Review Lenovo ThinkPad T410

The ThinkPad T410 is the latest revision of the popular T-series ThinkPad from Lenovo. This model brings a new line of dedicated and integrated graphics cards, the Intel Core-series processor line, and a completely redesigned chassis. We took an in-depth look at the highly anticipated T410 to see how well it stacks up against all the prior T-series ThinkPads. Does it live up to our expectations? Read on to find out.

Our Lenovo ThinkPad T410 with NVIDIA Graphics Specifications:

• Screen: 14.1-inch WXGA+ (1440 x 900) LED Backlit (Matte finish)
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (64bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-540M (2.53GHz, 3MB Cache)
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB + 2GB)
• Storage: 320GB Seagate 7400.4 HDD (7200rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
• Wireless: Intel 6200 802.11AGN, Bluetooth, Gobi 2000 WWAN
• Graphics: NVIDIA NVS 3100M with 256MB DDR3
• Power: 94Wh 9-cell, 90W 20V AC adapter
• Dimensions: 13.13 x 9.41 x 1.09-1.26”
• Weight: 5lbs 9.3oz
• Retail Price: $1,940

Our Lenovo ThinkPad T410 with Intel Graphics Specifications:

• Screen: 14.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) LED Backlit (Matte finish)
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (64bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-540M (2.53GHz, 3MB Cache)
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB + 2GB)
• Storage: 320GB Seagate 7400.4 HDD (7200rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
• Wireless: Intel 6250 802.11AGN, Bluetooth
• Graphics: Intel GMA HD Integrated Graphics
• Power: 57Wh 6-cell, 65W 20V AC adapter
• Dimensions: 13.13 x 9.41 x 1.09-1.26”
• Weight: 5lbs 5.1oz
• Retail Price: $1,580

Build and Design
To the naked eye very little has changed with the overall design of the ThinkPad T410 compared to past models. It still carries the black rubberized screen lid with ThinkPad logo, still offers the shiny matte-black chassis and palmrest, and still uses the strong and highly visible stainless steel screen hinges. Those are the areas where the similarities stop. The port layout has significantly changed to allow an increase in available ports and even a few new types of connections. Once opened, ThinkPad fans will notice that Lenovo finally centered the screen, so no more thick bezel on one side and a thin bezel on the other. Another change is the shift from a two-piece palmrest and keyboard bezel on older models to one-piece design that is stronger and has fewer gaps to squeak. The bottom has also changed--with a user-access panel being the biggest addition--to let users install more RAM or a wireless card without tearing apart the notebook.

Build quality is a touchy subject for anyone familiar with the ThinkPad brand and how it has changed over the years. Any change to the sacred ThinkPad is seen as negative, even if it results in a stronger notebook. The good news is that overall the redesigned chassis in the T410 still feels as strong as ever ... but the bad news is a few specific areas did lose some strength compared to past ThinkPads. The screen lid seems weaker on the left side which allows pressure applied to the lid to show through as distortion on the LCD. Only the left side of the screen cover shows this distortion but it is still more than past models. Another item is the access panel on the bottom of the notebook that is designed to let users access one of the system memory slots and an open mini-PCIe slot. This is easily the weakest part on the entire notebook ... bowing slightly when installed and flexing more than any surrounding panel. I really wish Lenovo went with a metal panel even if it slightly increased the overall weight of the notebook.

Access to internal components has improved over past models with the T410 no longer needing to have the palmrest removed to upgrade the memory. With the latest redesign Lenovo moved the RAM to the center of the notebook. One slot is accessible through the bottom of the chassis with the access panel removed and the other is underneath the keyboard. The keyboard easily comes out after you remove two screws and slide it out of position. For the average person this makes user upgrades much less complex. As always the hard drive has its own access panel which is removed with a single screw.

Screen and Speakers
The screens offered on the ThinkPad T410 have changed very little compared to ones offered on the T400. The biggest difference is all T410 models come standard with LED-backlighting. With that said we didn’t notice any decrease or increase for that matter in the quality of the displays. The WXGA+ screen on the T410 with dedicated graphics offers good color reproduction with better than average contrast. The WXGA screen on the T410 with integrated graphics also has good color reproduction and contrast but it has a slight blue tint compared to a neutral white on the WXGA+ panel. Backlight levels are stronger on the WXGA panel when both panels are set to the same brightness level. Viewing angles were similar for each notebook with most colors starting to distort and invert when tilted 15-20 degrees back. Horizontal viewing angles were better with colors staying accurate even from steep angles.

The onboard speakers sounded better than average for a business notebook. They were able to get loud enough to fill a small room but bass and midrange was still lacking. For the daily video conference or watching YouTube during a break they should be more than adequate for the intended market. Headphones for travel are also high on the list of must-have accessories.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The T410 has the same redesigned keyboard that we saw debut on the T400s. It has a new function key layout with keys such as the Escape and Delete buttons increased in size while also added a backlit power button and microphone mute button. Another new feature which is located in the BIOS is Lenovo allows you to swap the function and control keys through software if you happen to be one of those people that enjoy the control key being the last key in the row.

The ThinkPad keyboard is still comfortable to type on for hours without creating too much hand strain. The redesigned keyboard has a few tweaks compared to previous models; narrower spacing between keys to lessen the chance of crumbs getting in and a softer typing feel. The softer and quieter typing feedback actually caused some typing troubles since I would type lighter on the keyboard and not fully activate keys. Once you got used to the difference it wasn’t a problem but for those first mistyped passwords it was really annoying.

The touchpad is a textured Synaptics model that is very spacious to handle multi-finger gestures. The T410 supports two-finger scrolling, rotating, and zooming, as well as three-finger press and flick. In general use the touchpad is easy to use with no discernible lag and a very fast refresh rate. The acceleration speeds on both axes were equal… so drawing a fast circle didn’t result in an oval shape. The textured surface was easy to slide across in daily use even if your fingers were slightly damp. The touchpad buttons were easy to use and very comfortable to click. They offered a long throw with a soft clicking action that didn’t emit any noise when fully pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the new T410 is excellent and a huge improvement over previous models. Lenovo added an additional USB port, added FireWire, added eSATA (for compatible models), and even tossed in a DisplayPort connection for digital video out without needing to use a docking station. In total this makes the ThinkPad T410 one of the most feature-rich 14” notebooks on the market, with four USB ports, VGA-out, DisplayPort-out, combo audio jack, modem, LAN, FireWire-400, optional eSATA, as well as an optional SmartCard slot. The T410 also has a SDHC-card slot and ExpressCard/34 slot for expansion.

Front: SDHC-card slot

Rear: Modem, AC-Power

Left: VGA-out, LAN, three USB ports, DisplayPort-out, and Smart Card reader

Right: ExpressCard/34, eSATA, headphone/mic combo, optical drive, one USB, FireWire, Kensington Lock slot

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance on both ThinkPad T410 models was excellent with the Intel Core i5-540M processors and speedy 320GB 7200RPM Seagate hard drives. Both systems offered excellent boot times and had plenty of power to handle anything we threw at them. The T410 with integrated graphics also gave us the highest 3DMark06 score we have seen to date on an Intel graphics model. Pushing close to 2,000 in 3DMark06 the T410 with integrated graphics should be able to handle most previous generation games with tweaked settings. For the average user the T410 in even the basic configuration will be able to handle 1080P HD video without breaking a sweat. For the business user on the road the newest Intel Core i5 processors are closing the gap between “slow” notebook computers and “fast” workstations.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Lenovo updated the cooling fan on the T410 by reshaping the fan blades to mimic the wings on an owl. This change lets the fan still push the same amount of air without producing as much sound as previous generation cooling fans. In testing we found the fan to be quieter but the pitch of the noise it produced went from a low to high-frequency note. In terms of cooling performance the T410 can easily cope with the thermal load from integrated graphics as well as dedicated graphics. After being stressed over a period of about an hour with back-to-back benchmarks the hottest spot on the T410 with dedicated graphics was 96-degrees on the bottom. The rest of the notebook including the palmrest and keyboard stayed comfortable. The T410 with integrated graphics saw a two to three-degree drop across the board with a hot spot measuring 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery Life
Users looking to get the most runtime out of their new ThinkPad will love the new 9-cell battery. Lenovo quietly bumped the 9-cell from the previous 84Wh capacity to a new 94Wh model. The change makes the battery look slightly larger but it doesn’t stick out any further from the back of the notebook. The 6-cell battery only got a 1Wh bump to 57Wh. In our battery test with the screen brightness set 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 on a balanced profile the dedicated graphics model with 9-cell battery lasted for 7 hours and 30 minutes while the integrated graphics model with 6-cell battery stayed on for 5 hours and 43 minutes. Power consumption on the integrated graphics model was between 9 and 10 watts during the test with the dedicated graphics model pushing as high as 12 watts.

Conclusion
The full-redesigned Lenovo ThinkPad T410 offers quite a few enhancements over the previous generation T400, including less keyboard flex, an updated keyboard, a nicer touchpad, huge improvement in port selection, and better component access through the chassis. The new design is not without its flaws though as we have seen some areas like the screen cover show more flex than we would like. Overall the pros far outweigh the cons with the new T410 and as always the newest generation offers a substantial bump in performance. Compared to the last T400 we reviewed we saw an increase of almost 100% in 3DMark06 performance and almost half the time in wPrime. While it would be hard to say it is worth upgrading a T400 to this newer model--if you have an aging T60 or T61--now might be the time to upgrade.

Pros:

• Very fast
• Increased battery capacities
• Excellent port selection

Cons:

• Screen shows some distortion when flexing
• High pitched fan could be annoying

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Review MSI Wind U135

The Wind U135 is the one of the newest netbooks from MSI in the 10-inch form-factor. Packed with the Intel Pine Trail platform this netbook promises increased battery life and performance compared to models still using the previous Intel Atom chipset. Our longest lasting notebook to date is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE, clocking in at over 12 hours with average use. In this review we put the MSI Wind U135 through its paces and see how well it stacks up against the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE which offers a nearly identical hardware configuration.

MSI Wind U135 Specifications:

• Windows 7 Starter Edition (32-bit)
• 10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA (1024x600)
• Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB, 512KB Cache)
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM onboard (1 slot available)
• Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
• 250GB Seagate 5400.6 Hard Drive
• 802.11BGN 1T1R Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• 4-in-1 media card slot
• Dimensions: 10.24"(L) x 7.09"(D) x 0.74"~1.24"(H)
• Weight: 2.87lbs(not including weight of AC adapter)
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5200mAh, 58Wh)
• Retail Price: $329

Build and Design
The MSI Wind U135 offers a simple design with a clean, high-contrast color scheme. The screen is covered with a “Color Film Print Technology” that closely resembles the Imprint finish on HP notebooks. It offers greater durability than a simple painted glossy surface while still allowing artwork to be worked in with the design. MSI went with a very simplistic weave pattern on the U135 that blends in well with the features of the netbook. The pattern is also copied inside the notebook over the touchpad surface. MSI keeps the painted silver look inside the notebook, but instead of keeping the weave pattern, it shifts to a textured silver paint. It has the look of a matte finish while still maintaining the smooth feel of a glossy paint job. The glossy black screen bezel and keyboard tray look great with the silver and move the mirror-finish glossy parts away from where your hands and palms will always be smudging.

Build quality is average compared to most netbooks, with a durable outer shell when the cover is closed and plenty of screen protection. The glossy finish is scratch resistant to a degree but would still show damage if abused. For the average user stuffing it into a backpack between classes or using it for travel it should keep a scratch-free look for a long time. The keyboard and palmrest show some flex under strong pressure but it doesn’t interfere with normal typing.

Users looking to upgrade any components will be in for a surprise when they notice there are no access panels on the bottom of the U135. To swap out the wireless card, hard drive, or add a stick of memory you need to split the case in half. One advantage the U135 has over other netbooks is its open memory slot. The 1GB of base memory is soldered in place, so it leaves one slot open for future upgrades. Netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE need to have the 1GB stick swapped out for a 2GB stick which costs significantly more for the same end result.

Screen and Speakers
The Wind U135 offers a 10” glossy LED-backlit display that rates below average compared to other similarly sized netbooks. On our review model we noticed significant backlight bleed around all the edges when the brightness is near the top of the scale. During the boot sequence this is especially visible when the backgrounds are black. Turning the backlight down to 50-70% reduced the bleed, but it was still slightly visible if you were in a dark room watching a movie. Color and contrast are comparable to other competing netbooks thanks to the glossy screen surface. If the backlight bleed was lessened it would be a great machine to watch movies on while traveling. At peak brightness the screen is easy to read in bright office conditions and outdoors if you are in an area that the sun wasn’t reflecting off the screen. Viewing angles are average with the vertical viewing range spanning 15-20 degrees forward or back before colors started to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, keeping colors looking true even at steep angles.

Speaker performance is average compared to most netbooks on the market, meaning that they lacked volume and any hint of bass compared to a full-size notebook. For most users the speakers are great if you want to watch a quick streaming video clip or listen to some music in the background, but if you intend on watching a movie, headphones are the preferred option.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the MSI Wind U135 is a near carbon-copy of the keyboard seen on the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE. They are Chiclet-style keyboards and share the same layout, key size, and key shape. The only visible differences are the printed labels which appear bolded on the MSI version. Comparing both models side-by-side the U135 feels more solid and attached to the frame, whereas the keyboard on the 1005PE bounces slightly. Tactile feedback is nearly identical with the same key strength and noise when fully pressed.

Out of the box the touchpad is disappointing, lacking any specific driver or utility support. Just like the X-Slim X340, MSI didn’t include any sort of manufacturer-specific touchpad support out of the box, instead relying on the basic Windows drivers. The end result is a laggy touchpad with no scrolling or multi-touch capability.

Turning to the internet we found Sentelic touchpad drivers listed on the MSI website for the U135, but they were not originally included on our review model or recovery partition. After installing the software the touchpad sprung to life and even offered various two-finger multi-touch features. The touchpad surface was better than average with a matte finish that was easy to slide across, compared to some of the glossy touchpads we have seen on the latest notebooks. The touchpad buttons shared the same rocker-style switch, but the button was flexible enough that both sides could be pressed at the same time with minimal effort.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the MSI Wind U135 is comparable to competing netbooks, offering three USB ports, audio jacks, VGA-out, Ethernet, and an SDHC-card reader. For security a Kensington Lock slow as also included.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: Battery

Left: Kensington Lock slot, AC-power, two USB

Right: One USB, SDHC-card slot, audio jacks, VGA-out, LAN

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance for day-to-day activities is good for a netbook but still falls short of a lot of the new ultra-portables coming out with the Intel CULV processors. The trade-off has always been power consumption, with increased battery life on netbooks. We didn’t have any problem surfing the web or going to sites with flash content, including YouTube. HD streaming content is still a problem but SD content showed no stuttering problems. Locally played HD videos in resolutions lower than or equal to 720P played fine, with 1080P content pushing it over the edge. Boot, shutdown, and standby times were very quick, letting you close the lid and pop it into your backpack without the concern that it is going to stay running while packed away. Compared to most netbooks we feel a lot of the speed increases for normal activities came from Windows 7 and not necessarily the faster Pine Trail platform.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
The MSI wind U135 handled heat remarkably well but at the cost of the fan continuously running. Even when left idle for long periods of time the fan on the U135 would stay running at a slow but constant speed. The air blowing out from the exhaust vent was roughly room temperature, making us wonder why the fan wouldn’t just turn off with it being so cool internally. For users with sensitive ears or those who might be working in a small quiet classroom the fan noise is just loud enough to be heard by those directly around you. It is at or very near the volume of a whisper.

Battery Life
With the last Pine Trail netbook managing over 12 hours of battery life, we had high hopes for the MSI Wind U135. Sadly this is not the case, even though they shared the same hardware except for the wireless card and battery capacity (The U135 is 5Wh less). In our battery test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 set to the “Balanced” profile the system stayed on for just 6 hours and 30 minutes. During the test the U135 consumed between 7.5 and 8.5 watts of power. During the same test the Eee PC 1005PE stayed on for 12 hours and 1 minute, consuming 4.5 to 4.7 watts of power. To bring the systems to an equal playing field we even swapped in the Atheros Wi-Fi card from the 1005PE to see if that was the culprit, but power consumption stayed the same. Our guess is the level of hardware tweaking on the MSI Wind isn’t as extensive as it is on the Eee PC 1005PE, showing that even with identical hardware you can have significant and tangible differences between netbook models.

Conclusion
The MSI Wind U135 fell short compared to the competition in terms of software support and battery life. Out of the box the U135 was missing any sort of touchpad software--including on the restore partition--greatly reducing the features. We later found the drivers included on the MSI support website, which brought multi-touch options, as well as simple features like scrolling. Another huge downside to this particular netbook is the battery life, having half the battery life of the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE with the same hardware and only a slightly larger battery. This massive difference in battery life comes from the increased power consumption: The U135 draws almost 8 watts at idle and the 1005PE uses less than 5 watts. Overall the MSI Wind U135 lacked a great deal of polish, but with improvements in power consumption and software out of the box, it would be a great little netbook.

Pros:

• Good design
• Capable touchpad with proper drivers
• Nice keyboard

Cons:

• Half the battery life of other Pine Trail netbooks
• Missing touchpad software out of the box

From :

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5514

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HP Mini 5102 Review

If you're looking for a netbook with great battery life and good durability then the new HP Mini 5102 might be exactly what you need. You can even configure this netbook with a touchscreen for a tablet-like experience. Keep reading to find out if this business-class netbook is worth the price.

Our HP Mini 5102 features the following specifications:

• Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Starter (32-bit)
• Processor: Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB)
• Memory: 1GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• Storage: 160GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
• Display: 10.1-inch diagonal (1024x600)
• Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
• Wireless: Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
• Expansion: 4-in-1 media card slot
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.91-1.25 x 10.4 x 7.25 inches (including feet)
• Weight: 2.64 lb with 4-cell battery (not including weight of AC adapter).
• Power: Standard 4-cell (28WHr)Lithium-ion battery or 6-cell (66WHr) extended-life battery
• Warranty: One-year standard warranty
• Starting price: $749.00 $599.00 $399.00 as of 2/1/2010
  

Our configuration of the HP Mini 5102 is not available for sale at the time of this writing. The closest configuration to our review unit currently available is the HP Mini 5102 model WH236UA ($899.00) which features a total of 2GB of system memory and HP Mobile Broadband (powered by Gobi) with GPS.

Build and Design
The HP Mini 5102 looks like a minor update to last year's Mini 5101 ... essentially a netbook version of HP's "ProBook" line of laptops designed for small and medium businesses. In fact, the Mini 5102 looks like what we would expect to see if someone shrunk down the HP ProBook 4510s to something small enough to fit inside a purse. The Mini 5102 is roughly one inch thick and weighs less than 3 pounds despite a very durable chassis that feels like it can handle years of abuse in your briefcase or backpack. The nearly full-size keyboard makes typing quick emails or editing documents a breeze ... even if you have to work on the tray table in coach class during a business flight. The traditional clamshell-like design gives the Mini 5102 a very clean look and the all-metal chassis means serious business. The brushed metal lid features a durable black finish and only suffers from a slight amount of flex under heavy pressure.

When open, the rubberized metal chassis and glossy black surfaces highlight the keyboard and 10-inch display. The thick bezel surrounding the matte screen offers additional protection and a place to keep your fingers off the screen when opening the netbook. The bezel is also needed in order to provide enough space for the larger keyboard. That said, I can't shake the feeling that the Mini 5102 would look better with either a larger screen or a smaller screen bezel. The screen hinges are made of metal and offer the perfect amount of resistance. You can pick up the Mini 5102 by the edge of the screen without feeling like something is going to break. While we're on the topic of carrying the netbook around, you can order the 5102 with an optional handle that is built-in to the chassis next to the battery for easy transport ... essentially turning the netbook into a tiny briefcase PC. The Mini 5102 is also available in red and blue just in case black isn't your color of choice.

HP engineers also added a few nice little features to the design of the Mini 5102 that I really appreciated. First, the battery features a button and LED meter so that you can quickly see how much charge is left in the battery. Four blue lights mean you've got a full charge and three blue LEDs and one blinking LED means you have somewhere between 75% and 100% remaining. Sure, the on-screen battery meter is more accurate but this little feature let's you know if you need to bring your AC adapter without powering on your netbook.

Another nice feature is the quick release switch for the RAM cover. Simply release the battery and then slide the right-side battery release switch all the way to the left and you can instantly pop off the cover for the RAM module. This makes upgrading the RAM nice and easy. I actually wish more netbooks made upgrading the RAM as easy as this.

Screen and Speakers
The 10.1-inch screen on the Mini 5102 is a nice LED-backlit display panel with a 1024x600 native resolution. The matte screen surface is a welcome change compared to the glossy screens we usually see in netbooks. The matte surface helps to prevent glare and reflection on the surface of the screen under bright indoor lights and helps improve sunlight readability. Despite the nice matte screen surface, we really wish the 5102 used an 11.6-inch screen and 1366x768 resolution seen on many modern netbooks. A resolution of 1024x600 is okay in a pinch, but many websites just don't look right without a minimum vertical resolution of 768 pixels. On that note, HP includes at least some software optimized for lower-resolution screens. Corel Home Office (compatible with Microsoft Office) comes pre-loaded with this netbook and the Corel software looks much better than using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint on the tiny screen.

Vertical viewing angles are average with some color distortion when viewing from below and some over-exposed colors when viewed from above. Horizontal viewing angles are better with colors remaining unchanged at extremely wide viewing angles; you won't have trouble sharing a YouTube video with friends using this display.

The built-in speaker performance on the Mini 5102 is good for a 10-inch netbook but it's obviously weaker than a typical 14-inch or 15-inch notebook PC. I'm not a fan of the location of the built-in speakers since they're located on the bottom front edge of the netbook, but the audio quality doesn't suffer from any distortion issues until you get to maximum volume levels. The speakers lack much bass, but the range of highs and midtones are perfectly enjoyable. Again, the only major problem I had with the speakers is that they sound muffled if you use the netbook on your lap.

Granted, most audiophiles will want to use external speakers or headphones for a better listening experience ... but the built-in speakers work well in a pinch. The audio output from the headphone jack produced some high frequency background noise/distortion with one of the headphones we used during testing, but other headphones worked fine with no distortion.

Keyboard and Touchpad
As previously mentioned, the HP Mini 5102 features a large, spill-resistant keyboard that is 95% of full size. Most of the primary keys are the same size as the keys you'll find on a typical notebook and the spacing is likewise normal, but the space bar and some of the keys that are used less frequently are smaller than normal. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you may not like this keyboard. That said, I personally prefer the "Chiclet" style keyboard used on this netbook since there is more space between the keys to prevent me from accidentally hitting the wrong key when working in tight quarters. The keys offer just the right amount of feedback and modest amount of "click and clack" noise while typing. I didn't notice any flex in the keyboard even when I applied significant typing pressure. In short, I found the Mini 5102 was a joy to use when typing.

The Synaptics touchpad used on the Mini 5102 is a traditional single-input touchpad. This seems a bit odd since most netbooks now offer multi-touch touchpads with gesture-enabled models that allow you to use multi-figure gestures such as "pinching" your fingers together or "pulling" your fingers apart to zoom in or out. Granted, the touchpad is probably a little too small to make gesture-based controls useful, but it just seems strange to find a single-touch touchpad on a netbook in this price range. Sensitivity and tracking seemed accurate even when you move your finger quickly over the touchpad surface. Speaking of which, the touchpad is covered in a glossy smooth surface that sometimes makes it easy to slide your finger across the surface and other times causes your finger to "skip" across the surface because of the lack of texture/traction. The left and right touchpad buttons are located beneath the touchpad and each button has shallow feedback with cushioned clicks when pressed.

Input and Output Ports
In terms of port selection the HP Mini 5102 offers the average bells and whistles we've come to expect on netbooks. You get three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, dedicated headphone and microphone jacks, Ethernet port, a VGA output and a dedicated wireless on/off switch.

Here is a quick tour around the HP Mini 5102:

Front view: No ports here, just the dedicated wireless on/off switch and speakers.

Rear view: No ports here either, just the hinges and battery.

Left side view: Power jack, VGA out, vent, and two USB 2.0 ports.

Right side view: 4-in-1 card reader, headphone jack, microphone jack, USB 2.0 port, Ethernet, and security lock slot.

Performance and Benchmarks
The new Mini 5102 with the Intel Atom N450 processor didn’t show any obvious performance benefits compared to older netbooks using the Atom N280. Both processors offer the same specifications including a 1.66GHz clock speed, 667MHz FSB, and 512KB L2 cache. The main feature the N450 offers is the newer Intel GMA 3150 graphics whereas the N280 gets stuck with the GMA 950. In our synthetic performance tests the Mini 5102 produced almost identical performance numbers as the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE ... a netbook with identical specs and a much lower price tag.

The newer GMA 3150 integrated graphics gives the system a small boost in 3Dmark06 compared to previous generation netbooks and seems to handle HD video better. In our HD video tests the Mini 5102 had no problem playing our 720P trailer of Up!, but 1080P playback delivered dropped frames and audio sync issues. Flash video had some problems out of the box, but after installing the newest Flash 10 beta we didn't have problems with low-resolution video clips. YouTube clips running at 720P still suffer from some stuttering in both Internet Explorer and Firefox, but not as bad as it was before the updated Flash plugin. Although the Mini 5102 feels a little "snappier" than older netbooks, this has more to do with the system running Windows 7 instead of Windows XP.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
External temperatures on the new HP Mini 5102 are quite comfortable and typical of most current-generation netbooks. Temperature readings taken from the outside of the plastic chassis remained "lap friendly" during normal use. The only time that temperature readings spiked was when I stressed the GPU and CPU when playing games.

The cooling fan runs constantly, but the noise isn't particularly loud unless you are in a perfectly quiet room. Chances are good that you'll never notice the fan in a typical office environment or classroom.

Below are images indicating the external temperature readings (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) taken inside our office where the ambient temperature was 74 degrees Fahrenheit:

Battery
Battery life with the extended-life lithium-ion battery is quite good. In our test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active and refreshing websites at a regular interval, the Mini 5102 stayed on for 8 hours and 43 minutes of constant use. This means you should be able to spend all day surfing the web at a coffee shop without needing to bring your AC adapter if you purchase the Mini 5102 with the 6-cell battery. If you lower the screen brightness and allow the netbook to enter sleep or hibernate modes then you should easily be able to squeeze more than 10 hours of life out of the battery.

Conclusion (UPDATED)
When we first reviewed the HP Mini 5102 someone at HP had the bright idea to try and sell this netbook for twice the price of similar netbooks. Thankfully, HP has updated the pricing for this excellent business-class netbook and we can update our review. The current starting price of the HP Mini 5102 with 4-cell battery is just $399.00 ... making this one of the best values among current-generation, Atom-based netbooks.

The Mini 5102 offers fantastic build quality, delivers solid battery life numbers, and comes with some nice pre-loaded software. Unfortunately, the screen is only average, the touchpad is "blah" and the overall performance is no better than netbooks costing the same amount of money. We would have liked to see a higher resolution display, a better processor and better graphics, but the excellent build quality and reasonable price should be be enough to justify the purchase for most consumers and small business owners.

As long as you don't buy a configuration priced above $700 the the HP Mini 5102 is indeed a good value for a business-class netbook.

Pros:

• Great build quality
• Nice keyboard
• Good pre-loaded software

Cons:

• Too expensive
• Weak Atom processor
• Average touchpad (no multi-touch)

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