HP Mini 311-1000NR Gamers Netbook Review

The HP Mini 311-1000NR could be the netbook everyone has been waiting for. In a market proliferating with Intel Atom powered netbooks having almost the same cloned internal specifications, HP will soon be releasing a new "grown up" netbook, addressing the graphics shortfall of the standard netbook formula; adding promised support for the Nvidia Ion platform in the shape and form of the HP Mini311-1000NR.

First let's get the HP Mini 311-1000NR specs out of the way; Intel Atom N270 CPU, GeForce 9400M GPU, 1366 x 768 LED brightview display, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB 5400 RPM hard drive. Are you surprised that apart from the graphics platform, nothing else seems to have changed? Well, don't be, when we mention that the starting price for the HP Mini 311-1000NR will be $399.

Finally a netbook capable of 720p video output and reasonable gaming performance! Well, this certainly looks likely on paper, the GeForce 9400M GPU is a medium high performance video card; and with the 1GB of RAM, this laptop can certainly hold its own in the gaming world.

You would need to run a battery of tests and industry standard benchmarks on the HP Mini to be certain, but the specs given with the HP Mini 311-1000NR look promising. Basic computing tasks look great on the clear and bright screen; playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the HP Mini 311-1000NR ran considerably faster (at 1024 x 768 resolution) than initial runs on other Ion tested platforms.

The HP Mini 311-1000NR looks promising from here onwards. Styling is great, reminiscent of what's been done on the dv2, just on a smaller scale. The keyboard is 92% full size, the touchpad buttons are in the right place (at the bottom as opposed to the sides), and it also comes with plenty of I/O ports (3 USB, 10/100 ethernet, VGA out), 802.1 b/g Wi-Fi, and a webcam.

Rounding off the changes (compared to a standard netbook), the HP Mini 311-1000NR has a headphone out / microphone combo jack (compatible with some 4-conductor headsets used on certain phones), HDMI-out (taking advantage of the upgraded GPU), and a 5-in-1 flashcard reader (SD/MMC plus Memory Stick / Pro and xD picture cards), all jammed into a nice and tight 3.22 pounds, 11.4 by 8 by 1.2 inch chassis.

So this is it for now. I'm very eagerly waiting the day when coders will show just how powerful the HP Mini 311-1000NR really is, by running their own benchmarks. For a netbook, this is definitely one of the best gaming devices out there.