HP's durable but pricey netbook gets serious sony vgp-bps8 battery with a dual-core processor and robust software package.

HP has updated its sony vgp-bps13b/q battery powerful and attractive business netbook, the Mini 5103, with features that will appeal to small business users and students alike. While retaining the same rugged yet sleek aluminum and magnesium chassis as before, the 5103 now comes with Intel's new dual-core Atom sony vgp-bps13a/q battery processor, which will allow you to do more without compromising portability. Its price tag ($542; $668 as configured) is sony vgp-bps13/b battery nothing to sneeze at, but long battery life, good security apps, and a high-def display make this Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery netbook a compelling choice.

Editor's Note:The configuration HP sent us Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery for review is different from the configurations available to U.S. customers. Our model came with a high-definition, multitouch display, but consumers will only have the option to add a touchscreen to models with the 1024 x 600 resolution. Our review unit also sony vgp-bps13/q battery came with Windows 7 Professional, but that is not a pre-configured option available through HP.com. The price as reviewed reflects a Sony VGP-BPS13 battery configuration with a high-definition panel, but not the touchscreen, and Windows 7 Home Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery Premium.

Design
Like the Mini 5101 and 5102 before it, Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery the 5103 very much looks and feels like a shrunken HP ProBook, which is a compliment. HP hasn't changed the outer design much for this generation, which is mostly a good thing (with the exception of the touchpad). You get a case with anodized aluminum on top Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery and magnesium alloy on the bottom. Add in a soft-touch treatment on the deck and a clear HP DuraKeys coating for the keyboard, Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery and you have a netbook that can stand up to a fair amount of abuse. Not that the 5103 doesn't have style; the Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery lid on our unit was a brown espresso color instead of the standard black, a treatment that carries over to the deck.

Weighing 2.8 pounds (with the six-cell battery) and measuring 0.9 inches thin, the Mini 5103 Dell Vostro 1510 Battery can easily slip into a backpack or briefcase. The six-cell battery protrudes a bit from the bottom of the system, but it's Dell Inspiron 1545 battery hardly noticeable. To make the 5103 more attractive to students, a carrying handle is available; it screws on and replaces the rear feet.

Heat
Like its predecessors, the 5103 stayed fairly cool during use, though we noted that the areas around the vent and on the bottom right got a bit hot Dell Latitude E6400 Battery with the system in our lap. After playing a Hulu video at full-screen for 15 minutes, we measured temperatures on the touchpad Sony VGP-BPS2A Battery at 88 degrees, between the G&H keys at 87 degrees, and the center of the bottom at 94 degrees, all within Sony VGP-BPS2C Battery our acceptable range. The area on the bottom right and by the vent reached 99 degrees, which is uncomfortable.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The island-style, spill-resistant keyboard on the Mini 5103 remains one of the best in the netbook category. At 95 percent of full-size, we had no Sony VGP-BPS2 Battery problem typing this review at a fast clip using the included copy of Corel Home Office. We especially like the relatively large Sony VGP-BPS2B Battery right Shift key and Enter key. Some may find the feedback a little mushy, but we found it to be snappy enough. Above Toshiba PA3399U-1BAS Battery the keyboard you'll find a row of keys--such as brightness and volume controls--that don't require the Function key to activate.

The DuraKey coating over the keyboard adds a slight friction that compensates for the keys being completely flat. The coating also protects Toshiba PA3399U-1BRS Battery the letters from wearing off due to heavy usage.

The touchpad on the Mini 5103 is a bit small at 2.5 x 1.3 inches (compared to 3.1 x 1.6 inches Toshiba PA3451U-1BRS Battery for the Toshiba mini NB305). We're also not fans of the glossy black surface; the resulting friction made Toshiba PA3450U-1BRS Battery it somewhat difficult to move the cursor. Still, the dedicated left and right mouse buttons, which received a soft rubberized treatment, responded well.

Display and Audio
Colors on the Mini 5103's glossy HD display are vibrant and the blacks are deep, though we were disappointed to find that both vertical Toshiba PA3465U-1BRS Battery and horizontal viewing angles aren't very wide. While surfing the web or working with an office document, users can Toshiba PA3457U-1BRS Battery push the screen all the way back or share the screen with two others. But when watching video, colors look distorted unless you're in the Goldilocks zone. The 1366 x 768 resolution makes Windows 7's elements rather small on the 10.1-inch screen: We found ourselves squinting to see smaller elements, but were Toshiba PA3475U-1BRS Battery glad we could fit more on the screen when working with two documents Toshiba PA3478U-1BRS Battery side-by-side.

The speakers on the 5103's front lip produced decent volume and offered good audio quality for a netbook. Treble came off tinny as we listened to Sarah Solovay's "Gone," but at least bass proved strong when Last.fm offered up Superchick's "One Girl Revolution (Battle Mix)." At 50 percent volume we were able to hear music clearly, but in order to hear Hulu clips clearly battery we had to turn it up batteries to 75 percent. At this level, the audio was still clear and loud even when we good battery added low-level background noise to the mix.