Here are the entrants into the competition:

• HP Takes (mini) Note of the UMPC
• Gaming on the HP2133 Mini-Note
• Knoppix (Linux) On your HP 2133 [AND MORE]

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Thanks for voting and good luck everyone!

Contest Rules and Details

Current Voting Results

All the tests are done using their default settings on a stock KX870AT Mini-Note which has a 1.6Ghz VIA C7-M processor, 2 GB DDR2 667 RAM, and a 120GB 7200 RPM HD.

So from the table we can see that the updated Vista is pretty much on par with the old XP setup. Which from my usage I would say is pretty much true. Vista still takes quite a long time to boot though.

Strangely the 3DMark03 scores for the updated XP install were slightly worse and I’m not sure why. I usually only run each test three times and take the best, but I ran this one five times because it kept coming back as lower than the previous testing.

Video Playback
Video playback was improved quite a bit on each OS. In Vista Youtube plays great small or full screen with no dropped frames. If you open another web page it will drop a few then though. Small screen Hulu improved quite a bit and was actually watchable after the first 3 or 4 seconds. Full screen was still pretty bad though. Basically where XP was before its updates is where Vista now is with its updates.

Over on XP, Youtube plays perfect full or small screen and isn’t really affected much by pulling up another site in a new window. Like in Vista, Hulu is much improved as well. Small screen is almost perfect, and full screen is better but not really watchable.

So if you haven’t upgraded yet, get the new Service Pack for whichever OS your on and the current drivers:

Update: Some users are reporting the driver for HP Mobile Data Protection Sensor (or 3D Drive Guard) is getting uninstalled and they can’t re-install it. If have been affected by that please post your model number and OS. Thanks!

For XP
CN896 Chipset Drivers
Chrome9 Drivers

For Vista
CN896 Chipset Drivers
Chrome9 Drivers

If you’re wanting a little more info on the previous tests check these out:
Mini-Note Performance Tests with XP
HP Mini-Note XP Movie Playback
HP 2133 Mini-Note Vista Movie Playback

With no announcement of a Nano CPU refresh of the Mini-Note made today, it makes think it might not happen. The Nano is an easy upgrade for HP to make so today would have been perfect to at least announce an updated Mini-Note would be coming soon. Also with the supposed shortage of Intel’s Atom CPU in coming months, the Nano is a great choice. TongFang already has a netbook with Nano in it…why not HP?

On the other hand, it might just be too soon for an upgrade. They might not want to anger any corporate and educational customers that have already bought in on the C7-M models. So it’s hard to say…

At any rate, we’ll just have to wait and see a little longer.

HP2133guide.com: How does VIA see itself positioned in the market in the next five years?

Tim: In the next 5 years VIA sees itself becoming an increasingly important player in the processor platform business across the embedded, desktop and mobile spaces. Presently we are very strong in the embedded space and the 3rd player in the mobile and desktop space. However with yesterday’s official launch of the VIA Nano processor we see our product portfolio now having all the necessary performance ranges to better target the mobile and desktop spaces also. I think you can see with products like the HP2133, and the 30 other mini-notes presently on the market based around VIA processor platforms that we are very aggressive in the fast growing mobile space.

What were the goals VIA was trying to reach with the new OpenBook reference design?

The VIA OpenBook basically simplifies the process for many of our customers to enter the mini-note market. Our goal at VIA as a silicon design company is to go a step further with our customers and provide them with more than just our power efficient VIA C7-M processor and ultra mobile platform, but provide them essentially with the blueprints for a mini-note device that can provide great performance to the end user, can be easily customized for their market in terms of style and design, and provide a host of internet and broadband cellular connectivity options for their customers.

With the success other companies are having with their mini-notebook sales, why is VIA only releasing reference designs and not your own VIA branded computers?

VIA’s cores strengths are silicon design. We don’t see any magic “silver bullet” type product that will completely dominate such personalized product areas such as mobile computers. So we don’t strive to create one. What we do is focus on creating power efficient processor platforms and reference designs that can guide and enable many different talented customers and brands to bring their various visions to the market. We’ve been very successful with that strategy with 16 design wins globally on the market today based on our VIA NanoBook reference design and in total over 30 mini-note designs based around our VIA C7-M processor.

How will the new Nano processors stack up against Intel’s Atom and AMD’s Puma CPU’s?

Very well! Real world benchmarks from products commercially available for all of these CPUs have yet to be seen but we’re confident that the performance and TDP for our VIA Nano processor will be a perfect fit for several market segments. We’ve been leaders in the low power processing platform markets with our VIA Eden, C3 and C7 processor platforms for over 5 years and now that our vision of a mainstream mass market based around miniaturization and power efficiency is coming to fruition, Intel is moving into our space. We’ve been doing Mini-ITX for years and we did it first. We know this business and their needs well. We are well prepared.

The Laptop Magazine blog has attributed VIA’s Richard Brown as saying “VIA is not concentrating Isaiah on mini notebooks, but rather, that the chip is intended for higher-priced 12- to 14-inch systems.” Even though there are three ultra low voltage chips announced does VIA still not intend for the Isaiah/Nano to be in a mini-notebook?

I think what we’re saying is that the performance of the VIA Nano processor is well targeted for mainstream 12-14″ systems today. However as the mini-note segment expands (which it may do quickly as its the fastest growing segment of the notebook market at the moment) and it further breaks down into different segments by price/performance even OS and hardware configurations you’ll see that we’ll have between the VIA C7-M and the VIA Nano processor something appropriate for the whole segment. Since we don’t sell systems directly ourselves, its up to our customers to see when is the right time to jump in with a higher performance VIA Nano processor.

Can you talk about any upcoming products that will use VIA’s new Nano processor?

All I can do is assure you that we do have design wins with brand name customers that will be announced in the near future. Unfortunately as its their products being launched we need to respect their privacy and launch schedules.

Update: TongFang has a Mini-Note powered by the Nano

I recently blogged about my first mobile computer. What was yours?
Before I even owned a notebook I had what I really I think of as my first mobile computer… a Psion Revo. I loved it.. and… lost it! Heartbreaking. Also I never could manage to get the 3rd party app that was supposed to be able to display power point presentation on it to work. I always imagined walking into a meeting with that little baby and plunking it down next to a projector and wa lah! However it was very good as an organizer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo

If you could pick any one device running off of a VIA chipset with a 9″ or smaller screen, what would it be and why?

Well I have to say I’m on the right website to answer this question… HP2133 is the one for me. Great keyboard for my sausage fingers, superb screen and build quality make it an easy choice.

Thanks for the interview Josh.

Thank you for your time Tim. Good luck at Computex next week!

With three processors under 10w TDP, I wouldn’t think it unreasonable to see a sub-notebook with a Nano in it. Even the 1.0Ghz should out perform the 1.6Ghz C7-M while consuming less power. Seeing these numbers really makes me wonder why Richard Brown said that Isaiah “is intended for higher-priced 12″ to 14″ systems” and has no plans to use it in mini notebooks any time soon. I guess that means either it costs too much right now for a sub $500 netbook, they were bluffing for some reason, or he just didn’t know about something he probably should have.

Starting on page 12 of the whitepaper they have different benchmarks showing the Nano schooling the C7-M:

The Nano’s higher performance per watt measurement should help offset the its higher TDP.

For more information see the Nano’s whitepaper and the new pages on Via’s site.

Any ideas on what the first device will be to carry a new Nano chip?

Looks like we may have got some bad info on the batteries… In the comments Heather posted her chat log with an HP rep who said these batteries weren’t for the Mini-Note. So who knows at this point… Sorry for any confusion.

Over on the our forums caelum found some part numbers and xboiledeggx looked them up on the HP Parts Store as and they’re listed as “Part is orderable, please call 1-800-227-8164 for availability.”

#482262-001 3-Cell for $207.10

#482263-001 6-Cell for $191.90

I just spoke with an HP rep who gave me this link for the 3-cell battery that lists it as “Part is in stock” instead of call for availability. Not sure what the difference is yet. Unfortunately the battery is $207.10…ouch. She said the 6-cell battery part number was still KU528AA but wasn’t available yet.

However Laptop Magazine does have an initial hands-on review of the New Open Book which contains a quote of interest to most Mini-Note users:

We were hoping to see the much-anticipated Isaiah chip, in the hopes that it would add battery life or performance for a price that would sway potential Intel Atom OEM partnerships, but VIA actually has no plans to include the Isaiah processor in mini notebooks anytime soon. Company spokesperson Richard Brown says VIA is not concentrating Isaiah on mini notebooks, but rather, that the chip is intended for higher-priced 12- to 14-inch systems. Brown also insists that the C7-M can still beat out Intel’s Atom processor in terms of voltage, battery life, and performance, so long as it’s paired with the right graphics chipset

Mini-Note with the keyboard off

Keyboard and top shell off

CPU and North Bridge Heatsink

South Bridge

North Bridge

Empty!

Underside of motherboard

PCI Express Chipset I think

Backside of wireless card

Frontside of wireless card

And finally the money shot:

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