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Review: HP 2133

I have been taking a look at the HP 2133 for some time now and it has been getting some mixed reviews. Some bad and some good, the Vista OS is the first problem that this machine faces.

The Machine:

  • Windows Vista Business 32-Bit
  • VIA C7-M Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) 1.6GHz Processor
  • 128KB L2 Cache, 800MHz Front Bus speed
  • 2048MB DDR2 (PC2-5300) RAM
  • 120GB (7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive

My Points:

  • The keyboard is very nice and feels like a small laptop.
  • The touch pad is a bit strange is the left and right click are to the sides and not the bottom which takes some getting used to.
  • The overall case feels very clean and well made, but it is pretty heavy for its size
  • The battery protrudes out the back which limits how much you can tilt the screen
  • The speakers are one of the best laptop speakers I have heard, they are better then both my Alienware and Dell which is surprising since they are bigger
  • The screen is comfortable and a good size
  • You have lots of options with this machine such as: Express Card, SD Card, Ethernet Port, VGA Port, 2 USB, headphones, and microphone
  • The biggest mistake was to preload Vista on this machine, HP wanted to push it to market and that is what caused mixed reviews. This machine would be perfectly fine running XP or Linux since it is well built with a lot of space. My friend is thinking of installing Ubuntu on this machine which I think is a great idea since its a very light OS in comparison. Its known that Vista is a resource hog so any heavy duty action feels difficult on this machine, it has nothing to do with being a VIA Chip or an Intel Chip.
  • The laptop lasts 4.5 hours with the low screen setting and 2.4 hours with the high screen setting. During the day I just have it with the low screen setting.

Do I like the machine? Yes
Is there room for improvement? Yes

It could be lighter, the OS should be XP Pro, and a few other imrpovements.

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