Netbook Performance, Win 7 Starter vs Others...

[XGUNTHERC]

Hey everyone.. so I have some possibly awesome news, I just got a netbook. Well a HP Mini. And here is the best part. For FREE.. I have a friend that has a 4 month old HP Mini and he says its small and pointless. SO I said "well give it to me then" ill use it daily....he text me back and said okay i'll bring it tomorrow.. So yesterday he gave it to me and said put this in ur car. And now i have it.. totally awesome if I get to keep it.

It is a black with swirly design HP Mini 110-1125 is the model.
Windows 7 Starter
Intel Ion N270 I think. 1.6GHz CPU, with 1GB RAM AND 160 GB hard drive 11" screen. 6 cell battery. Its pretty nice. I'm pretty sure its mine now. Its got webcam. Brand new mini basically.


So, question. Does anyone have one? I read 2GB Mazzini. I think that's cuz only 1 slot. Ill open her up tonight and check. I am wondering if I change her to 2GB of ram, that should be enough for 7 Home Edition, or pro, or will the Intel onboard Graphics struggle with Aero? I read a few newegg and Amazon reviews that said it ran small games n stuff ok.

What does everyone think. Starter is ok but missing lots of features. Like bridge connections and other things. Thanks!

 

[CarlTR6]

The price was certainly right. Congratulations.

 

[noobvious]

If you already have a bad-ass desktop, then I wouldn't worry too much about jacking this one up. Moving up to 2GB of RAM would be cool, and maybe home premium too (I don't know all the limitations of Starter) but I think beyond that, just enjoy it for what it is.If Aero isn't so hot with it, well, hey, it was free.

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

I have an ASUS Eee PC 1005HA with identical specs as your HP Mini, but I upped the RAM to 2 GB. I installed Windows 7 Home Premium and I can tell you that it runs like a dream. Aero works fine with the onboard graphics as well, and they will for you as the Eee PC 1005HA and the HP Mini 110-1125 have the same Intel GMA 950. You won't be disappointed, I can assure you.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

Nice Kaza... Yup Intel gma950 integrated. That's pretty weak but will be enough for flash games n daily things right?

So kaza, what was ram spec, speed, n price.. did u have a single slot only?

And YES the price was very very much right!

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

Nice Kaza... Yup Intel gma950 integrated. That's pretty weak but will be enough for flash games n daily things right?

So kaza, what was ram spec, speed, n price.. did u have a single slot only?

And YES the price was very very much right!

Yup, Intel GMA 950 will be sufficient for flash games and regular daily usage.

I bought a 2 GB SODIMM of Corsair DDR2-667 RAM for about $50 CDN, and yes, I only have a single slot. I believe all netbooks have single slots for memory, but I may be mistaken. I certainly haven't seen one with more than one slot for RAM.

Hope this helps.

 

[logicearth]

I have a Dell Insppiron Mini 10v which is very similar to the HP Mini, Intel Atom 1.6 GHz, 1 GB, same graphics, etc. I threw Windows 7 Ultimate on that little thing and its purring like a kitten, full Aero to boot. Having more RAM of course will allow you to run more things simultaneously but not strictly required.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

And it ran fine with ultimate and 1 gig huh.. ill upgrade to 2 GB

 

[logicearth]

And it ran fine with ultimate and 1 gig huh.. ill upgrade to 2 GB

No, it is running great! There is nothing vastly different between the performance of Starter and Ultimate, both have the same core and run mostly the same things out of the box. The only difference is Aero is running off the GPU---which is still powerful enough for what it needs to be---where as Starter would have Basic running off the CPU.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

Nice. And your sure that's how it works. Aero from gpu and basic from CPU..h'm. Maybe i'll install windows 7 pro and 2 gigs of ram. Then all will b smooth

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

I had just the 1 GB on my netbook and it ran quite well. I only replaced it with the 2 GB SODIMM because I wanted to do more multitasking.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

well on PC's Im a multi tasker at heart. i always have a few things going on, and more than one or 2 pages open I'm tabbing between n things of that sort. i've noticed it slow down a few times so far.. but I smile and think...... I got this for freeee.

I talked to him yesterday and said I was going to change the name and uninstall messenger n stuff and he said whatever. Do ur thing. I told him thanks for the mini.

Also, Win 7 Starter you vcant change or do crap. I can't change my wallpaper. Really, not at all. like not even between a few ghetto ones. I'm stuck with the little light blue with the blade of grass n the windows sign. I guess I could get rocketdock or stardown and use that to change it.

Still learning to type on the small keyboard but for the most part it's easy and quick. I'm not to worried. My main, left click seems looser than the right click. ?It's got the mouse pad and a clicker on both sides. Thats probably cuz the left got more use. but with how new it is. I sure hope it holds up. It's not been registered yet so I can still register it under my name.

Any other info, advice, or suggestions on a small netbook, Mini. as it's my first. Basically the same as a PC, but i have to watch my battery

 

[Everlong]

I have a HP Mini too. Bought it to take in to lectures at University. It came with Windows 7 Starter, too, but I didn't like how there was no customisation on it, so got a Windows 7 Pro key off MSDN and upgraded to that. I turned off a bunch of services and it runs perfectly fine. Even with Aero and transparency enabled it runs fine, but you do only get about 2-2:30 hours of battery out of it (3-3:30 with transparency off, so not that much difference), but I only use it for around 2 hours at a time maximum, and can charge it up between lectures.

I might look out for a 6 cell battery for it on eBay or something though as you can get about 6 hours or so life out of it then.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

it has a 6 cell battery already

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

I don't think I could've made a better choice than my ASUS Eee PC 1005HA. Even with Aero enabled, my battery life lasts about 6-7 hours of regular usage (6 cell FTW ). If I were to recommend ANY netbook, it would definitely be that one. My only complaint is the glossy finish. Really shows the dust and fingerprints, but it's a minor inconvenience.

 

[Everlong]

it has a 6 cell battery already

Well then just get rid of Starter and get something better on there It'll handle any version of Windows fine.

 

[alphanumeric]

My Daughter got a pink HP Mini for Christmas with starter on it. She wasn't happy with not being able to change her wallpaper. I downloaded HP Stardock MyColors right from the HP download section for her mini. It was free and it let her do more than just change her wallpaper. I still don't think she has Aero but that didn't seem to bother her as much as not being able to change her wallpaper.

 

[hdmi]

Brink has posted a tutorial a while ago on how to change the wallpaper in 7 Starter edition.