HP Mini 2140: First third-generation netbook

By Dan Ackerman on 06 January 2009, 1:00pm

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After the initial 7-inch Celeron versions and the second wave of 9- and 10-inch Intel Atom-powered systems, we're finally seeing the third wave of netbook laptops.

Now that the plastic-clad, Atom-powered consumer version has become a hit, HP's business side is taking another crack at the netbook market with a radically updated version, the HP Mini 2140.

The HP Mini 2140 keeps the aluminium construction and large keyboard, but updates the components to an Intel Atom CPU, and hard-drive options that include standard platter drives up to 160GB and solid-state drives up to 80GB. The LED display is 10.1 inches, with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Even though the Mini 1000 only launched a few months ago, HP was actually an early player in the netbook field. The company came up with the 2133 Mini-Note in spring last year, with a solid brushed-metal chassis and a nearly full-sized keyboard.

Unfortunately, the 2133 Mini-Note predated Intel's Atom CPU, and, rather than using the Celeron processor that came with the very first netbooks, HP went with an underpowered Via C7-M, which pretty much ruined any chance the device had of becoming a mainstream product.

Two new additions that threaten to make this our favourite new netbook are an accelerometer for the hard drive and a full ExpressCard/54 slot -- a netbook first (Lenovo's S10 has a smaller Express Card/34 slot).

The HP Mini 2140 is expected in the UK in February, costing £379. Click through to see an image of the laptop and trackpad.