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Unannounced HP 210 Netbook 'in stock'

Reseller eCost lists the Mini 210, which packs Intel's newest Atom N450 silicon, at $389. And even HP has jumped the gun.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
2 min read

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard hasn't announced the Mini 210 Netbook yet--but a reseller has.

The follow-on to the popular Mini 1000 and 110 Netbook series, the 210 packs Intel's newest Atom N450 silicon, which features an updated graphics chip built directly onto the central processing unit, or CPU. Netbooks are tiny laptops designed for undemanding Web-based tasks and typically sell for about $350.

Reseller eCost lists the Mini 210 at $389 and shows a few models as "in stock." A call to a sales representative confirmed this.

And even HP has jumped the gun. A full menu of items about the unannounced Netbook on HP's support Web page includes information about "software and driver downloads" and a user guide.

Here are the Mini 210 specs as listed by eCost:

  • Operating System: Win7 Starter
  • Processor:1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
  • Display: 10.1" Flush Glass
  • Memory: 1GB
  • Hard disk drive: 250GB 7200RPM
  • Video Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
  • Battery: 6 cell
  • Wireless Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n
  • Other Device: Integrated Webcam & Mic
  • Price: $398.99

eCost

The most salient feature of the new crop of Netbooks based on Intel's latest ("Pine Trail") Atom silicon is not performance but battery life. CNET got more than eight hours of battery life from Asus' new Eee PC 1005PE (see review) with the Atom N450 processor and other review sites are claiming over ten hours.

Also of note is the new graphics chip that Atom uses: the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150. This is a variant of the graphics engine that was used in full-fledged laptops that first debuted back in the summer of 2007 (based on Intel's "Santa Rosa" mobile technology). The 3150 supports 720p HD video playback.

For more graphics muscle, Intel is advising PC makers to use the Broadcom BCM70015 Crystal HD chip that allows higher-resolution 1080p video playback. Nvidia also offers its Ion graphics chipset for 1080p HD playback and games. The Ion chipset is used in the HP Mini 311 and is expected to be used in upcoming HP Netbooks.