Free HP110 or $200 HP311 netbook?

[somerichs]

Hi all-

Was hoping someone could give me some recommendations/suggestions.

I have a promotional certificate in the amt of $299.99 towards anything HP. It's the result of ordering verizon fios internet service. The idea is that they give you a free netbook for signing up, but you can use it for anything HP.

I do want to use it towards a netbook for my wife to use, but I'm torn between the HP 110, which would basically be free with my certificate, or the HP 311, which, depending on how I configure it, would end up costing me an additional $100-250 (give or take).

My wife won't be doing anything really intensive, mainly email, web browsing, looking at (and maybe uploading, but not manipulating) photos and the occasional video, and some light word processing; basically the very things for which a netbook is ideal.

She doesn't necessarily need it to be super-portable (taking it all around the house, yes, and occasionally out and about), either, so the 11inch screen isn't a deal-breaker in that respect; in fact, it's probably a much better screen to look at and less scrolling for web pages, etc.

I'd go with the 6 cell battery with either one, that's more than enough for her.

All things being equal, I'd go for the 311. But is it "better enough' at around $200, given how she'll use it, than the basically free 110? Therein lies the rub.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions anyone can provide!

Rich

Originally Posted by somerichs

I have a promotional certificate in the amt of $299.99...to use it towards a netbook for my wife to use, but I'm torn between the HP 110, which would basically be free with my certificate, or the HP 311, which, depending on how I configure it, would end up costing me an additional $100-250 (give or take).

My advice is, if you have to provide some of your wife's computing experience with your gear, buy your wife her own complete setup instead. Go for the bigger, better deal. The more she can easily do on her own, the less you have to get involved.

Indications are that the 311 has better performance.

You really don't want to get into considering if the computer for your wife is worth the extra $250. What if she went shopping and started reasoning if you were really worth the $15 steak or the $3.29 special. Anything you do special for your wife is like putting money in the bank. You get higher interest.

[ThisIsNot]

A properly configured HP Mini 110XP will come out to a price of around $390, increase that to $420 if you want the Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator (highly recommended). That includes the 6-cell battery (which can deliver about 6 hours of usage on a single charge, the 3-cell battery gets less than 3 hours), Atom N280 processor, 160GB hard drive, etc. A nicely configured Mini 311 pushes the $500 boundary.

So you are looking at spending $120 to $200. I have the HP Mini 110XP and it is currently running Windows 7 Ultimate just fine. The specs can playback 720p videos and the Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator can handle 1080p videos without issues. So that will handle the basic video browsing.

However, if you are going to spend $120, you might as well go up to $200 and get something that will last a little longer. The reason why the Nvidia ION platform (which is inside of the Mini 311) will last longer is because it is more powerful than the Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics inside of the Mini 110XP. You can configure the 110 with a Broadcom chip (which is just as powerful as the Nvidia ION) but it is not the primary graphics card. You have to use specific programs that can take advantage of the Broadcom chip.

The ION will provide better general graphical performance. You still need to use specific programs for HD video playback. So go with the Mini 311. A properly configured model will come out to around $520 and that includes Windows 7 Home Premium, a 6-cell battery, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and basic 802.11G wi-fi. Those are much better specs than the Mini 110 in terms of hard drive size and included RAM.

[wanna]

I had the same coupon and just ended up going with a HP Mini 110-1125NR Netbook.

And here are the reasons...
1) The model above has free shipping, windows 7, and a 6 cell battery; which came out to 374.49 with tax and shipping. The same model 'configured' came out to $416.22 with shipping and taxes.

2) The mini 311 is what, almost $459 with taxes and shipping, for that price I recommend the dm3t series laptop which has 10 hours battery life, a toned down conroe and DDR3 memory. With an online coupon (-$20) and the $299 certificate it comes out to about $290 out of pocket.

Look online for coupons like couponsdeluxe.com, you can find great stackable coupons to take added discounts off.

Also, HP is doing a $40-$60 off printers with a purchase of a PC including the mini's so I was able to get a Deskjet all in one for only $29 with free shipping.

Anyways, with the coupon I was able to get the Mini 110-1125NR and the Deskjet F4280 for $101 shipped.

[ThisIsNot]

Originally Posted by wanna

I had the same coupon and just ended up going with a HP Mini 110-1125NR Netbook.

The only issue is that model is not HD video capable. That is pretty much the main reason to get the Mini 311 or a custom configured Mini 110. Adobe is starting to support these HD hardware accelerated devices and so are other companies such as Nero, Arcsoft, CyberHome, etc.

It would be a shame to purchase a netbook now that isn't HD video capable especially since the entire netbook market is headed that way. It is only a matter of time before there will be only HD capable netbooks on the market.

[Dominick]

Awesome work, just keep it up