My Use – HP 5101

Finding the right netbook is always annoying these days since they are updating them consistently. I wanted a machine that I take around, very light but yet powerful and can handle a good amount of multi-tasking. The previous HP Mini was nicely designed but was really lacking punch, now they have done a great job with 5101 and the features of it. I have now used it for a few months and really put it through its paces, traveling with me for weeks on end, using it on planes, in cafes and carrying it in a small bang and taking a few bangs on the way. Overall I think it turned out to be a better laptop then I expected but the price and not being able to play 720p video crisply brought it down from 5 out of 5 to 4 out of 5, I think HP is taking the right steps.


Pros:

  • Fast Loading SSD
  • Very Long Lasting Battery 4 – 6.5 hours depending on Screen Brightness
  • Handle Most software
  • Excellent quality and Build, very nice exterior, clean cut and nice keyboard
  • Very Light
  • Perfect 11.1 Inch Screen
  • N280 Intel Atom Processor does the job
  • WWAN Card works with Viva, Wataniya, and Zain
  • Very nice feel to the keyboard
  • The fan isn’t loud when cooling
  • When running for long periods it doesn’t get too hot like previous models

Cons:

  • Doesn’t Play 720p videos as promised
  • Lacking CD Slot (As can be expected from a netbook)
  • Price a bit steep with the SSD option, just going over $1000

Rating:
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Yahoo Widgets, Killing Me Softly

I like the available widgets available from Yahoo Widgets, so I run a few widgets on my machine. A machine running Windows XP Pro, 2 GB, Quad Core Processor, and a good amount of space. This is the machine that I mainly use, opening about 3-4 windows with 20 – 30 tabs each, running my ftp program, extracting files, and all the other multi-tasking that I do. I usually keep it on for weeks, but I noticed that recently my computer gets heavy after some time. I restarted the machine, defragmented all the hard drives, cleaned out the cache assuming that things will be running smoothly, a week later it got really slow for no reason. I checked out the running processes and Yahoo Widgets was hogging about 25% of the Ram which caused the huge slowdown, once I killed the application/process it was running smoothly. I do get annoyed that it hogs so much memory after running for a while, but I still use it and restart it more often, I think they should find a solution for that. (Click picture for a larger version)