Another thing I noticed in the video is the (seemingly) large amount of light leakage on the black bootup screen. The “HP Invent” screen looks blue, but should be black. Maybe it’s just an artifact of the camera and room lighting. It appears that the vertical viewing angles are pretty limited like on the mini 110? Is this the case?

I like using a black background for my text editors, and this has been a problem in the past. The EEEPC 1005 for example has incredible contrast, but doesn’t come with the HD screen.

If you prefer the 120 dpi mode in Vista/Windows 7, then I think the HD screen is worth it. I actually prefer the bigger menus, text and UI elements at 120 dpi, and under those settings, the HD screen keeps things less claustrophobic.

Another issue with 120 dpi on a 1024 x 600 screen is that some windows will get “cut off.” UMPC scrollbar helps to some degree, but it does not work on all windows.

On the flip side, if you don’t care for 120 dpi and prefer the default 96 dpi settings, then I think the 1024 x 600 screen is perfectly fine.

The only 2 major cons I see are the price and less-than expected battery life (5 hours vs. around 7 on an EEEPC 1005HA). I wonder if swapping out the 7200 RPM drive for a 5400 one will help with the latter? I’ve heard that high density 5400 drives can outperform 7200s, but I’m also not sure if a slower drive will really make a difference on this machine.

I’m really leaning towards the HD screen (which costs over $100 more, factoring in HP’s custom order system and current coupon). Has anyone done a side-by-side SD vs. HD comparison? Is it worth the extra $$$?

The Mini 5101 disassembly guide is located at:

http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01846062/c01846062.pdf

I can’t seem to find one for the NB205… Any ideas?

Also, here are some side-by-side photos of the two netbooks:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1922/stacked01.jpg

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1519/stacked02.jpg

Break out the Dremel and get to it … and post lots of pictures. I can sit here and dream about the day HP gets off their butts and finally sends me my 5101. Ordered it on Aug. 5th and they still can’t even tell me when they’ll build it. Maybe HP’s poor customer service should be another tick in the Toshiba’s favor.

p.s. You could also try shoehorning an 11.6″ screen into the HP. THAT would be impressive.

By the way, I’ve tried both the hp and the Toshi, and I’d like to address a few more things:

- The Toshiba NB205-310 is *lot* more usable in the dark than the Mini 5101. The glossy silver keys on the Toshiba reflect the light from the LCD, eliminating the need for a keyboard backlight. If you like dark, scary places, the Toshiba might be better.

- The display (1366 x 768) on the hp is beautiful. The Toshiba screen is decent, but the hp is so much better using 120 dpi settings…

- Accessing the hard drive on the mini 5101 isn’t as hard as I originally thought. It’s under the keyboard.

- I made another mistake on my previous post — the Toshiba is indeed thinner (but longer) than the hp. The hp feels a bit heavier.

- The touchpad on the hp is waaaaayyyy better than the one on the Toshiba, despite the smaller size. The speaker is much better on the hp, too.

- The Toshiba gets quite hot, but the fan barely runs. The hp stays cool, but the fan is frequently on for me. Battery life is about 5 hours for me on the hp and 6.5 hours on the Toshiba (Win 7).

- The Atheros wifi on the Toshiba seems to have better reception than the hp (I have the Broadcom card, not the Intel one). I’m seeing 30 networks at my palce on the Toshiba, versus 19 on the mini.

Bottom line: If I could transplant the screen, speaker and touchpad from the hp to the Toshiba, I’d be a really happy person.

lol, I tried using the FN key but no luck, any hints?

I would like to buy one for testing with Linux and I’m looking for a new netbook that uses the sky2 driver.

Thanks!

…A very difficult decision. If I’m not mistaken, I think the hard drive on the Toshiba is much easier to access (as long as you have the right Torx head).

We’re definitely interested in your final verdict, JK!