It may seem as if Hewlett-Packard is arriving somewhat late to the Netbook game with its Mini 1000, but the company’s business division has offered a similar system, the 2133 Mini-Note PC since the spring of this year. That model scored points with the best Netbook keyboard we’ve seen and a solid metal construction, but the wimpy VIA processor (and a higher price than other Netbooks) kept it from being a top contender.
This new consumer version has a nearly identical design, but in lightweight plastic (its body is also slightly thinner). The large, comfortable keyboard remains–and is the Mini 1000′s best feature–while the CPU has been upgraded from the Via C7-M to the Intel Atom. At $549, our review unit is about $50 more than our self-imposed Netbook price cap, and it surpasses the $500 mark without including a pricey, yet preferred (for a Netbook), solid-state drive. Our model features a 60GB (spinning) hard drive; SSD options up to 16GB are available.

The good: Best Netbook keyboard we’ve seen; thinner and lighter than HP’s previous Netbook; ditches slow Via processor for faster Intel Atom.

The badThe bad: Limited expansion options; overly glossy screen; needless proprietary external drive connection.

The bottom lineThe bottom line: HP may have arrived late to the consumer Netbook game, but by lifting the generous keyboard from last year’s business-oriented model, the Mini 1000 easily joins the category’s top tier.

Specifications: Processor: Intel (1.60 GHz) ; RAM installed: 512 MB ; OS provided: Windows XP Home

Price range: $329.99