Working in an IT company is good, especially those that manufacture hardwares too. And yeah, I’m kinda proud of it in some way, you get to enjoy special promotions only for employees.

Recently, HP came out with 51 reasons why we need to own a HP Mini 5101. Then, HP sent an email which makes most of the employees goes nuts about it, and yeah, I’m one of them. And while walking to the pantry, I saw quite a few people reading the e-mail after the day it’s been sent too.

The GREAT news!!!

HP is giving 51% off the list price to the first 51 employees at 5.10pm. No, you did not see the wrong number. IT’S 51% !!! Which also means, the first 51 employees will get the exclusive discount at only RM1051. If the employee missed to be the first 51 to purchase, he will still enjoy a great discount at only RM1299. Furthermore, this product is not sold in Malaysia IT stores yet. So, now you know why we go nuts about it?!

In the email, it is stated that the queue starts at 4pm. You know how kiasu are Malaysians and how kiasu am I? With such great deal, you will really need to have thick skin just to be the first 51 to purchase it. So, I went down to lobby at about 3.15pm to check if they have setup or if anyone have started to queue, but they were still setting up so I went back up, to do some work. Then, I went down again at about 3.35pm. WAH… I GOT a SHOCK. In just about 20 mins time, it is already a long queue! I wasn’t sure if I was still within the first 51 person but I speed up my foot steps to join the queue. Lucky enough, I was number 42. =)

See the queue infront of me.

Now you see the queue behind of me.

After queuing for about 1.5 to 2 hours, I only manage to register myself for the 51% discount entitlement.

Then, everyone kinda mingle around at the lobby waiting for the staff to call out our names. It’s just like waiting for your turn at the clinic.

While waiting, employees get to have some “first touch” to the HP Mini display set and check out what are the accessories available.

I went up awhile after the registration, I knew it would take some time before my turn. At about 6.30pm, I finally manage to settle the payment and grab hold of the HP Mini 5101 BOX.

One of the reason to be the first 51 to own a HP Mini 5101 is that you will get a card tag holder which says “1st OWNER OF HP MINI 5101″ . I’m so PROUD!

Here are some pictures of my unbox.

My HP Mini 5101 box with the netbook and chargers inside.

Here’s the netbook you would want to see.

It comes with 1 4-cell battery, the adapter cable, and 1 international adapter cable.

The HP Mini 5101 netbook. Remember I told you there are 51 reasons to own a HP Mini 5101? One of it is Durable, Scratch Resistance All-Metal case.

95% Full-sized Qwerty, Spill-Resistance keyboard.

But I didn’t like is that the metal case is kinda prone to finger prints marking. For sweaty hands like mine, you can see most of the top lid of the netbook has my sweaty hands marking, especially the keypad area.

I dunno what to use to compare the thickness, but here it is, it is a little thicker than my N95 phone. The HP Mini 5101 is weighing at only about 1.20kg. So, it’s really light.

The size comparison with my 5 years old Acer TravelMate 4152LCi. The HP Mini 5101 stands at 10.30 x 7.09 x 0.91 in (262.0 x 180 x 23.2 mm) . The display size is 10.1-inch diagonal LED-backlit WSVGA; 10.1-inch diagonal LED-backlit HD anti-glare.

It comes with :-
3 USB 2.0
1 external VGA monitor
1 headphone/line-out
1 microphone in
1 RJ-45
1 AC power

Do take note it comes with :-
Intel® Atom™ Processor N280 (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
1 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Genuine Windows® XP Home
160GB harddisk space
Integrated Webcam, WIFI, and Bluetooth

Notice there’s a button on my battery, when pressed, there is a bar lighted with a light blue light which is the battery life indication. Of coz, you can always check by browsing to the options available in the netbook which shows the time left before it goes dead. One of the 51 reasons of owning one is also that it is HP fast charge.

Although it is stated as 4-cell battery which last up to 4.5 hours, I saw mine stating about 3 hours when it is fully charged. Of course, I can’t compare it with Asus 1000he which comes with ready 6-cell battery which could last up to 9.5 hours. A brother of my colleague have bought the Asus 1000he and could use it for work from 8-5 without charging it. I heard the new model could last up to 11.5 hours.

I did a movie draining test, I started a movie at 8.01pm with 100% battery which stated that it’ll last 2.54 hours.

After 2.30 hours at 10.31pm, the battery life is at 6% which is 9minutes left. So, basically, you will be in time to watch a 2 hours 40 minutes show during your boring travelling without the adapters.*If the processor takes the same amount as mine as of that moment*

However, I put kinda high expectation on a netbook as I’ve never own one before this. I am so used to all the Pentiums, Core2Duos with more than 1GB of RAM. I find the netbook kinda slow, of coz when comparing to a desktop. However, on the current market, HP Mini 5101 is considerred quite a good netbook with quite a good review I found on the internet and recommendations.

But there’s one pro that I really like and wanan highlight, it’s the buttons for volume and brightness. You know the old typical laptop keyboard you will need to hold on Fn key then press on the volume or brighness buttons? On HP Mini 5101, you can press directly on the F3 and F4 button for brightness, and F10 and F11 for volume. These are the buttons that we will usually press. But then, you know your usually Alt+F4 to exit programs? It’ll be Alt+Fn+F4. That doesn’t bother me anyway. I think it’s a good idea!

Anyway, if you are looking for a netbook which looks sleek, light, fast, average battery life, use for web-surfing, light editing, (I guess using light photoshop should be ok, I’ve not tested this yet), then you could consider getting yourself a HP Mini 5101 when it’s sold in Malaysia.

Btw, I was curious how my blog looks like on the HP Mini 5101. So, here it is, still look as nice. Sorry I’m the kind of perasan(self-praise) people. I remember once my high school teacher told me, self praise is no praise. Anyhow, I still love to praise myself. So, dun get bothered ok?

*NOTE : I still haven’t notice much of problemn yet thus far. I just got the netbook yesterday, have not tested everything yet. Btw, this netbook is for my mum, not me