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Looks like Dell is playing the me-too catch-up game (from Information Week)…

Dell Gears Up To Enter Mini-Notebook Market

The first question is what price will the Dell entry be set at and what features will be available. Asus gambled and took the early mind-share. HP seems to have raised the bar (feature-wise) — although some claim the $749 version is priced too high. The second question is whether or not June is too late to enter the sub-notebook game. The third question is whether Apple and Lenovo (who currently own the high-end sub-notebook mindshare with the Macbook Air and X300, respectively) will enter the low-priced sub-notebook market.

Finally, Microsoft has got to do something to create an OS for the sub-notebook market. Windows Vista is just to gigantic to squeeze into the flash-storage-no-hard-drive boxes. Keeping Windows XP would just an admission of defeat for them. I hope Microsoft comes to their senses and bring back the Windows CE (Windows Mobile) Handheld PC concept updated for the 21st century. Failing in that, they should Open Source Windows 98 Second Edition and let hordes of talented programmers tighten it up and bring it up to date for the sub-notebook market. My old IBM Thinkpad 240 ran Windows 98SE like a champ in a mere 128MB RAM. It would probably take up less space than the Linux distro Asus currently uses in the Eee PC.

I’m still debating whether to buy the Asus Eee PC 900 (unreleased) or the soon-to-be-available HP 2133 Mini-Note. Here are two more good reviews for anyone else considering the HP Mini-Note. Brighthand’s review…
HP 2133 Mini-Note Review

…includes some interesting benchmarks against other sub-notebooks as well as a video comparing an Asus Eee PC running Windows XP booting up side-by-side with an HP Mini-Note running Windows Vista. The Mini-Note takes twice as long to get to a usable screen – about 90 seconds.

The PC World video review…

HP’s New Mini-Laptop Versus a Tiny Asus Eee

…also compares the Asus Eee PC with the HP Mini-Note, but not in the benchmark sense that Brighthand does. PC World focuses more on the physical aspects such as the keyboard (HP’s is better) and the more solid HP casing.

I wonder if it might make more sense for me to buy the HP Mini-Note model running SUSE Linux instead of Windows XP or Vista. Linux should screen on a box with the specs the HP Mini-Note has. Hmm.

I’m still trying to figure out which mini-notebook to buy. The Everex Cloudbook was eliminated a while back based on initial negative reviews. The FlipStart looked interesting. But, it looks like its firesale price was because it is discontinued. I actually bought an OLPC XO. But, while it probably meets the needs for which it was intended (education in developing nations), it is not suitable for my needs (or my daughter’s as it turns out). The thing that started this whole low-end ultraportable trend, the Asus Eee PC, is still my most likely purchase. I’m currently waiting for the new Eee PC 900 to hit the market before buying anything. In the meantime, HP announced the HP 2122 Mini-Note that looks like a contender. jkOnTheRun has an excellent review with lots of photos of this ultraportable at…

jkOnTheRun review- hands on with the HP Mini-Note UMPC

It looks like it will start shipping next week. Debating whether I should buy the HP or the Asus Eee now. Hmm… I wonder if the HP Mini-Note can boot from any USB connected CD/DVD drive if I ever need to re-install Linux or Vista on it?
I should also note that the official Asus Eee PC site is nearly useless for information about their own products. If you want more up-to-date Eee PC news and information, this is the blog/site I head to for Eee info.

EeeUser.com