After 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?