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Ion Powered Netbook Gaming? - HP Mini 311 |
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Outstanding value you say? Well yes - the HP Mini 311 Ion-based notebook appears to be a bargain at a $399 price point entry into the US market. It outperforms most other netbooks in many technical areas with only a few exceptions. The HP Mini 311 offers improvements in high-def playback, and gaming capability in comparison to current laptops in it's price and size class. |
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The classy Hewlett Packard design includes a black (or white) lid with the HP Swirl logo pattern and a silver deck. The speaker grille is along the front edge and the battery is nicely hidden within the chassis. The HP mini 311 weighs just 3.2 pounds, with a compact keyboard and touch-pad. The resolution of 1366 x 768 on the 11.6-inch display screen is excellent and you can crisply view Web pages. Audio is provided by hidden Altec Lansing stereo speakers. USB port selection includes one on the left side and two on the right. There are additional ports for HDMI, Ethernet, VGA, headphones and memory card. Like many other netbooks, the Mini 311 sports 1GB of RAM and uses a 1.60-Ghz Intel Atom N270 processor. However, setting it above most other netbooks, the Mini 311 utilizes the Nvidia Ion LE GPU rather than an integrated Intel chipset. Measured for graphic performance, the 311 scored far above average on Laptop Magazine's 3DMar06 test. It scored an impressive 1,386 compared to the category average of just 106, and tested superior to competitors like Gateway's LT3103u, Dell Latitude 2100 and Toshiba's mini NB205-N210. This high score triumphs over technology like Intel GMA 4500MHD or Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics. It remains relatively cool when used for video playback or gaming and does not generate excessive heat. The HP mini 311 notebook has excellent battery life with its six-cell lithium ion battery. It lasted just shy of six hours in testing, which is only a half hour shorter than average. The system is outfitted with Windows XP Home, 1GB of Ram and a 160GB hard drive and comes with a one year limited warranty. Upgrade options are affordable and easily installed. In short the HP mini 311 is an outstanding new system that is very affordable. Darren Gladstone over at PC world managed to play Call of Duty - Modern Warfare on the 311. However, it can't play all the latest processor sapping 3D games, and it wasn't designed to do so. You'll have to check the manufacturers recommended specs for each new game you buy for your HP 311. One thing's certain, when you compare the performance of this mini at $399 to Apple's MacBook Air at $1,995 you will see that the 311 does indeed offer outstanding value for money. By Cheaperlaptop.com Thursday, October 8, 2009 Related article - Review of the MSI Wind U100 - Site map - Privacy policy |