We’ve seen HD Netbooks from Sony and others, usually with prices closer to $599, so we’re excited to see HP’s new Mini 311 packing in an 11.6-inch, 1,366×768 screen, as well as Nvidia’s Ion graphics chip, all starting at $399. You’re still stuck with the same Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and Windows XP, but that’s typical for a $399 Netbook. Our review unit added the slightly faster Atom N280 CPU, an optional white lid design, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, for a total of $494.

The real payoff is in the Nvidia Ion, which, while not a true discrete GPU, offers enough power to play HD video files smoothly (a sticking point for Netbooks), as well as do some basic gaming. For nongraphics tasks, it won’t affect performance much (and GPU support for Flash video, such as Hulu, is still a work in progress), but it does solve some of the frustrations associated with Netbooks, without driving up the price.

As much as the Mini 311 may be our new go-to Netbook, we’d be hard-pressed to suggest buying one of these right now, when Windows 7 comes out at the end of October. With Netbooks exempt from Microsoft’s free upgrade offer, it makes more sense to wait a few weeks and get the new OS out of the box (which should also make it possible to get past the artificial 1GB of RAM limit on XP-powered Netbooks).

Price as reviewed / Starting price $494 / $399

Processor 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270

Memory 1GB, 1066MHz DDR2

Hard drive 160GB 5,400rpm

Chipset Nvidia MCP79

Graphics Nvidia Ion (integrated)

Operating System Windows XP

Dimensions (WD) 11.4 inches wide by 8 inches deep

Height 1.2 inches

Screen size (diagonal) 11.6 inches

System weight / Weight with AC adapter 3.3 / 4.1 pounds

Category Netbook

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