Seeking Opinions: Netbook LCD Displays?
mjgraves | February 22, 2009After following Tim Higgins saga trying various netbooks I’ve pretty much settled upon the HP2140 as the one I want to buy. I seems like a really nice device with fine build quality.
However, the model presently available has a 10″ display with resolution of 1024 x 576 pixels. There is soon supposed to be a new model with an “HD” display that’s 1366 x 768 pixels. This model is anticipated in “late February or early March.”
I’ve been waiting for the availability of the improved display, but my work schedule is such that I could really use the device soon. I’m expecting a lot of travel in the coming weeks.
This past week I was in Staples and took a few minutes to post a Tweet from the sample HP Mini 1000NR that was on display. This consumer model is nowhere near as nice as the 2140, but the 8.9″ display is 1024 x 576…like the existing 2140 model.
This evening, in trying to test my needs I set my laptops display to 1024 x 768 to see what that would be like when accessing things I use a lot like Outlook, WordPress, Google Reader, etc. It seems serviceable thus far. My laptop, a one year old HP 8510p, has a 15″ display that normally runs at 1680 x 1050 pixels.
Over at Small Net Builder Tim Higgins has suggested that the higher resolution display might actually be a problem. He says that the resulting smaller font is actually harder to see, which could make waiting for the new model kinda pointless.
So I put to you the question, do I need the higher resolution display? Is it worth the wait? Is it beneficial or just another round in the game of specsmanship?
I’m a resolution whore personally, so I’d probably wait for the higher res screen, but it really depends on what you’ll be using it for. The unix geek in me is screaming that as long as there’s enough resolution for a terminal or two it’s all good.
Waiting was never my strong suit. I’ve been waiting about a month, but I’m getting impatient.
It just kills me to spend long flights bored and idle because I just can’t use my laptop. I have a lot of work on the west coast for the next 8 weeks. Expecting a lot of travel between Houston and SFO.
This just in via Twitter from@ vansadil
I talked to an hp rep today, HD resolution on 2140 not until late April now!
I’ve had three HP notebooks. Two of them had motherboard failures within 18 months, always after the 12-month deadline. Never again for me. Bite the bullet and spend a little more. You can buy a refurb MacBook Air for under $1,000. You’ll never look back.
My last two company supplied notebooks were HP business series products. I’ve really liked them, certainly compared to the Dell Inspiron trash that was the old company standard issue.
And it’s not a matter of price either. We get some fairly good spec hardware, spending $1k5 each in most cases. Actually, I’ve been buying mine at the HP SMB Outlet. They have overstocks and refurbs at a discount, usually with an extended warranty.
I learned the value of extended warranties when I once put a 20 oz coffee into a Del laptop just a day before a large project was due.
However nice the Apple product might be my employer requires that we used PCs as we manufacture PC based products. Macs see limited use in our company.
I’ll be ordering the HP2140 shortly. I can’t wait another two months for the better display.
Confirmation that the new display on the HP 2140 has been further delayed. It was shown as “coming soon” on the companies web site, but that reference has been removed.
Ok, so I finally ordered the little beast last evening. I ordered a standard configuration from a vendor holding inventory. Paid for overnight delivery. Hopefully it will arrive by the end of the week so I can take it with me next week.
One pity is that the XP home version, all of them, are only offered with 1GB of RAM. I may end up swapping that out myself. The unit has one SODIMM and is offered with 2GB in its Vista versions.