HP’s Mini 311 with Nvidia ION caught my eye earlier today thanks to the benchmarks that LAPTOP Magazine reported. I was so impressed with the numbers that it got me thinking about how GPUs could shake up the netbook market in a big way. Of course, better graphics performance could come at the expense of price and battery life, so maybe my thoughts are premature. Or perhaps not.
LAPTOP awarded the Mini 311 an Editor’s Choice badge in their full review. Much of the review is a recap of how much performance the Nvidia Ion adds, but all of the other bases are covered as well. The base Mini 311 with ION is $399 — the same as my Toshiba NB205 netbook. But the battery life on the Mini 311 isn’t abysmal, even with the graphics boost. LAPTOP was able to surf the web over Wi-Fi for nearly 5.75 hours on the 26 Whr, six cell battery. HP also has a special deal for 50% off a spare six cell power pack. While my NB205 can get me a good eight hours of web surfing, there’s something to be said for true high-def capability — the Mini 311 offers HDMI out — and an 11.6-inch display with native 1366×768 resolution at the same weight and price as my current netbook.
I suppose we could debate if a device with this screen size is truly a “netbook” or not, but I’m past the point of caring. Ultimately, I’m looking for the best device(s) that meet my needs at a price point I can afford, regardless of what you call them.
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