Hot Computer Offer from Verizon: First Netbook

Get this, Verizon is offering their first netbook. They contracted with HP to provide the HP Mini 115 NR.

It is priced at $199 and has a 2 year contract available. Monthly data access will run you another $40 (which includes 250 MB of data transfer and additional charges beyond that) to $60 monthly ( with 5 GB of transfer and additional for extra), but if you are working out of your car, this is about the same as the Sprint Mobile offer as long as you don't exceed your contracted data transfer limits. Sprint no longer has an unlimited plan. Their best is $59 for 5 GB of data transfer, and they don't provide a computer. Their cards can run more than $300 additional.

The Mini has a 10 inch display with an adequate 1024 x 576 resolution, a 1.6 GHZ Intel Atom N270 processor. Intel has also supplied a GMA 950 graphics card. The HP comes with 1GB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3 cell battery.

The keyboard is almost the size of a regular keyboard. The Mini has 2 USB 2.0 ports as well as an integrated card reader for SD and MMC cards.

This unit is delightfully small and weighs about 2.4 pounds. It is silent, with only a small click to let you know the hard drive was working. But it gets hot on the bottom under the touch pad according to the reviewer at The Tech Herald.

I have gotten used to this with a Dell Inspiron. When on my lap I keep it balanced lightly at the edges so I don't burn my legs. It sounds as if the HP Mini must be treated just as carefully, or used on a flat tray or table.

The tester also found that at one location, the download speed was signifcantly slower than at other locations. This was a surprise, and never really explained.

All in all, this sounds like a good deal if you actually have need of internet-on-the-go.