The portability and convenience of the 10″ form factor is great. The screen is bright, and when compared to other netbooks - the HP Mini 2140’s metal exterior makes it a stand out. I had a chance to sample and feel many other netbooks while in Hong Kong and while some of them may have a few things in their favor, I realized the HP 2140 was the best choice for me.

No problems connecting to any wireless / wired networks in hostels / hotels / coffee shops. The split trackpad button layout has not been a problem to adjust to. Both buttons have a nice rubbery feel/response. The quick battery recharge to 90% has been good. 6-cell battery provides a good tilt, now I don’t need to bring a CoolPad to angle the keyboard!! The 1024×576 is a minor quibble. I can’t imagine reading the text on the high-resolution 1366×768 display. Contrrary to some opinions, I prefer the coating/glass/whatever that is on the screen - easy to clean, and I don’t worry about touching it.

I have not tried an external monitor or printing with this netbook, so I am unable to comment on those aspects.

Soon - I will test the ExpressCard 54 slot with a Creative Labs audio card that I am using on another notebook. UPDATE - X-Fi Audio Xtreme card has been tested and works!

Performance wise - only issues are a little lag if running too much video and a couple of blue screens when too many Google Chrome tabs were open along with other programs. Memory overload of some sort. But easy to avoid, once one knows the limitations of the processor. Used the netbook to talk with a handheld SkyPE Ipevo phone in many places. Handy!

One annoyance (That I was aware of before buying) is that to use the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys one must use the FN key at the same time. Which is swappable with the LEFT corner CTRL key (Not the RIGHT CTRL key, which would make it a one handed motion - unless I missed a setting) in the BIOs - but still annoying - as the smaller screen requires more scrolling. The trackpad scroll works well though. Other netbooks have dedicated PAGE-UP/DOWN keys.

I also own an HP DV6000 series limited edition white notebook - which is slick but — after experiencing the aluminum/metal feel of the the HP Mini - I will say that more note/netbooks should be built with metal over plastic. Enjoy!