HP 2133 Review

2 days ago I received my HP 2133 from the USA. As I mentioned 2 weeks ago, I was originally going to wait for the UK release however a delayed release and the fact that the UK was only going to get the 1.2Ghz version led me to buy direct from the states. RM have the official exclusive rights to sell the HP 2133 in the UK however Misco have been shipping it too.

Before I proceed with the rest of the review, I need to apolgise for the poor quality of the pictures. My sony T7 has seen better days and it can be difficult to take pics close up.

Finally, it arrived

I ordered the laptop from a company called MWave. The product arrived in great shape but even though I asked before the sale and afterwards to mark the item as gift or ‘commercial sample’ MWave just sent it as it is and I got stung with a £87.03 import tax from the UPS guy.

Whilst the UK is currently only getting the 1.2Ghz processor, the USA has got 1.6Ghz versions too. In total the USA has 8 different setups available ranging from the $499 1Ghz 4gb flash version with 512mb and Linux installed to the $819 1.6Ghz version which has 2gb RAM, a 160gb hard drive and Vista installed.

I got the one which costs $749 in the USA. Here are the specs :

• Genuine Windows Vista® Business (note) w/MS Office (Trial)
• VIA C7™-M processor (1.6 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
• 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA (1280 x 800 resolution)
• VIA Chrome 9, 128MB shared system memory
• VGA camera
• 2048MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1 DIMM)
• 120GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
• Broadcom 4311AG 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi Adapter
• HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
• 6 cell Li-Ion battery
• Limited 1 year standard parts and labor warranty

As you can imagine, with a laptop this size the packaging is quite small too.

The first thing I did when I got the laptop out is admire it. These pictures really don’t do it justice. The thing is rock hard, the aluminium is really solid compared to the plastic alternatives out there (ie. the EEE PC)

One thing that sets the laptop apart from all competitors is the screen. The screen is gorgeous and the resolution is fantastic for a device this size. As you can see from the pic below, it is unbelievably reflective!

Unlike the new Eee 900 PC which comes with a soft case and an Asus mouse, the 2133 just comes with the basics. Included in the box was a 6 cell battery, instructions and an adaptor. Obviously, since it shipped the laptop from the USA to the UK I got a USA plug with it but it only cost me £13 to get a UK plug shipped from Hong Kong and it arrived within 3 days so that wasn’t a big deal.

The instructions which come with the HP 2133 are bad. Infact, I’d go as far as saying they provide the worst instruction manual ever made. All I got was a tiny 11 page booklet called ‘Getting Started’ which doesn’t really provide you any help with anything. On the other hand, the Eee 701 I got a few months ago had a quick start guide which was double the size of this one and a huge manual which had everything you needed. Sadly, HP fell short in this regard.

The laptop comes with Vista Business preloaded (even though the sticker on the laptop says Vista Basic). 9gb is taken up already for a recovery drive and the rest is available for using. Setting up Vista takes about 20-30 minutes and is very easy (you basically need to decide the language and what keyboard settings you want and that’s it).

The 6 Cell battery dilemma

One of the good things about this purchase for me was that it came with a 6 cell battery. I have seen reports on the internet that you can get 4 hours with it however from using it the last few days I would say that 3 hours is probably more realistic. The 6 cell battery is very chunky though and sticks out underneath the laptop. This is good and bad. It’s good because it raises your laptop and places the keyboard and screen in a better position for typing and viewing. However, the 6 cell battery just doesn’t fit any cases available.

The case I bought was through eBay and was from PDAir. At £28 it’s well priced and when I received the case in it’s snazzy box I was well chuffed….that was until I realised the battery didn’t fit the thing!

As you can see from the pic below, the 6 cell battery just won’t fit standard cases which are currently available.

I am going to buy a 3 cell battery and keep the 6 cell for when I’m not connected to a wall socket however at the moment, HP are not selling any 3 cell batteries! Doh! Hopefully they will release one in the next few months.

Using the HP 2133

I have been using the laptop for about 2 full days now. I’m sure that there are some things I have still to learn about it but I feel I have played around with it enough to see what it’s pros and cons are. Most of the reviews I have read about the laotop the last month or so have been spot on in most areas.

The laptop has been criticized heavily for it’s sluggish performance in Vista and I can understand why. XP would have been a much smarter choice in my opinion. HP do provide XP drivers however to install XP you are going to have either get an external dvd drive and boot with an xp disk using F9 at start up or create an XP boot flash drive. During installation you can then phone up Microsoft and get a downgrade license for your copy of Vista. I have created a 10gb partition for XP so that I can dual boot but since I don’t currently have an external DVD drive or a copy of XP I’m probably going to have to shell out for them, which is a pain.

So why is Vista so poor? Well, I have to disagree with some of the reviews on the net on this one. Some sites have made it out as if the laptop is completely unusable with Vista and it’s not the case. General browsing, light editing etc are a breeze and there is no slowdown at all. I have not installed any games on it yet so I can’t comment on the performance of gaming on the device but the main let down with Vista is movie playback. Youtube and other flash sites can be slow at times but are mostly ok however div X movies really struggle. This is a shame because movies look so damn good on the screen. The problem is movie playback is really jerky and with large files you will probably notice that the sound and picture are not matching up. Using less intensive movie playing software like VLC does help a little but it’s still a bit jerky

Apparently movie playback and webcam usage is better with XP though since I haven’t tested this myself yet, I can’t really comment on it. I am going to try a copy of XP and I might try out ubuntu too to see if there’s a huge difference in performance. Although video performance is poor, I do believe that this laptop is completely usable with Vista and many people will not need to try another operating system.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, the laptop does have a large number of positives. The screen, which I have already mentioned, is gorgeous. It really fits in with the high build quality of the device. The keyboard is apparently 92% the size of a full size keyboard. I haven’t had a measuring tape out to check that but I can say that this is probably the nicest laptop keyboard I have ever used. It’s an absolute joy to use and typing is a breeze. One of the main reasons I sold my Eee PC was the poor keyboard so I am delighted with the one on the HP 2133. I even find it easier to type on the 2133 than on my Asus G1S laptop and that has a 15.4 inch screen. It truly is amazing how they managed to fit such a good keyboard on a laptop with a 8.9 inch screen.

One of the things which surprised me about the laptop was hood good the sound was. The sound is really loud by laptop standards and listening to music through it is a joy. Some people might not like the trackpad though, in order to save space the left and right buttons are to the side instead of underneath the tracking area. Personally, I always use a mouse so this doesn’t really bother me and I’m sure you would get used to it anyways

Overall, I am really impressed with this laptop and I am extremtly pleased I purchased it. Sure, it a isn’t perfect laptop but it does exactly what I need it to do. I bought this laptop for checking email and writing online whilst on holiday and it is perfect for the job : it’s small, light and it’s 120gb hard drive is more than enough for me and will allow me to take backup files with me and a few movies and albums too.

If you have been looking at getting a HP 2133 I have to say you will not be disappointed. Please leave a comment if you have any questions about the device, I’ll do my best to answer them

* Note, this review is based on the 1.6GHZ, 2GM Ram, 12GB 7200 RPM model from the USA which came with Vista Business Installed.

Pros & Cons

Here is a list of pro’s and cons for the HP 2133

Pros :

• Overall build quality is excellent
• 8.9 inch screen is beautiful
• 6 cell battery gives 3-4 hours of usage
• The keyboard is amazing. One of the best laptop keyboards ever made
• SD slot which can be used for storage, another operating system or be used to give it extra juice using Vista’s ReadyBoost
• Sound quality is very high and loud too
• Left sided USB port has a power connector to help power external DVD drives
• VGA Output to connect to TV or external monitor

Cons :

• It’s a lot more expensive than the Eee 900
• Vista can be sluggish at times
• Video playback is quite poor (In vista anyways)
• Currently no option for XP
• Due to the aluminium, this laptop can get seriously hot on your lap!
• Only 2 USB ports. The laptop does have an express card slow so more could be added through that
• No accessories packaged with the laptop and the instructions are a joke

Further Reading : HP 2133 reviews

Some 2133 reviews across the net

• Trusted Reviews (Linux version reviewed)
• JK On The Run
• NoteBook Review
• CNN
• Gotta Be Mobile
• CNet

Further Reading : Dedicated HP 2133 websites

If you want to learn more about the HP 2133 laptop please check out the following sites :

• HP 2133 Guide
• MiniNoteUser