In the interest of being green, I have been looking at the idea of building a lightweight machine with a reasonably low power consumption to do simple tasks computing tasks, like updating a blog, writing documents and simple editing of multimedia projects and occasionally running software for art exhibitions. When I first looked around the market, the obvious choice was a computer built around Intel’s Atom processor. It has all the right lows, such as low price and low wattage, but unfortunately it also has a low in performance as well. There are also solutions available from vendors such as VIA, but having owned an HP 2133 that was built around the Via Nanobook platform, I am not convinced that it will be one that can easily run multiple operating systems without a major effort to find drivers, etc.

For the sake of simplicity, I decided to just build around a motherboard from Foxconn with an Intel Atom processor 330 (dual core) built-in, or rather soldered onto the board. The model number for the board is 45CSX and it has 1 slot for DDR2 RAM with a 2GB ceiling. To house the board I also bought a Foxconn RS-338 case which comes with a 150W PSU and enough space for a 3.5″ HDD and a DVDRW drive. Since RAM is so cheap these days, I bought the maximum 2GB size for $40. All up, the rig cost a little under $300 and I decided to mate it to a 24″ widescreen 1920×1080  LCD from ViewSonic.

After installing Windows XP SP3 (yes, I know I should have installed Linux, but I wanted to test the performance of the CS3 suite on this rig), I installed the Adobe CS3 suite to test the machine and see how it performs. Upon running Photoshop CS3 and even together with AfterEffects CS3, I came to the conclusion that this machine is not as bad as it’s been cracked up to be. Photoshop launch seems to be quite snappy and AfterEffects seems to run just fine (takes just as long to launch on my MacBook).

Everything seems to work fine and yes, there was a performance difference compared to my MacBook with a C2D 2.16Ghz processor, but for something that costs a little over a quarter the price I think it is a quite acceptable trade off. So unless you work with Photoshop and AfterEffects in a heavy-duty production, I can recommend this setup as a secondary machine.

In case you are interested, I tested Photoshop on this machine with a file that has 134 layers, each with a mask of its own. AfterEffects was tested with a six layer 1:30:00 length animation.

330 · Atom · computing · dual core · Linux · MacBook · windows · xp

After two weeks of living with the HP 2133 mini-note, I have had to change a few things to make it more livable with. I used this machine for a few days with the default Windows Vista Basic and it was quite hard to live with. First, the (lengthy) boot time and then the issue of a long wake up time (from hibernation), so it does not give me much of what I want from a small carry-everywhere notebook. Even to adjust the wireless and other settings which needs to be done quickly when you are on the go, takes a while for the window to even open up. While it may not be a problem for some, this is a problem when you need to quickly open the computer up to take notes or to look something up.

I was then wondering whether it was worth installing XP on this machine to somehow speed things up as far as boot and wake up times were concerned. I then proceeded to create a custom install disc using nlite. I thought:”why not install SP3 as well while I am at it?”, so I slipstreamed SP3 to my XP SP2 install disc and created a streamlined and slipstreamed install disc with SP3 built in. The wonderful thing about nlite is that it also allows you to incorporate drivers for your computer into your installation disc, so I incorporated all the XP drivers from the HP site. Everything was going really well until I actually installed it on the notebook.

After installation, the notebook booted fine and I must say it was noticeably quicker and wake up time was what I expected. There was, however, a problem between explorer and the graphics driver. On wake up from hibernation, the screen would flicker uncontrollably for about a minute or two. Sometimes this craziness will stop when I open a window, but not always. This cancels out the advantages of the quicker boot time with XP.I would have to wait a couple of minutes before the machine would settle and be usable again. I was glad to discover that Via had put out a new driver for its Chrome 9 integrated graphics chip. Alas, after installation of the latest driver, the machine still had the uncontrollable case of the flicker.

Working with a notebook that flickers after hibernation is almost impossible. In fact, it makes this notebook pretty useless since I bought it to be able to take notes and work pretty quickly during my day at work and during times I spend on public transport. I had to come up with a solution, so I gave XP SP2 a try and it seems to have made it a better notebook. I can put it into hibernation at anytime without any concern for what will happen when I start it up again. So, if you are having trouble with XP SP3 on your HP mini-note 2133, do not hesitate and install XP SP2 on it and you will have a nice and usable notebook.

I wish there was a netbook like the mini-note that has an instant-on feature to allow working in shorter stretches of time with a lot of sleep in between. Such a notebook, couple with a decent battery life will make a nice companion to people who need a lightweight machine to either write or code while on the move. Did you hear that HP?

hp · mini-note · netbook · notebook · review · sp2 · sp3 · vista · xp

I recently acquired the HP mini-note 2133 netbook and I have been using it almost constantly for the last few days. It is a very nice little machine to use on a day to day basis, although in terms of raw power and speed it is no match for my Dell Inspiron and my MacBook. A lot of people seem to forget the fact that this machine was built to a price to occupy the same market segment as the Asus Eeepc. In my view, this machine is superior to the Eeepc in many ways and it is working very well in what it was designed to do: lightweight ultra-mobile computing.

For a while I was really comparing this machine to the Eeepc and the clincher for me was the storage capacity (120GB) as opposed to the various flavours of Eeepc which come in anything from 4-20GB, which means that this machine could also function as a mobile storage unit for photographs and other files when on the go. The other factor was the size of the keyboard. While it may be difficult to type quickly and accurately on the Eeepc’s cramped keyboard, it is, by comparison, quite effortless on this machine, which means that for typing documents and code the HP wins hands down.

The few gripes that I have with this machine are: no booting from the SD card slot, Windows Vista pre-installed (only the vista version is available here in Australia), it only comes with a 3-cell battery and (because of Vista) a long boot time and wake up time (from hibernation).
The specs:

• 1.6Ghz Via C7 processor
• Via Chrome graphics adapter
• 1GB of RAM
• 120GB HDD
• a/b/g Wifi
• Bluetooth
• VGA Webcam
• SD card slot
• 3-cell battery (expandable to 6)
• Express Card 54 slot
• 1280×768 8.9 inch screen

Pros:

• Relatively light, therefore easy to carry
• Large 8.9 inch screen
• Nice 92% size keyboard
• Spacious storage

Cons:

• Battery could be larger
• Awkward power switch
• Only comes with Windows Vista Home Basic
• Webcam utility (modelled on Apple Photo Booth) does not work properly

All in all, this notebook makes a great companion when you are out and about and not wanting to carry a 3kg+ load on your shoulders.

hp · mini-note · netbook · notebook · review · sp2 · sp3 · Technology · vista · xp