14 DAY TRIAL // It looks as if HP's naming scheme of its latest netbook computer systems, the Mini 1000-series, released in late October last year, has led to some serious confusion. Yesterday, the PC vendor was said to be planning the release of yet another series of netbooks, dubbed Mini 1100-series, which was expected to debut with 9 new models, initially. However, according to the latest info, the Palo Alto, California-based company has dismissed allegations of an entire new series of netbooks, consequently confirming that the models posted on the company's website are just different SKUs of the same Mini 1000 range of netbooks.
Following the story, they guys over at CrunchGear have contacted an HP representative who has confirmed that the PC vendor isn't planning to release a new series of netbooks alltogether, and that the supposed Mini 1100 series with an ExpressCard slot has just been a mistake on the part of the web team handling HP's website. The HP representative said:
“We don’t offer a model within the HP Mini 1000 series that has an Express Card slot. There was an error made on our website which is being corrected. But for those customers interested in an HP Mini with an Express Card lot, we do offer the 2140 of course!
…I know this is confusing, but the 1100 models are simply other SKUs within the 1000 series, and differences within the various SKUs can be things like panel size, hard drive, etc., you know? (Though the info on our support website looks a little misleading because it makes it sound like the 1100 is a completely separate/new series.)”
Due to its overall form factor, the HP Mini 1000-series isn't capable of providing an ExpressCard slot, but HP netbook fans can go with the Mini 2140, which provides the aforementioned feature. Also, HP is expected to unveil a new Mini 2150 with integrated 3G connectivity, which will be released in June 2009.