Digital Home Thoughts: HP Goes Professional with the Mini 5101

"HP today unveiled its top-of-the-line Mini PC for on-the-go professionals who demand a stylish, yet durable fully functional companion PC. The HP Mini 5101 features a sturdy, lightweight anodized aluminum display enclosure with a black, brushed finish. Complementing the aluminum is the use of magnesium alloy in the lower case of the Mini frame. Soft-touch paint on the base and palm rest further advance the PC's look and feel. This combination of materials, an industry first in the netbook category, not only delivers an eye-catching design, but also improves durability."

I thought that the HP Mini 2140 was HP's "professional" netbook? Guess not. The HP Mini 5140, being released in July, starts at $449 and features a completely different look and feel from previous "Mini" branded HP netbooks. The keyboard looks like the Macbook keyboard, with clearly seperated keys. The trackpad features buttons on the bottom, not the left and right, and this is the first netbook I've heard of to feature a 7200 RPM hard drive. That should give it some snap - and the optional 1366 x 768 resolution will make it better than your average netbook at accessing browser-based content. Engadget has some further details and some hands-on photos worth checking out.