HP Compaq Mini 311c (aka HP Mini 311)

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

ION LE was said to support DX9 only but truth is it's DX9 enabled only in LE driver, install the normal ION driver and you get up to DX10 support it seems under Windows 7 (not tested in Vista).

Anyway.... Win 7 dxdiag reports DX11 is installed and the DD driver is running Direct Draw 10 - super stuff.

So I sold my NC10 ages ago and have been waiting for ION, I knew Adobe are outing a GPU accelerated update for Flash HD soon so now was the time to get an ION and it was a flip between the Samsung N510 and this and I preferred this one's style over the N510 and it cost much less plus supports more/faster memory (3GB).

I have 3GB of DDR3 in the 311c and have an Intel 5300 mini Wireless-N card coming soon.

I have installed Windows 7 Pro x86 on it too and it runs superbly, there is no stuttering or anything, you'd expect as much from GPU accelerated UI anyway :)

HD videos work flawlessly in MPC-HC and everything just works as you'd expect.

Build quality is very good, feels nice and solid, almost one piece. The screen viewing angles are standard for a netbook, it's got pleasing colour vibrancy though which is nice and it is glossy so reflections could be a problem outdoors.

Windows 7 found all drivers out of the box, just install the nvidia chipset drivers from HP and that will get you on your way. To get Aero and DX10 you need to install the official BETA ION drivers from nVidia, manual install and select the 2nd ION driver (not the LE driver) - install takes about 5 mins solid so be patient as it will install AOK :)

HDMI out works well and the audio is by Altec Lansing and comes with a pretty neat control panel for redirecting bass and other features of the HD audio card it has built in.

Pics:

Thumbs up from me, I'd give it 8/10 for superb style/build quality and performance as well as versatility.

[watchthisspace]

That is really nice! But what's the battery life like?

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Aboutr the same as the NC10 which is 5.5~ hours with wifi and video usage :p

[Cheshire Wolf]

Awesome, I'll be picking up one for myself pretty soon. Actually, I think I'll replace my ****ty laptop with it & build a computer sometime around March 2010; I've been reading about the increase in graphics with the regular Ion drivers; Can you tell me how much of an increase you've seen?

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

I installed them right away so unfortunately could not answer that!

[.KICK]

I am tempted between this of the 510. But I might wait and see if HP updates the models with W7 now that its been released. Where did you order from?

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

I got mine from Overclockers UK

[.KICK]

Cool, have you had a chance to try 1080p video via HDMI out yet? N510 does that well apparently.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Yep outputted to a 45" Sharp HDTV, set up to be extended and worked perfectly fine both audio and video.

You do have to change the output audio device in audio control panel but that's nothing major :)

[watchthisspace]

Aboutr the same as the NC10 which is 5.5~ hours with wifi and video usage :p

Wow! I may have to sell this Lenovo S10e!

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

I did have to train the battery on the NC10 I had though so take that in mind :) You'll need to charge cycle it for the first week or so so the battery eases into the routine and reaches optimum levels.`

[.KICK]

Ah cool, also does it come with a slip case? (last question I swear :p) I know the N510 does.

[DrunkenBeard]

Hi,

- I'm glad you're satisfied with the Mini 311, I was gonna gonna grab one next month or so but i'm still not sure if waiting wouldn't be a better idea as ION2 netbooks are expected for Q1 2010. Also, there is a refresh for the 311 enabling ION (standard not LE), more disk capacity and some other nice stuff.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

I'll keep an eye out on the ION 2 as I should still be able to get a decent sum for the 311c if need be but so far so good!

It does not come with a case unfortunately, I am buying a messenger style bag today though so I can keep cables and stuff inside it too.

[Premgenius]

Those Netbooks look so tempting

[bdsams Veteran]

Awesome, I'll be picking up one for myself pretty soon. Actually, I think I'll replace my ****ty laptop with it & build a computer sometime around March 2010; I've been reading about the increase in graphics with the regular Ion drivers; Can you tell me how much of an increase you've seen?

I have the HP Mini 311 and I did get a slight bump in GFX on the windows index score...

I love mine and highly reccomend it to anyone!

[Udedenkz]

Should be getting similar one soon.

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Enjoy your 311c :D

It's a great netbook but ultimately I needed one with a bit more cpu power hence the 13z!

[Udedenkz]

BTW, how hot does your get?

For example, if surfing the internet and playing two 720p videos at once?

[Raa]

HELL YEZ!!! I'll be buying one of those very fast!

Thanks for the writeup too! Glad to see the pad buttons finally move to the bottom, not the sides of the pad. Argh that was a pet hate of mine!

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

It didn't get very hot at all so that was fine but I no longer have the 311c as I upgraded to the Dell 13z for extra CPU and RAM horsepower!

[bdsams Veteran]

this thing makes a heck of a hackentosh too

[Ayepecks]

Netbooks are getting very close to what I'm looking for... I just need a little more power from that Atom (the biggest bottleneck in netbooks) and I'd like to see a 311 without the bezel around the screen (similar to the upcoming Eee -- http://www.liliputing.com/2009/12/asus-eee...l-netbook.html). Slowly but surely, we're getting there :)

Edited December 4, 2009 by Ayepecks

[Raa]

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Don't like the pink, or the brown! :p

[Ayepecks]

I don't like the colors either, but it looks nice regardless. Love the screen, too (and obviously lack of bezel).