Compaq Mini 700 innards exposed by Italian fetishists

Ever wonder how netbooks pack all that laptopy goodness into such small packages? Laptop Italia has your answer, tearing a Compaq Mini 700 (aka HP Mini 1000) into its individual components, supposedly for the sake of enabling you to repair the thing at home, but we think the real motivation is rather less instructional and more exhibitionistic. Regardless of your intentions, the site provides an extensive guide on how to take apart HP's tiny laptop, starting by pulling the battery and ending with a picture of where the 3G modem would go if this particular model had one. Unlike some teardowns we've seen in the past, this clinical looking disassembly, if reversed, looks like it might actually put the thing back together again -- if you're into that sort of thing.

Thanks: Engadget

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HP TouchSmart tx2z reviewed: multitouch could use some work

HP was pretty jazzed about delivering the first multitouch "consumer" convertible tablet, but in Laptop Mag's point of view, that highly touted feature could use a bit of TLC. In fact, critics were pretty hard on the machine overall due to the multitouch not being "fast or responsive enough," but considering the $300 premium, we can't say such criticism is unjustified. Performance wise, everything was on par, and battery life was found to be respectable enough; at the end of the day, though, it only managed to score three out of five stars and couldn't elicit the type of praise that makes you want to run out and pick one up on the double. However, if HP manages to improve the touch experience, we could be looking at a winner in the tablet world.

Thanks: Engadget

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HP Mini 1000 now supporting 3G

When we got comfy with the HP Mini 1000 last month, there was talk of a full 3G spec'd version coming in December. Lo and behold we're not even out of November yet and one owner has managed to get online with his brand spankin' new 1000. User dplxy over at the Pocketables forum put in some quality time with customer support from both HP and AT&T to figure out how, saving you some minutes by describing the how-to. Full instructions are at the read link, but the gist of it is you need to download a WWAN driver from HP, manually extract and install it, and then slot your SIM card into the battery compartment. Speeds are reported to be solid but, with the lowly three cell battery struggling to keep the thing broadcasting, you'd better hurry up and find what you're looking for. It's unlikely this will work with older versions of the Mini 1000, which are believed to lack the hardware internals, but give it a shot and let us know what you find, yeah?

Thanks: Engadget

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HP's new Mini 1000 and MIE Linux make netbooks fun again

We've been struggling to keep awake for the large majority of this year, as netbook after netbook lands in our laps with identical specs, form factors and general shoddiness. No longer. HP is giving the market a shot in the arm with its new "clutch-style" skinny form factors, polished Linux OS and aggressive price points -- even if the specs are about as boring as the Mini-Note 2133. As rumored, HP's new Mini 1000 netbook is ditching VIA and going the Atom route (1.6GHz N270, in case you hadn't guessed). Also new is an option for a 10.2-inch display, though it's a mere 1024 x 600 instead of the 1280 x 768 display on the 2133 -- for a bit cheaper you can get a 1024 x 600 8.9-inch display, but that would just be boring. HP is offering 512MB, 1GB and 2GB RAM configurations, though the XP option limits you to 1GB (thanks, Microsoft). For storage you can score a 60GB 4200 rpm HDD or your choice of a 8GB or 16GB SSD. If you go the SSD route there's also room for a 2, 4 or 8GB "HP Mini Mobile Drive," which is a regular USB drive that inserts all the way into a special slot for added integration. There's also an SD slot, VGA webcam, 802.11b/g, optional Bluetooth, Ethernet and dual USB plugs. Where things get extra interesting is in choice of OS. You can go the standard XP route, or for $20 less you can go for HP's brand new Ubuntu-based Linux "experience," MIE, which reminds us not just a little of HP's TouchSmart interface. The XP version is available today starting at $399, with a 10.2-inch version costing just a little bit more. The Vivienne Tam Edition, which brings a whole lot of style but little substance to the offering, will go for $699 in mid-December, and the MIE version will land in January for a mere $379.
Thanks: Engadget

10-inch Mini 1000 appears on HP website

HP's obviously getting ready to expand its netbook line beyond the well-received Mini-Note 2133 -- the company recently started teasing the Vivienne Tam Digital Clutch, and now images and pricing for a "Mini 1000" have appeared on the HP shopping site. As expected, the new rig is basically a non-glam version of the Digital Clutch, and specs appear to be right in line with what we've seen: 10-inch screen, sub-1-inch thickness, and 2.25-pound starting weight -- and we're guessing the Mini 1000 also gets the upgrade to an Intel Atom over the 2133's VIA C7-M. Not bad at all for a starting price tag of $399 -- hopefully we'll find out a lot more soon.

Thanks: jkOnTheRun