Review: HP Mini 5101 Netbook Flaunts Minimalist Design, Middling Performance

If looks were all that mattered, HP's Mini 5101 would've been a 10. But alas, bumpy QuickTime video playback and a just-OK battery life knocked the Mini 5101 to a 6 in our ratings. Here's a snippet from our review:

We love the matte, full-sized keyboard — soft on the fingertips, but just firm enough for precision typing. The glossy trackpad is comfy, too, although it collects smudges quickly.

Performance for the Mini 5101 is solid. The machine cranked out roughly the same benchmark results as the Asus 1000HE, the fastest netbook we've tested this year. But the Mini 5101 fell behind Asus when it came to battery performance: four hours in our tests compared to the 1000HE's impressive five-hour stamina. (Both netbooks ship with a six-cell battery.)

Speaking of video playback, the Mini 5101 comes equipped with the new Intel Atom N280 processor — a 1.66-GHz chip designed to deliver smoother video playback. That improvement is evident in Flash videos, but QuickTime files and YouTube clips played with more chop than an afternoon with Paul Bunyan.

Visit Wired.com/reviews to get our full take on HP's sexy but imperfect netbook, among other new gadgets.

See Also:

• Toshiba Mini NB205 Netbook
• Separated at Birth? $500 A2 Netbook and MacBook Air
• Asus Eee PC T91 "Touch"
• Dell Mini 10 Netbook
• Samsung NC20

Image: HP