Mini-Note Mini Post- Why I’m Sticking with The 2140
Posted on 22 February 2009, at 11:26 am, by Dan Cohen
One of the devices I have had and sold in recent years is the Fujitsu P1510. It was quite nice as a small but usable convertible tablet PC, but at over $2000 new it was PRICEY. Ultimately, I sold it while I could still recoup most of the sticker price.
The other day I saw that my friend Jamie, who churns devices even more than me, was selling a mint P1610 for just $550. (Yup, prices for used gear have dropped THAT much!). (Side note- Jamie is selling it because she just got a loaded MacBook Air. Mind you this is my friend who HATED Apple products and now owns an Air, an iPhone and an iPod Touch. No, it’s not relevant to this post but for all her Mac-hating she deserves to get called-out publicly.)
Anyhow…
Seeing as my HP2140 is all but brand new and Jamie takes great care of her gear (and it is rarely in her possession long enough to get damaged) I thought about swapping out my 2140 for it. Hey, it would be about the same dollar-wise and, while the 2140 is a netbook, when new, the P1610 is a $2000+ premium machine.
I didn’t go for the P1610 however and here is why.
Keyboard-
The P1610 has a nice keyboard for a device of it’s size. The keyboard on the HP 2140, however, is fantastic!! There really is no comparison in my opinion.
Track Pad-
I don’t LOVE the trackpad on the 2140 but I like the pointer-stick on the P1610 even less.
Heat-
One of my big gripes with notebooks, tablets in particular, is the heat they give off. All reports are that, while not scalding, like the P1510 before it, the P1610 gives of noticeable heat. According to SlashGear’s review- “Booting up is quick, the U1400 processor working hard and kicking out a surprising amount of heat; the P1610’s fan is rarely silent.”
With its Atom processor, however, the 2140 is one cool customer. This is even more the case now that it is running an SSD drive.
Hackability-
While the HP mini-note series isn’t known for it’s hackintosh-ability the way the MSI Wind and Dell Mini are, there IS an active community working on getting Mac OS X working perfectly. For me that is the holy Grail of netbooking and I can’t wait to have OS X running on my 2140.
(Not So Heavy) Metal-
I’ve been spoiled by my MacBook and it’s gorgeous aluminum case. The HP 2140 sports metal too while the P1610 is… Plastic.
I know, I know, it is a bit shallow of me but I love the way the 2140 looks and feels.
So at the end of the day I’m sticking with the 2140 and someone will get an awesome deal on Jamie’s P1610. The 2140 is light, runs for a long long time, is cool and is eminently usable for most of my computing needs. Even better, knowing my friend, there will be a slightly-used but perfect-condition, top of the line Air available in the not-so-distant future. 
Related posts:
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 am
Part 1:
OK OK OK — I deserve the Apple-consumer mockery. It's true that I have essentially "switched" but I don't feel great about it! I miss the flexibility of other OSs but I can't deny that life is easier and way more fun in Appleland. Sigh…
Gotta provide a counter-argument to some points about the p1610 though! First, the pointer stick thing is not as easy to use as a track pad but you're forgetting about the other method of navigating screen space: TOUCH. Hah! Is your 2140 a touchscreen device? I think not!
Also, the heat factor: my p1610 has never been too hot to handle. The p1510 might have had that problem but I've never had a scorched lap or hand.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 am
Part 2:
Next, the plastic is what allows this tiny tablet to weigh 2.2 lbs. They keyboard could be less chicklety, but I have always been impressed with the manufacturing in general, and definitely how it feels when you're carrying it or using it…
Which leads me to my last point: TABLET! The mini-note will never be a tablet! The p1610, however, has all of the mininote's features with the exception of (easy) hackability.
So, take that!
Your Apple-convert friend,
Jamie
P.S. I still haven't opened the Air. I'm giving myself another day to think about it before I take the plunge. Gotta be sure when your'e talking about that much moola!