HP Mini Computer Accessories

HP Mini computers are very small laptops, also called netbooks.

In general they are very cheap laptops with 10” screens, capable of running the latest operating systems, but at a reduced speed in comparison with the slowest single core low-end notebooks (13”-18” laptop) that are just ~20% more expensive.
HP Mini 110 series laptops are based on Intel’s Atom processors and 10” LED-backlit screens with 1024 x 600 resolution.

The starting price is $299, but that configuration only includes a single core Atom processor, while just for $45 more you can have a slightly faster single core Atom processor with an additional HD video accelerator, which takes most of the video processing away from the processor. Unfortunately this is the only way Atom processors can play back High Definition movies in 720p and 1080p resolutions. The integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics chip inside Atom processors is very slow, capable of handling some basic 3D in games like SIMS or World of Warcraft. The other limitation of the GMA 3150 refers to resolution and output options. It supports only one additional VGA port in resolutions up to 1400 x 1050, something thought abandoned since Dell’s very old laptops with high resolution screens.

The interesting part is that HP doesn’t offer memory upgrades for HP Minis. They come with one 1GB DDR3 module, and that’s it. If you want 2GB you’ll have to replace the module yourself, which is not at all a simple task.

Taking off the keyboard and top cover is just step one. The memory module can actually be found on the bottom of the logic board, so you have to take that out too, as there’s no removable cover on the bottom. This is obviously a design flaw, because as you can see there are no components even between the hard drive bay and the bottom of the laptop chassis. There may be two reasons why HP didn’t use covers. One is that the structure of the laptop would have been significantly weakened if the bottom wasn’t made of one solid plate. The other reason is most likely marketing-related. The users targeted by these small laptops are the least likely to make any hardware changes to the laptop.

However frustrating the memory or hard drive upgrade may be, the most annoying thing in this netbook is the small fan making a lot of noise. This is absolutely unacceptable for such a low-power machine. Designers at HP should have been able to make a smart passive heatsink for the main components, because they don’t really make a lot of heat. The Intel NM10 chipset needs 2.1Watts max, while the single core Atom processor doesn’t go beyond 6.5Watts (GMA 3150 included). Assuming that all components work at full load all the time, there’s only about 20Watts of heat that needs to dissipate and the bottom of the laptop measures 10 x 7 inches. On such a large surface 20 watts wouldn’t raise the temperature beyond the body temperature of a person if the air has the standard 20 degrees Celsius office/home temperature.

The first accessory I would recommend for the HP mini is a silent external laptop cooler for use on a desk. By cooling the laptop externally, the internal fan may never have to activate.

Is shouldn’t cost more than 30-40 bucks, but it makes significantly less noise than the very small internal fan.

The other obvious benefit of such a laptop cooler is that it raises the back of the laptop by a couple of centimeters, making typing much easier.

Because internal storage is limited in these machines and you probably won’t replace the hard drive with a 1-1.5TB one, it’s recommended to have a large USB flash drive or external hard drive handy at all times, in case anything goes wrong with the system.

A bootable partition can be created on most types of external storage, so you can quickly resume working after the internal hard drive fails, simply by plugging a USB stick or external hard drive into the USB port and booting from it.

A 500GB external hard drive costs around $100 (rack included), or for the same price you can get a very fast 32GB USB memory stick from newegg.com for example.

On the road you may find it very useful to have additional fully charged battery packs with you at all times. When you purchase the laptop, HP offers a second battery for only 50% of the original price.

There are several more useful accessories for small laptops, but I would like to point out a very serious problem I have observed while repairing laptops. All laptops I have ever repaired were extremely dirty, and this is mostly caused by the gap between the monitor and rest of the chassis while closed and transported. Dust, dirt, paper clips, you name it. Anything can get in if the laptop carry case isn’t perfectly clean (usually it isn’t)

Using a transparent a silicone keyboard skin solves the problem of the keyboard, but it doesn’t prevent dirt from getting in and sticking to (or even scratching) the screen and the rest of the surfaces like the touchhpad, palmrest … etc. If you know laptop computer accessory which solves this problem, please leave a comment below!

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