HP Mini 311 Ion-Based Netbook Review

by Marco Chiappetta — Monday, December 14, 2009, 02:24 PM EDT

HP's Mini range of netbooks have been well respected in the industry, and while they were never as instrumental as Asus in the explosion of the netbook as a whole, they've really managed to nail their niche. From the start, the HP Mini was one of the most fashionable netbook lines out there, boasting subtle curves, a uniform keyboard, gorgeous styling cues and a larger-than-average trackpad. By and large, the Mini lineup hasn't changed too much since its introduction, but that has mainly been the case because Windows XP was pretty much the only operating system available for it (Linux alternatives notwithstanding). Couple that with the limited Atom CPU lineup and the struggle to keep costs down, and we're left with a colorful line of machines that don't actually differ much from one another, save for designs and accents.

Now, there are two major reasons to pay close attention to the Mini 311. It may follow the prior Minis in terms of size and style, but it's the differences within that promise to make this a new, refreshed machine. For starters, HP has loaded Windows 7 onto this machine. We waited for what felt like forever to finally have Windows 7 available for netbooks, and we can confess that it really adds a touch of style and functionality compared to older models with XP. The second major addition is NVIDIA's Ion technology...

HP Mini 311 Ion-Based Netbook Review

Tags: Nvidia, Netbook, Notebook, HP, laptop, Mini, mini 311

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com