Isn't it cute there under my desktop. I plodded through technical specs all over the place. Even tried to build my own on the Dell site and the HP site. By the time I added a few things, the $300 machine was costing $650. This particular model is not available on the HP website. All sources point to Best Buy or Ecost.com
But even after all my research, the best recommendation came from Cynthia Marie. She loves her Mini. My requirements are similar. I went for it. When I went to Best Buy yesterday, my mind wasn't completely made up, so I looked over the other Mini's on display. The ASUS and the Aspire were both stuck and not responding. The HP was running and zipping through the few internet sites I tried. The keyboard is bigger than the others on display. Keys are as big as a desktop keys. I bought it!
Best Buy was offering for an added $39.99, the same model "pre-setup" by the Geek Squad. I decided to do it myself, and it was easy. The hardest part was inserting the battery...I had it backwards...DOH! There is no excess software on the thing. I connected to my home network, let Microsoft do it's update thing, added McAfee Security (I had one remaining copy on my license for three), and Firefox (my favored browser). I folded laundry while various stuff was downloading.
I bought a sleeve for carrying. It will fit easily in my carry-on backpack for travel. And I got another jump-drive for moving files from my desktop.
One problem is the pointer device (mouse thingy). I have never been very good with pointer devices on laptops, from the eraser-head thing on IBM to various configurations of a track-pad. If I'm just doing straight text, I can function OK, but the Mini failed the Pet Society hurdle test. I couldn't click my Esmerelda when I needed to. I'll have to get an external mouse.
Does it pass the Pet Society requirement otherwise? I had to F-11 (I guess I need function keys after all) to get rid of the header stuff, and see my pet and her friends for the visits. I don't do much Pet Society on a real vacation anyway.
By the time we take our next big trip in November, I'll have it mastered. We will probably use the ship-board wi-fi hot spots on days at sea. The mini will decrease the time we have to struggle with those sticky keyboard on the ship's PC, and we can pre-type any long emails or blogs we want to post.
I'll even let Tinker use it.
4 comments:
Congrats on your purchase..I too was looking at something similar to this at BJs a few days back......I thought it was cute too.Compact yet functional.
To clairify your experience just a bit. You incorrectly identified Geeks On Call being with Best Buy. Geek Squad is owned by Best Buy. Geeks On Call is not associated with Best Buy at all. I have been confused with the names and highly recommend using Geeks On Call and NOT the Best Buy service Geeks Squad.
Thanks, Anonymous for the correction. I fixed it.
Just bought mine early this morning when Staples opened (never mind I had done the usual Jimmy Buffett 'turn the waterfall off and sent the tourists home' bit at 3:30AM...closing time). I picked it because in a round about way, the hp maintenance docs showed an easy way to swap the 1gig memory card for a 2gigger. It's also a way of saying I liked the HP Way since way back in the 1980s. (Old) Runs well, but has a harder time connecting to the trendy gas/convenience store across the street from my usual Italian restaurant. Anyone find a good flavour of Linux for this wee netbook? I've been 'thinking different' in a Cupertino way since the dawn of Macdom, and have to be paid to do windoze.
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