New VIA drivers provide boost in HP Mini-Note 2133 performance

Not particularly thrilled with the performance of your HP Mini-Note 2133? If you're vigorously shaking your head up and down as that render chugs along in the background, take a listen at this. The folks over at HP 2133 Guide took the time to benchmark their Vista / XP systems and then apply VIA's recently released drivers for the CN896 chipset and Chrome9 integrated graphics. Not surprisingly, they found the update totally worthwhile. Based on pure numerical changes, there's not a lot to phone home about, but critics did note that "video playback was improved quite a bit on each OS," and that YouTube / Hulu vids were actually watchable post-update. Not a lot of downside to upgrading, so head on over and see what the new drivers have in store for you.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

[Haikibutsu @ Jun 25th 2008 7:17AM]

I am looking into netbooks, my mom uses her vaio desktop primarily just for printing and checking her work schedule online, maybe some internet, is a newbook perfect for her? I am looking to use her desktop as a server, its aging aswell at from 2002, and it has some nice bays I can use to make a webserver and a file server.

[Roreek @ Jun 25th 2008 8:10AM]

So long as your mother's eyesight isn't too weak a netbook should be a good option.

The HP 2133 Mini-Note has a lovely high screen resolution, meaning text and icons will appear very small...

Of course you can change the settings, and in Firefox it's just a matter of CTRL + to zoom in/ make text larger. With my mini-note running VIsta Business it's still hard to find that perfect balance between legibilty and getting the damn windows to fit on the ickle screen - it can be that you up the dpi, then find that the OK & Apply buttons in, say, Control Panel windows are trapped off the bottom of the screen.

Which is irritating. Or perhaps I am missing something?

[Ricardo @ Jun 25th 2008 7:33AM]

But you know what would really improve perfomance instead? A decent processor!

[Ricardo @ Jun 25th 2008 7:35AM]

Sorry about the double post, thought the first one didn't work so I posted again.

[Macca @ Jun 25th 2008 7:39AM]

Yea, a quad core in a netbook.

It'll be faster for the whole three seconds of battery life before it turns off.

[Ricardo @ Jun 25th 2008 7:34AM]

But you know what you really improve performance instead? A decent processor!

[Love Guru @ Jun 25th 2008 7:39AM]

Ok, ok, we get it, you want a dual-core processor.

[Fusion Fuzo @ Jun 25th 2008 7:44AM]

they should change the processor to atom or core 2 duo

[DefPo3t @ Jun 25th 2008 8:29AM]

i'd prefer the via nano since it uses the same socket and chipset so it just be a matter of ploping that chip in instead of the current one : )

[IowaSuby @ Jun 25th 2008 10:29AM]

You can't plop in a new one since they use Ball Grid Array to attach the CPU to the motherboard. Unless you have some pretty pricey manufacturing equipment in the garage, new CPU isn't going to happen I don't think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_grid_array

[Luke. @ Jun 25th 2008 7:54AM]

Is there a reason for why you can't see the Mini-Note in the reflection? Y'know, irrespective of their photoshop skills -or lack thereof -. :S

[Roreek @ Jun 25th 2008 8:11AM]

It's not a reflection, just a red book that's been left out in the sun too long.

[BMErdin @ Jun 25th 2008 9:53AM]

Run! Vampire computer!

[Fr0 @ Jun 25th 2008 8:44AM]

Now, if HP would re-release the mini-note with a Nano processor, that'd be a real performance boost. I'd be breaking out the credit card...

[dj-kenpo @ Jun 25th 2008 9:17AM]

youtube wasn't watchable before?
WTF.
weak.
I was interested in it for the looks over the EEE, bu that's lame. I don't want tsomething ont he verge of crumpling over cpu strain over basic shit

[Jason @ Jun 25th 2008 11:13AM]

YouTube was plenty watchable. I don't know what these guys are talking about.

I've been using one of these on my desk at work for a month or so now. I'm constantly carrying my computer around with me and taking it to meetings and stuff and I love this little mini-note. I do web dev on it while listening to YouTube playlists, FLAC or MP3 files, etc. etc. all day long. Right now I've got Outlook 2007, Firefox, Photoshop CS3, my PHP IDE, Winamp playing FLAC files, and my FTP client open and it's running without a hitch.

I installed this update today and I did notice a difference in the "snappiness" of applications having this many open at once.

[Jason @ Jun 25th 2008 11:14AM]

I should also point out that I'm running XP Pro on it, not Vista.

[Matt @ Jun 25th 2008 12:06PM]

I suppose these new drivers only work with Windows, and there's nothing similar for Linux?

[m-p{3} @ Jun 25th 2008 2:37PM]

Replace the CPU by an Atom processor and I might consider it. Otherwise I'm turning to the MSI Wind.

[OS crosser @ Jun 26th 2008 6:02PM]

How would this affect performance the Linux based model?

[sonofspaz @ Jul 7th 2008 4:19AM]

About 2 hours of battery life with the standard 3-cell battery and about 4 hours with the 6-cell extended life battery

[Tim @ Aug 11th 2008 5:41PM]

Best netbook out.