Hewlett-Packard's miracle sub-notebook in the 2133 Mini-Note series has just been released, and rumors about a mid-cycle refresh have already started to emerge. The sub-notebook is one of the most impressive low-cost notebooks on the market and is extremely suitable for both kids and businesses.

The notebook is packed in an aluminum shell and comes with a fully-fledged keyboard, with an 8.9-inch LCD display, able to render screen resolutions of 1280x768 pixels. However, according to market analysts, the most unusual aspect is HP's decision of using VIA's previous generation of slow C-7M processors, instead of Intel's higher-clocked Celeron Mobile chips.

Despite the speed handicap, the manufacturer is pleased with its choice and Robert Baker, HP's notebook product marketing manager claims that this was the right decision. "VIA gave us that right mix of performance and price for the type of environment that this product is going into - content consumption."

Baker also disclosed that another reason for jumping into VIA's bandwagon was time, as the company targeted at releasing the product immediately. Since the Atom processor will be officially unveiled later this year (namely, in June, if everything goes according to the plans), VIA's C7-M was the only viable alternative on the low-power CPU market.

"The other key thing was we were designing for education. We had to bring the product to the market now. A slip of a month kills you," Baker added.

The 2133 Mini-Note device is aimed primarily at the educational market, and immediate release would give institutions the necessary time to "make decisions for purchases they'll roll out during the summer when they're doing the vast majority of their purchases."

However, things could change in the near future with the advent of the unit's mid-cycle refresh. "There will be an interim refresh about six months in," said Baker. "If the Atom is the right processor, that's what we'll go with. We'll look at everything in the market at that time," he continued.

Hewlett Packard will also review the performance delivered by the upcoming Isaiah chip, and it stands a chance if it manages to get publicly available in due time. One thing is certain: no matter the chosen chip, customers will get a significant performance boost with the advent of the 2133 Mini-Note refresh.