I have bought many products online, some from large companies, some from small. In this case, HP is a fairly known company that makes DESCENT computers. . Or so I thought. . .
I know this is a quick reference on whether to buy this product or not so I’ll keep it short.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!
They send defective products and are HORRIBLE in customer service!

I received the netbook w/ a defective battery! The process for calling and getting a hold of the tech support was an HOUR LONG. . . and we NEVER reached a solution! Furthermore, they wanted me to pay for the shipping and handling for the repairs and kept on highlighting the fact that the “repair is of no charge!”. Any normal human being can agree that you have to pay for something to get it repaired. However, if a product is defective UPON arrival, do you charge your customers to send it back for repair (keep in mind, that this was w/in a month after the product arrived)???????

My experience w/ HP’s support worsened when I asked to speak to a manager. Instead, I was placed with a “supervisor” who said specifically (“I will not tolerate your tone, if you keep this up, we will discontinue your call!”)

Readers, you tell me! If you’re on the phone for an hour with a tech support and they have not reached a conclusion, its about 4am now and the “supervisor” hangs up on you because you’re frustrated, would you do business with them again????
Rating: 1 / 5

Cons:
In short, straight from the box there is no windows 7 product license key, thus good luck when reinstalling.

The Battery is not flat it hangs out like a double chin. So it looks and feels like the laptop is resting on a plastic tube.

Pros:
Decent netbook nice design of cover
Rating: 3 / 5

Before i start, i should say something about the rating i gave: If i were to rate this computer absolutely, as if in a vacuum, i would give it 3 or maybe even 2 stars. But i want to be fair and compare this to other netbooks, not to a full lap-top or my iMac or whatever. So we’ll say 4 stars — good as far as netbooks go.

One additional disclaimer: I actually got the Mini 210 HD, not the Mini 210. This is essentially the same machine, but the HD has a better screen with a higher resolution and viewing angle (and the option for an HD video decoder). So i’ll try not to comment too much on the screen, since that would make the review inaccurate.

Anyway. Let’s start with the GOOD things:

1. Aesthetically, the lap-top is gorgeous. Most netbooks i’ve seen (especially the eeePC) are hideous, but this one looks fantastic. The keyboard is beautiful, the shape is nice, the materials are nice, everything looks great.

2. Aesthetics aside, i like the keyboard. I’m not sure why other reviewers don’t, because i find it very nice for a netbook, or a lap-top in general. It’s got ‘island’ keys (similar to a Macbook’s), which are my favourite kind. These aren’t as good as Apple’s, but it’s a netbook, it’s made to be inexpensive. I only have one problem with it (see bad things below).

3. Almost all netbooks really have the same hardware inside — same CPU, GPU, &c. — so this isn’t different from any other netbook of the same generation. But just in case you need confirmation: It’s what you’d expect. You can watch YouTube and play medium-range games, you get Aero in Win7, &c. , but HD video is going to be more of a struggle, and higher-range games are out of the question.

In case you’re wondering, the ‘Windows Experience Index’ scores for this netbook (with the factory hardware) are as follows:

Processor: 2. 3
Memory: 4. 5
Graphics: 2. 9
Gaming graphics: 3. 0
Hard disk: 5. 3

4. The internals are easy to get to and it WON’T void your warranty to upgrade your RAM, unlike with the Dell Mini. The entire back of the machine comes off, so you can easily access the memory, card slot, &c.

5. Sound quality is pretty OK for a computer in this price range.

6. Battery life is great, and the extended battery (if you get it) isn’t too bulky or ugly.

Now the BAD:

1. HP support is terrible, as it always is with any Windows PC manufacturer. If you have any issue that isn’t very obviously a hardware problem, you are going to have trouble getting anything resolved, because HP will tell you that it’s Microsoft’s fault, and Microsoft (if they even talk to you) will tell you it’s HP’s fault, and so on for ever. Additionally, their support forum is terrible compared to Apple’s (and that’s saying something, because Apple’s isn’t even that great).

2. Related to the above: HP’s Web site is god-awful. For example, i wanted to find the drivers for my computer, but it wants an exact model of HP Mini 210 (of which there are literally DOZENS). I looked everywhere — in the box, in the manual, on the packing slip, under the battery, &c. — and there is not a single model number anywhere on any of my documentation. The site had a ‘how do i find my model number?’ page, but of course it only lists Pavilions and printers, so it was completely unhelpful. What an idiotic system. I ended up using my product number, which was also difficult to find, but it ultimately worked.

3. The reason i’ve come to know the above is that my brightness controls don’t work in Windows 7. They worked in Linux, and i think they worked in XP (which is what the machine comes with), but despite having all the correct drivers installed i get full brightness all the time. This is incredibly irritating and so far i have not been able to get a solution. I think it’s an ACPI driver problem.

4. Although the keyboard is generally pretty nice, i have found after 2 or 3 months of use that the space bar squeaks a bit on my usual space-bar-hitting side (the right). I’m not sure if this is my fault somehow or if the keyboard is poorly designed, but it’s somewhat irritating.

5. The touch pad is usable, but not great. It doesn’t have physical buttons, which would be fine, but the Synaptics options for this model are horrible and don’t let you use gestures for anything useful (why can i use three-finger tap to launch Notepad, of all things, but not to produce a middle-click?). Also i hate the implementation of two-finger scrolling on touch pads in Windows, but i guess that’s kind of a Windows/Synaptics issue.

6. I said i would try not to mention the screen, but the following applies to both the HD and the normal Mini 210: The viewing angle on this is TERRIBLE. I mean, it stays readable for the most part (unless you tilt it up), but even the SLIGHTEST movement will cause the entire screen to change colours wildly. Obviously you shouldn’t be using a netbook for graphics design or anything, but it’s irritating even in normal usage. I assume this is the same for most netbooks though.

7. Unlike the Dell Mini 10v, this machine won’t run OS X very well. It does run, but many things don’t work, including wireless and graphics.

Overall, as a netbook, it’s good. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a Linux or a Windows netbook. I wish Apple made a (real) netbook though, i def would have got that instead. :/
Rating: 4 / 5