Crippled "Recovery Disc Creation" on HP Mini

HP Mini 210 is really a good netbook: attractive design, broad configuration options, and very capable offering of software, esp. for cloud and data management. However there's one thing that is quite annoying with it: the "Recovery Disc Creation".

It is cheap stingy for HP to not provide a factory recovery disc (Dell provides that by default). So HP includes this Recovery Manger program (by Cyberlink) for you create a set of restore discs. You'll quickly find the option is really a pain to use, because

• Very slow start. Will take more than 10 minutes for it to be ready to burn the first disc, prob. because it needs to decompress source files.
• Doesn't take RW discs. Only DVD+/-R is accepted. Why? Did the designer just get teleported from 2003?
• The long process will restart if disrupted. If unfortunately the program gets interrupted on the way (computer goes into sleep, for instance), you'll always have to restart the very long process from scratch. No resume option at all.

The annoying program is probably not going to be a deal-breaker, but definitely bad enough for me to write this post to vent... :)

First impression with Mini-note 2133

I got it mostly because PCMall had a sale on it for $304. I have been wanting to try a sub notebook for some time and this is a good chance. If it works out, I'd have a good device to carry around for testing network and doing quick Internet stuff.

The machine came in an unassuming HP box. Only a few things inside: the mini-note itself, battery, power cord, a quick start booklet, and User Guide CD. Install the battery, plug in the power, and turn it on, no manual required. Upon booting a standard SLED configuration screen appears. If you had experience with SUSE before it'd be piece of cake. If not, a little background with Linux should get you by just fine. Even just some general knowledge about computers should be enough to get through too. Then the computer rebooted and I was presented with a proper login screen.

Once logged in, things were pretty much smooth from that point on. I got hooked up with my WPA2-PSK wireless network in no time - well, almost. I went for the Network icon in the Computer menu and got nowhere. Then I realized I should just use the NetworkManager applet on the panel directly - I should know better, as that's I always have done with Ubuntu. The included Firefox 2 was fast and easy. Realplayer played media fine, including online streams. The speakers are of decent quality and power. Evolution was a snap to set up with my Exchange, after I figured out the correct form of URL for the asked OWA server: https://servername/Exchange. Hibernation worked flawlessly, which used to be a pain with DIY Linux installations. The battery life is OK at about 2 hrs. The only thing didn't work correctly the first time was the screen resolution. It started with 800x600. I had to set it to 1200x800 in Preferences and reboot to get it to stay in 1200x768 (not sure why it didn't like the 800 height).

Please note that I had the most basic model, KR922UT. That means a VIA 1.2 gHz C7M ULV, 512 MB DDR2-667, and 4 GB flash drive. Pretty humble stuff but everything seemed responsive and smooth. I did had trouble playing a 700kbps Real video clip, but then I realized it's the SD card it's on. Once I've switched it to a Sandisk Extreme III, it ran like a champion. And there's plenty of room to upgrade: $30 get you a 2 GB memory, maybe $100+ for a 7200rpm SATA 2 drive (or SSD), and there's extended 6 cell battery.

It's really a nice Linux based subnote. You could certainly get it with Windows XP or Vista, but I doubt it'd run better. This is actually the first pre-installed Linux laptop I had (plenty of DIY of course), and I'm very satisfied. Only if they'd have Ubuntu. :) I just feel Windows wouldn't stand a chance if not for its existing monopoly.

By the way, now Amazon has it for $299 and free shipping. Nice.