Laptop-Review.eu

The bottom:
 


Access to RAM and switches to remove the battery. Really isn't much to say here...it's easy to access the battery and there is both a switch to open and a switch to lock. No screws or anything else, quite handy. It's nice that they aren't attempting to put the design on every surface; such would make it seem like they were trying too hard to make it feminine.

The right side:
 

 
From the left, we have an SD card reader and a USB port. Next space has been made for a safety line (though this is not included), which may be a good investment, depending on where you use your netbook.

The left side:
 


On the left, we first have the DC jack for the power supply and then a USB port. After those we have an expansionary port and an audio output jack. The conclusion appears to be that there are two USB ports, which isn't much by today's standards. I would have liked it if they had added an extra USB port or perhaps a FireWire port. But okay. Since it's such an obvious student netbook, can it be connected to an external display or projector? No, because there is no port for it. An unfortunate decision in my opinion, but perhaps the computer isn't aimed at students after all.

Diodes:
 

 

 
As mentioned already, we have 4 diodes at the front - on/off, WiFi, battery, and system indicator. There is also a white Capslock diode just below the display and above the keyboard, and above the touchpad an indicator which, when pressed, (de)activates the pad. A handy function if you opt to use an external mouse.

Keyboard and touchpad:


 
The keyboard is of a size that won't appear to limit you when you type or surf, which is great because that is usually a concern when netbooks are bought. It has some nice, large keys all over, though it's hard to see what they do in the dark because there is no LED-backlight or the like. The keys feel sort of 'plasticky' and can easily appear slightly greasy. While not particularly irritating, it's still a bit cheap for such a considerable price.

The touchpad is of an adequate size and works flawlessly. In their quest for the perfect design, HP have determined that the left and right mouse buttons should be placed on either side of the touchpad. That annoyed me right off the bat. It's very illogical that you must spread out your fingers so to, for example, drag around an icon and the like. It's simply not something you're used to, and it feels unnatural. On this particular point, they should have stuck to keeping the buttons below the touchpad, but then it would have been smaller. Quite a dilemma, but I don't think they solved it very well.

The display:
 

 
They call the display a 10.1 inch HP LED Brightview Infinity widescreen. It can run a resolution of up to 1024 x 567 pixels. The standard for 10 inch netbooks is 1024x600. Why did they choose to make concessions here? It's incredibly annoying to make the display worse than it could be...we might only be talking about 24 pixels, but it's enough to ensure you won't be able to view some websites without scrolling left and right. It makes no sense compared to functionality and is quite frankly somewhat of a downgrade

Other than that the display is razor sharp but you will experience glare in sunlight, though not so much that you can't get used to it. 

At the top there is a webcam and integrated microphone. This has become somewhat of a 'must' on netbooks and laptops in general.
 
Sound and speakers:

There isn't much in terms of an audio experience here. If you want to listen to music on this computer, use headphones. I don't think anyone expects a great audio experience from a netbook though, but what you get here is still humble at best. You can't use it for much more than Windows' embedded sounds and Skype; other things just require headphones if you want to get any pleasure out of the sound.
 
Noise, heat and power consumption

No real noise that actually makes a difference; the few sounds it makes can hardly be classified as annoying. It's nice to have standing around but doesn't get too hot, so you can sit with it in your lap without problems.

The wire has a fine length and good size and is very easy to carry around - in this regard, smaller is better. Such is fortunate, because the 3-celled battery (which most netbook makers have moved away from) ensures you will need to recharge it fairly often.

A strange choice from HP. In general, this computer has some rather odd and dated solutions which may have been sacrificed for the design. Now it's time to see what it has to offer in terms of performance.