Has your HP Mini-Note 2133 gone dark?

Generally speaking, HP's Mini-Note 2133 is pretty well loved the world over. Sure, there are a few things that could use tweaking, but what good gadget couldn't use even a small dose of overhaul? Nevertheless, a few reports have been trickling in suggesting that HP's netbook is suddenly going dark and refusing to start back up. Folks are apparently being told that it's a motherboard power failure, though it doesn't seem to have become widespread just yet... or has it? Let us know in comments below.

[Via Chris Rue]

[NHAnimator @ Aug 20th 2008 9:12AM]

Well, I'm using my 2133 right now and can tell you that it is working ju

[riggs @ Aug 20th 2008 9:18AM]

haha

[Weeze-dog @ Aug 20th 2008 10:04AM]

It could be shorting out on the aluminum chassis. Most laptops with metal chassis are painted, and that paint offers at least some insulation, where as the HP is unpainted. They put some pads etc in the chassis to prevent contact, but if not placed just right it could short out. Could also be tin whiskers, wasn't there some government mandate to switch over to lead-free soldier sometime soon?

[NHAnimator @ Aug 20th 2008 10:31AM]

n't think it's the aluminum chassis that's the problem. I think that the power lines I'm sitting under could be causi

[Seth Levy @ Aug 20th 2008 9:33AM]

Mine died on me but they rushed me a new one right away so it was all peaches :)

[muddyh2o @ Aug 20th 2008 9:18AM]

she's still humming away like a champ.

an incredibly hot champ.

[CWasko36 @ Aug 20th 2008 10:28AM]

Remove the mesh over the exhaust grill

[Qsat @ Aug 20th 2008 4:59PM]

I would love to remove the mesh grill, but i don't trust this laptop, i am pretty sure it will need repair some day,which would be at my expense if i remove the mesh. It's running very hot and the fan is making more and more noise everyday, sound like the fan bushing is too busy sucking the heat out of this otherwise great laptop.... maybe a better processor would be welcome too.

[John Sullivan @ Aug 21st 2008 2:16PM]

So you're running the Kerri Walsh of subnotebooks?

[pman @ Aug 20th 2008 9:24AM]

mine works great too

[Danial @ Aug 20th 2008 9:24AM]

HPs with motherboard failures? What a shock!

[matt @ Aug 20th 2008 9:35AM]

diddnt know that many people owned one of these.

[bidur @ Aug 20th 2008 9:52AM]

my friend has pavillion .. .
motherboard got screwed twice .. .. ..


so be careful .

[sschober @ Aug 20th 2008 11:21AM]

Using mine now to fry eggs. It maybe the hottest running machine I've ever used. Failure from heat stress would not be a stretch.

[tbone @ Aug 20th 2008 10:08AM]

my local computer shop said not to buy them because they overheat, but they would fix them by putting an extra fan in them.

[Eric Tousignant @ Aug 20th 2008 10:29AM]

VERY HOT... but running great... as usual!

[JonCat @ Aug 20th 2008 10:42AM]

No problems here.

Other than Vista :)

[Wijagoro @ Aug 25th 2008 12:34PM]

I work as a tech for a retail store and we sell tons of HP computers... and let me tell you somehting this is NO SURPRISE HP makes the WORST QUALITY COMPUTERS EVER!!!! 3 out of 5 computer come back with problmes in the screen, motherboard the webcam (never works smoothly the first time) bad HDD etc etc etc... Do yourself a favor don't buy such a crappy quality computers, yeah they look good but they have the worst quality ever; I'll get any other brand instead of HP..... ANY

[Jason @ Aug 20th 2008 10:54AM]

No, I wish it would! Mine still has that nasty white keyboard!

[Mike @ Aug 20th 2008 11:00AM]

Wrong netbook friend.

[Jason @ Aug 20th 2008 11:58AM]

Exactly! Oh but wait, my mobo still works so I guess not!

[Jason @ Aug 20th 2008 12:00PM]

But I do hate this stupid looking keyboard. :(

[Alfred @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:00AM]

Great reporting Engadget! Has it been a slow day in the office? Are you going to write about the 0.1% of Lenovo Thinkpads that have a stuck comma in next late-breaking news?

[Nate @ Aug 20th 2008 11:02AM]

No issues here. Mine's been running, problem free, since launch.

[shaft0 @ Aug 20th 2008 11:42AM]

I had one that the middle of the screen (about 1.5" worth, top to bottom) died an hour after buying it.

The replacement works fine, albeit hot as hell.

[karma @ Aug 20th 2008 12:33PM]

The Mini-Note's distant cousin, the Acer Aspire One, also has a growing number of people reporting that their A1's are going dark. See http://aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=903

[bebop @ Aug 20th 2008 12:33PM]

Sounds like heat stress failure. The 2133 must have been really rushed to market. It certainly seems a tragic case of marketing getting the upper hand.

Vista on a netbook? C7? 18W? What were they thinking?

[Alan @ Aug 24th 2008 7:02PM]

Mine would freeze, go dark, and then would restart randomly on its own. I spent more time waiting for it, hoping that it would restart than actually using the stupid thing. Returned it within a month.

Loved the keyboard and design overall, only wish it had worked half as well as the EeePC I had.

[satrya @ Aug 20th 2008 12:50PM]

Add one on to the list. A local service rep tried to fix it, but it ended up being shipped back for some part replacement. Works fine now. The unit was fixed instead of replaced because it was past some number of days after "purchase". Too bad the wait time before it was shipped seemed to have been counted in.

[Jason @ Aug 20th 2008 1:20PM]

Satrya, if you're happy, that's fine, but to anyone else - don't take that crap. Someone was feeding a line and a load of BS at that. Legally, there's not a transfer of ownership at purchase. FOB shipping means it's theirs UNTIL THEY SHIP. I don't care what their fine print says, they don't have a leg to stand on to make you responsible for anything or any time prior to shipping.

[boogie @ Aug 20th 2008 1:24PM]

whats funny is that many people have already voided their warranties by removing the mesh grill to make the laptop run cooler and are not entitled to a replacement mobo when it fails. i had mine fail out on me last week but it only took 5 days for hp to pick up, repair and send back my laptop. working like a champ now.

[RayNbow @ Aug 20th 2008 4:17PM]

Hmm, it's interesting that I also recently saw some reports of failing Aspire One netbooks. ( http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=903 )

Perhaps this is caused by a bad batch of Atom motherboards?

[Jason White @ Aug 20th 2008 4:51PM]

yea, the Mini-Note uses VIA C7's so naturally it's bad atom motherboards.

[RayNbow @ Aug 20th 2008 5:12PM]

Ah damn, I thought this one also used an Atom cpu... Ignore my comment.

[Tim @ Aug 20th 2008 5:20PM]

seen as were on the mini note discussion I have a few questions to ask people while were at it seen as mine is all good and smooth running win XP and office and firefox being the main this used.

1. Do you get strange lines coming up every now and then when playing a video?
2. do you sometimes get strange beeps from the usually awesome speakers?
3. did you downgrade from vista to xp
4. How long does your battery last.

my battery lasts for four lessons a day at school and seen as at least one of my lessons every day doesnt require help from this I don't use it for that hour meaning it will get me through the day.

[bver100 @ Aug 21st 2008 9:54PM]

I do get weird lines. No beeps for me though. I have XP running on this guy and battery seems to be happy for 2-ish+ hours

[Demitasse @ Aug 21st 2008 1:56AM]

My 2133 experienced a failure while I was in the middle of teaching a course, so I had to rush out and buy a EEE 900 to keep working until I got my reseller to replace the motherboard.
When I got the 2133 back I rebuilt it with XP and have been happier than before.
Battery life is chort, but I'm always using wireless.

[joe blow @ Aug 21st 2008 3:25AM]

Funny this is happening at the same time they killed Bigfoot.

[Sean Su @ Aug 25th 2008 8:21PM]

Seems like my 2133 just got the same exact problem. I guess its time to send it in.

[david @ Aug 29th 2008 12:06PM]

So, Please parden my uninformed question: if you upgrade the ram, does that void the warranty?
How difficult was it to change to xp from vista, with the drivers and all?
d.

[gje @ Aug 29th 2008 7:53PM]

Mine went dark, right in the middle of working on it. I went through the motions with HP over the phone, and they had me send it in, only to be told (after contacting them, they never bothered calling) that there was "liquid damage" and the warranty was void so they weren't going to do anything. I asked for photos, and they sent them ... SERIOUS corrosion that simply couldn't have occured in the few weeks I had the notebook. HP said it probably happened between the time they shipped it to the reseller and I received it. The upshot? They told me they know about the motherboard/power issues, but still won't do anything for me other than repair the thing for over $800. Too bad, I liked the little guy, I don't think I'll be getting an HP anytime soon.

[H @ Sep 10th 2008 12:04PM]

Another HP service department horror story. Join the club

[Dazza64 @ Sep 5th 2008 11:57PM]

Last 48 hours now it wont boot up. If it does no way will it reload vista. Just jammed up will browsing the web

[BooBooTheMonkey @ Sep 12th 2008 4:22AM]

In reply to David:

>> So, Please parden my uninformed question: if you upgrade the ram, does that void the warranty?
>> How difficult was it to change to xp from vista, with the drivers and all?

If you downgrade to XP you will not need the RAM upgrade. Or you can leftgrade to Linux, same result.

[Rob @ Cynic @ Sep 21st 2008 12:03AM]

2 months old and broken.

I will NEVER buy an HP again - and I thought ASUS was the worst you could buy!

[Chris L @ Sep 25th 2008 8:54AM]

Just happened to me tonite...
Grrrrrr !!!

Was watching a YouTube news vid and moved the laptop slightly...
Went berzerk, playing the same bit of sound loop over and over again
and nothing else was working (CTRL+ALT+DEL, etc...)
So I held the power button on the left for 5 seconds, rebooted
but not really... Black screen, nothing else. Only the little blue
light of the power button. I could turn on or off the orange-lit
switch to toggle the mousepad on or off, but even that was not
straightforward.

My issue is that I bought it in Canada (at Staples) (and got the extended
warranty with in-store coverage and replacement) but I,m now in
London UK for the next 9 months !!!

Not too sure what to do...
Send the laptop back to a friend in Canada to have them trade it in
at a Staples, then reshipped to me. No arguments.
Or contact HP here and have them make me jump through loops
and send my 2133 directly to them (to UK or Canada?)
Someone told me there was a Staples store in London...
Anyone knows of it? Wonder if they'd honor the Canadian Warranty?
And in any case, this model I got (1.6GHz, 160 Gb, 2Gb RAM)
doesn't even exist here in UK, from what I can tell from my research.

Any help appreciated.
Will keep you posted.

-C

[Fred @ Sep 27th 2008 11:54AM]

Screen goes super bright then shuts off. Switched from SLED to XP home since that was the only Xp I had at the time screen went blank 2 times while reading this. funny thing is that I ended up having to switch the power schemes so that I just shut the lid and open it back up till I could get it shut down.

What in the hell is causing this?

I am in middle of no where and well I have yet to see a computer store here. Stuck with this problem till I get to Thailand in December any tips to keep it from doing this all the time?

[Damien @ Nov 10th 2008 11:38PM]

Yep, mine died. Called HP support, replaced on site, up and running in a few days. more at this thread: http://www.hp2133guide.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=5086