I bought my wife Bonnie a new HP Mini 110 netbook over the weekend. Cute little thing … 1.6 Ghz Atom Processor, 1GB memory, 160 GB hard drive. I bought a 2GB stick of memory to upgrade it (1 memo slot, so it now has 2GB). It's got Ethernet + Wifi, no 3G. It runs Windows 7 starter edition. I paid a little bit of a premium to get her the Studio Tord Boontje edition because it was so lovely.
My initial thoughts are extremely positive on this netbook. First, Windows 7 appears to have the glitz of Vista with the solid performance of XP. It's not an earth-shattering update to Microsoft's OS, but I believe it is what Vista should have been. It's much like Windows XP, a course-correction from its predecessor.
The form factor of this netbook is compelling. It's 2.7 pounds with a 10.6" screen. While I find it to be a bit cramped (compared t the 17" Macbook Pro I happily lug around), I could definitely see light usage in a coffee shop or other mobile venue. I'm sure Bonnie will enjoy using it on the road. For home use, I could see plugging this into a larger monitor and connecting to a bluetooth keyboard and mouse for more comfortable computing. We're considering a USB-powered 350GB external hard drive for additional storage. Sam's club has a 2-pack of them for about $150.
Frankly, I found myself with a bit of notebook envy. It's small, it's stylish, and while it is no powerhouse it is certainly ample for basic uses like web apps, local word processing, and such. The netbook is a compelling form factor and I believe it is here to stay.
If Apple made one and it ran Snow Leopard, I would have gladly paid a premium to buy that for Bonnie (and budget for one for myself).
