If Ubuntu is as foreign to you as Klingon, you probably found last year's initial crop of Linux-based netbooks far less appealing than their XP counterparts, which were released later by the likes of Acer, HP, and MSI. The open-source operating system may seem intimidating for the uninitiated, but a well-designed Linux build doesn't have to be. Linux offers plenty of advantages as a netbook platform: It requires less memory, taxes your processor less, and brings the cost down, to boot. (The base price for an XP system with the same specs is $20 more.) On a blind test, even the most code-phobic user might mistake HP's custom Ubuntu build for any old Media Center interface. Providing a seamless, user-friendly Linux experience is exactly where the new Mi (Mobile Internet) edition of the HP Mini 1000 ($424.99 direct) excels. Basically, it's the same gorgeous netbook we praised back in October, delivering an environment that's comfortable and familiar to longtime Windows users.
Hewlett-Packard Company
http://www.hp.com
- Price as Tested: $425.00 Direct
- Type: Gaming, Ultraportable, Value, Netbook
- Operating System: HP Mobile Internet (Linux)
- Processor Name: Intel Atom N270
- Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- Weight: 2.5 lb
- Screen Size: 10.1 inches
- Screen Size Type: widescreen
- Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
- Storage Capacity: 60 GB
- Networking Options: 802.11g
