HP Compaq Mini 311c (aka HP Mini 311)


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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:

laptop_311c_vs_magic.jpg

laptop_311c_front.jpg

laptop_311c_profile.jpg

laptop_311c_profile2.jpg

laptop_311c_trackpad.jpg

laptop_311c_vs_dinovo-kb.jpg

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

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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?

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.

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.

  • 4 weeks later...
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!

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 by Ayepecks
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