14 DAY TRIAL // HP, a leading systems vendor and the company responsible for the Mini-Note 2133, has announced yesterday plans to release a new version of its high-end netbook that, since it is not yet officially termed in any way, we might as well call 2.0. However, unlike the previous product, the new "mini-note" will be designed to compete with more conventional netbooks, such as ASUS' Eee PC or MSI's Wind.
This means that the price of HP's upcoming mini-note netbook will also be in the same range as its competitors. And that's because the company wants to place its product in a better retail market, one that provides a higher number of potential users.
"From a retail perspective we're looking at a similar device [to the 2133] but at a lower cost," said Jerel Chong, HP Australia's Market Development Manager for Notebook PCs, during yesterday's launch of HP's business mobility products for the second half of 2008. "It won't be as durable but it will be cheaper." he added.
As some of you already know, the company's current Mini-Note is considered the highest-performance netbook on the market. This came to be because HP differentiated the 2133 from the rest of its competitors by providing the product with pre-installed Vista Business and by using features such as anodized aluminum chassis, spill-resistant keyboard, and a shock-proof hard drive with 3D accelerometer, features that are mostly provided for some commercial notebooks. This set the Mini-Note's price tag at $889, whereas most netbooks are priced between $599-$699.
Unfortunately, we can't say whether the upcoming Mini-Note will be based on the same Intel Atom processor as most of its competitors. When HP first introduced its Mini-Note 2133, the Atom wasn't available, which prompted the company to resort to a VIA C7-M processor.
The news about HP's Mini-Note follow-up model could make Toshiba reconsider its product strategy, as it looks that the "premium netbook" market isn't very impressive, when compared with the mainstream one.