HP Mini 311 to Sport NVIDIA ION-LE Chipset, 11.6-Inch Display

With Microsoft's Windows 7 OS launch just a few weeks away, it looks like major PC vendors are gearing up to provide their customers with the much-anticipated NVIDIA ION-based systems that were reportedly held off until the debut of the said OS. With that in mind, rumors of a new HP Mini series of laptops have recently surfaced on the Internet, pointing to a new Mini 311 laptop that will combine Intel's highly successful Atom N270 processor with the NVIDIA ION-LE edition, to provide users with an 11.6-inch netbook that can offer HD video support.

According to a recent article that has surfaced on notebookitalia, the new netbook will be available with both the HP Mini (311) and the Compaq Mini (311c) branding. The system will be configured with an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, coupled with 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive and the NVIDIA ION-LE graphics chip, powering the 11.6-inch (1366 x 768-pixel) display. Obviously, as you'd expect from a system in its category, the laptop is also featured with all the casual connectivity options, including Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, a 5-in-1 card reader and three USB 2.0 ports.

The system is built on NVIDIA's ION-LE, which will enable the PC vendor to market it with Microsoft's Windows XP Home SP3, as the chipset comes with DirectX 9.0 graphics. The Mini 311 (or Compaq Mini-311C) measures 289 x 204 x 19.8-30.6mm and will, apparently, sport a weight of 1.46kg, with a six-cell Lithium Ion battery pack. Users will be able to benefit from 92% of the full keyboard size and a touchpad with two select buttons.

HP's new, NVIDIA ION-based system will be available in Europe in two colors, namely black and white, but prices are yet to be unveiled.