated digital microphone
Dimensions	11.4 in (L) x 8.03 in (D) x 0.78-1.20 in (H)
Weight	3.22 lbs
Security	Kensington MicroSaver lock slot Power-on password Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power	65W AC Adapter 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery

Software

Operating System:

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

Security and Support:

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 (including 60 days complimentary live update)HP Total Care Setup  HP QuickSync Back On Track Recovery for Consumer HP PC Recovery

Multimedia:

Adobe Reader for ConsumereBay  HP Software Updates CyberLink Power2Go Windows Media Player 11 Adobe Flash Player Adobe Shockwave Player HP Games Powered by Wild Tangent Pandora Internet Radio

Productivity and Finance:

Windows Live ApplicationsMicrosoft Works 9.0  MS Office Home & Student Edition 2007 – 60Day Trial HP Support Assistant HP User Guides HP Wireless Assistant Sun Java Virtual Machine

Internet Solutions

AOL Portal MSN Toolbar Internet Explorer 8 MSN Messenger Arcsoft WebCam Companion

Grab Your Own:
VerizonWireless.com: $199.00
Amazon.com: $399.00