HP Mini 5101 review (Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, XP Home Basic)

Juice box

HP Mini 5101
Off (watts)	0.53
Sleep (watts)	0.57
Idle (watts)	9.66
Load (watts)	15.17
Raw (annual kWh)	31.08
Energy Star compliant	Yes
Annual operating cost (@$0.1135/kWh)	$3.53

The HP Mini 5101 ran for 5 hours and 56 minutes on our video playback battery drain test. While not the longest-lasting Netbook ever, that's a well above-average score, and doesn't require a huge, ugly battery pack sticking out from the back. A smaller four-cell battery is also available.

The system includes a one-year parts-and-labor warranty from HP, although we generally expect business systems to include longer default warranty terms. Upgrading to three years of mail-in service is an extra $169, but three years of next business-day on-site service is only $189. Support is accessible through a 24-7 toll-free phone line, an online knowledge base, and driver downloads.

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System configurations:

HP Mini 5101
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 224MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 950; 160GB Seagate 7,200rpm

Toshiba Mini NB205
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 128MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 950; 160GB Toshiba 5,400rpm

Lenovo Ideapad S10-2
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 950; 160GB Western Digital 5,400rpm

Asus Eee PC 1005HA
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 224MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 950; 160GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Acer Aspire One AOD250
Windows XP Home Edition SP3; 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 224MB (Shared) Mobile Intel GMA 950; 160GB Seagate 5,400rpm