HP Mini 311 on sale!

is it better to go with 1333 if they are the same price?

 

what about the ssd do we use the mini pcie (pata) right because its IDE/sata replecator

 

do you know of any congo based netbooks ? The only one i know of is the acer ferrari one . But i know nothing coming out in the states.

I rather go ati than nvidia any day of the week.

 

I just walked into Office Depot. They have the Mini 311 in stock. It is the base configuration model for $399. It is hard to wait but I am holding out for the Win7 version.

 

Okay World of Warcraft Update for anyone who cares.

Max resolution default custom semi-high settings. 8-10 frames in dalaran

Drop to low settings, about 10-15 frames in dalaran

Flying to toc outside and flying on my epic flyer. Fluctuating from 11-32 frames on low.

Specs
Windows 7 Professional x86 RTM
N280
3 GB 1033 DDR3 RAM

EDIT: Gonna do a reboot and see if numbers go faster

 

Its most likely the cpu that is hurting performance. The 1.6ghz atom is slower than the 1.2ghz neo. Which is basicly just a 1.2ghz athlon 64 which is about 5 years old now

 

rebooted with no real difference....solo play fine. pvp nope...raid, might be able to do it, but at a disadvantage...

 

Ferrari One is the only one that is confirmed, though there is also one called from MSI coming out. It has a 12.1 screen.

There is the DM3 coming out, too, but it's a 13.3 inch. I think as we get closer to Oct. 22, we'll have a better idea of what is available.


EDIT:
Here's the link for the MSI one that I found - not much information on release date or price, and nothing official http://blogs.amd.com/patmoorhead/20...s-2nd-generation-ultrathin-notebook-platform/

 

You should chose the lowest settings that you possible can in the game, and leave it at native resolution and then report those numbers. I am curious to see if things will improve or not.


Edit ** Oops... didn't see that you already did change it to low settings.

 

yea i found that msi one also , but considered it wont be out for awhile since the wind u 210 just hit in sept. So either this wont come out for awhile or it will be priced much higher than the u210 which is $430

anyway the dual core 1.6ghz cpu with NB and IGP (hd 3200) is supposed to be 18w TDP thats not bad at all. not atom specs but a dual core 1.6ghz athlon is no slouch for gaming

 

Seen a detailed review of the samsung n510 at notebookcheck. Scroll down near the end of the review gives a good indication of how the atom coupled with stock 1gb ram and ion chipset fairs with different games.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-N510-Ion-Netbook.21362.0.html

Probably can expect to see the same results in the mini 311

 

Ok, there are three configurations I tested. I tested with the DIMM slot empty, with it filled with a 1GB module and with it filled with a 2GB module.

Config 1 = Empty DIMM slot (1GB memory)
Config 2 = Filled DIMM with 1GB Module (2GB memory)
Config 3 = Filled DIMM with 2GB Module (3GB memory)

I will shorten these in my test results as C1, C2, C3. Ok, here goes.

 

Are you serious? F.E.A.R. gets that good of frames on native resolution with medium settings?! That's amazing. Half-Life 2 should fly.

 

Really good test results there ArchAngel. interesting to see how the added memory effects real world performance in games. Fear results are surprisingly good! Do you have any newer fps to test the various configs on?

 

The next thing on my list to test was something I had seen people say on various forums. Such as 'Asus N10J is still the king'. Well, I don't believe that to be the case at all. The main misconception is the 3DMark06 score. They seen that the Asus N10J had a few more 3DMarks. However, no one seemed to catch on that 3DMark was ran at 1024x600 on the Asus N10J and that 3DMark06 defaults to 1280x720 for the HP Mini 311. Technically, what 3DMark06 does is try and find the closest resolution to 1280x1024. That is the gold standard. However, if a notebooks resolution cannot go that high, it simply picks the next highest one without surpassing 1280 horizontal pixels. Hence, why 3DMark06 defaults to 1280x720 for the Mini 311 and why the N10J runs it at 1024x600.

Ok, so what did I do? Well, let me tell you what I "tried" to do. I tried to create a custom resolution on my Mini 311 so that I could choose 1024x600. However, that failed. I fiddled with the timings in the nVidia CP for well over an hour and finally gave up. I decided to do the next best thing: Choose to run 3DMark at the closest setting that I possibly could to the N10J. What I ended up with is 1024x768. That is as close as I can get unless someone can figure out how to create the custom resolution on this netbook.

Ok, so now we are at least closer to leveling the playing field. So what happened when I ran 3DMark at 1024x768? Well, you guessed it! My score went up... Here is a comparison.

Note: The resolution actually partially takes and displays on the screen, but you would have to see it to understand what the issue is. By all means, for those that have the Mini 311 attempt to get the custom resolutions working. It has more uses than just simply trying to compare apples with apples with other Netbooks. It will come in handy when you want to lower the resolution in a game, yet keep the same 16:9 aspect ratio. 1280:720 is in fact 16:9, but it is so close to 1366x768 that something lower would be better. Not to mention that 1280x720 looks like total crap on this LCD. LCDs are hit or miss when it comes to scaling and often times certain resolutions scale better than others.

One other thing to note. On paper the 9400M GPU is more powerful than the 9300M GS that is found in the Asus N10J. The only drawback to the 9400M is the shared memory. This can mean, depending on the speed of the DDR3 memory, that the N10J has more memory bandwidth. However, I don't believe that to be the case. Since the nVidia MCP on ION runs 64-bit DDR3 memory modules, then assuming that the GPU has access to the majority of it, it would actually have more memory bandwidth than the 9300M GS. Another advantage of the 9400M GPU is that it is more power efficient.

 

Do you guys think overclocking the Atom Processor on this netbook will be easy? I haven't owned a netbook but I have been considering one for a while though I think I feel like it might be a bit slow for me.

 

I may attempt to install Steam to test HL2 for you all. I would probably run the CS:S test and also the HL: Lost Coast test. I prefer to keep things simple and they have build-in benchmarks. I typically don't like to use FRAPs custom benchmarks.

If anyone knows of any game, util that has a built-in benchmark and you want it tested, let me know. I won't be testing Crysis (lol, for obvious reasons, althought it probably would run). However, because laptop magazine tested Far Cry 2 with only 1GB of memory, I am tempted to see if it would run better with a 3GB and a clean installation. I may look into it.

 

Good question. The answer is: Maybe. You can overclock the GPU (althought it seemed somewhat 'flaky') and set the Core/Shader speeds with nVidia system performance. It is basically a snap-in module for the nVidia CP. You can download it from their website.

As far as the CPU/FSB overclock. Whenever I tried to overclock it (even 1Mhz) it would give me an error message that said "HT bus modification: Failed. Restored to original setting" My guess is that it is locked out via some BIOS settings. Will there be a work around at some point? I think there will be.

 

its a 9300m limited to dx 9. So of course it fly at such low res and on a game 4 years old

Top of the line would have been a radeon x1800 512meg or a geforce 7800

However this play fear like the low end from that year. Good to see we are only aobut 5-6 years behind in the netbook arena when it comes to gaming

 

Well, DX10 hasn't brought anything to the table yet except a drop in frame-rates. Almost everything done via DX10 so far can be done on DX9 and it doesn't appear to take the same performance hit.

As for F.E.A.R. it was released in 2005. So it is about 4 years old. It also for about 1-2 years was one of the most demanding FPS out there.

 

It's probably going to be a Windows 7 launch laptop. And looking at the specs for it, it makes any Atom based netbook look like a joke if they're really selling it for $499.

 

dx 10 has brought many things to the table , the problem is two fold

1) It was limited to vista and vista had a bad wrap. So movement has been slow

2) The consoles both have dx 9 gpus in them thus keeping developers programing for those features sets

But

1) win 7 is getting positive reviews and looks like it will explode.
2) dx10 hardware has now reached a tipping point
3) when compiling and writinging for dx 11 its easy (takes a few hours or days ) to make dx 10 and 10.1 fall back paths


The drop in framerates is due to how dx 10 is implemented and they use it many times to give better visual qualitys ( see crysis) but you can also use it to improve framerates too

 

where did u hear the $500 news from ? dual core 1.6ghz athlon 64 with 2 gigs of ram and a radeon 3200 would run circles around the mini 311.

The 12 inch screen is nice too. I would certianly pick it up over the mini. Basicly for the cpu alone as I believe the hd 3200 and ion would be evenly matched but the 3200 would have dx 10 support which to me is a plus as a lotro gamer.

wanted to add this

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3618&p=8

I know the cpu is faster dual core 2.1ghz turion with 4 gigs of ram and the benchmarks were run at 800x600 with low settings , but the congo should have intergrated ram built into the hd 3200 and should make it faster than the old one.

 

$500 does sound nice (I'm pretty sure it'll be more if its like coming with Windows 7) but it kinda defeats the purpose of me wanting a netbook. Battery-life and price.

 

That's my thought, too. I wish the Ferrari One came without the paint job and stickers. That MSI has the same specs, so if it comes out any time soon, I'll probably be getting it. I'm kind of impressed though, with what everyone has said about the 311 so far, though. Looks like it has ended up being a great laptop for the money.

I've seen $499 for the Ferrari One, and some other site said $449. I seriously doubt $449 with all of the stickers, etc., but supposedly there are several different Congo netbooks coming - one from Asus, and the one from MSI. I would imagine that if the Ferrari One is $499, they can manage to release it for $449.

The Acer 1410 has dropped in price to $429 and it's a more powerful netbook than your standard Atom/GMA950 garbage (though it has the 4500mhd which is still garbage for gaming because Intel couldn't write a graphics driver to save their lives).

 

I have a Mini 311 N280 with the N+Bluetooth combo running 3GB and Win 7 Ultimate on an X25-M G2 80GB disk.

My Win 7 System Rating is 2.3
Processor: 2.3
Memory: 4.6
Graphics: 4.7
Gaming Graphics: 4.2
Primary Hard disk: 7.6

On XP, the wireless N card shows up as a BCM43224 card. But I can't find Windows 7 drivers for it. Anyone know where I can find Windows 7 drivers for it?

 

Reading online it does seem that the ION is cpu limited

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3509&p=3

In wow going from the atom 330(dual core) 1.6 to the celeron 430 nets you 10fps going dual channel nets you another 15fps over that . So a dual channel celeron would get u 25fps more over the atom cpu with the ion chipset. So putting in a 2ghz atom would really improve performance on the ion or even going to the dual core

 

It be really nice if one of the congos hit $400 on the 22nd. I'd buy it in a second really.

 

Hey if anyone can test out Photoshop CS4 on this I would appreciate it.

 

Drop Sound settings also to the low, how's performance increase then?

My desktop has less than 5fps in Dalaran with high sound settings, almost 20 with low sounds 40fps with Soundblaster Audigy2. That's a huge difference, when more CPU is available for graphics.

 

Just a quick update: I picked up another stick of 2GB ram and now my system is showing 3.00 GB of installed memory with 2.75GB usable

 

probably the xp limit or its being shared with the graphics card

 

is there a version of ntune out to OC the GPU

 

cnet review: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-mini-311/4505-3121_7-33772608.html

 

If anyone can figure out how to get the custom resolutions to work, let me know... I can't even create a custom resolution to work if it is already in the list. Let me explain because that sounds absolutely confusing.

Let me take for example, 1280x720. If I choose the resolution in the Windows display properties it works just fine. However, if I add a custom resolution and input these values 1280x720, and try and use it, it will partially work, but will cut off 25% of the screen and start changing colors very oddly. It is a strange deal. So 1280x720 works, but adding it from a custom resolution does not. This implies that the custom resolutions have a problem and are buggy, or there are some very specific timings for these LCD panels.

Regardless, I think everyone would benifit from being able to use 1024x576 or 1024x600. Even 960x600 would be great (16:10). But no custom resolution works properly at all, even ones that are supported by the display.

Maybe it will work in Windows 7? I am running XP SP3... I beg of the community to try and get it to work and then fill me in. I am at a loss... .

 

u dont like native res?

 

Way to small for me... I may have to get a new pair of glasses in order to be able to see the screen confortable. I am not far-sighted either, I am near sighted. So if I get close enough, it looks fine... But I like to lean back in a recliner and surf the web and stuff, and 11.6" @ 1.05Mpixels is just to small... I at least want the option to use 1024x600 or 576.

 

Yes. The latest version supports it. It is now called nVidia System Tools though, not nTune anymore. IIRC, I think it is 6.0.0.5 or something like that. Look for it under the nForce drivers and the 730i MCP.

 

Anyone notice that the HP Mini 311 1000 CTO netbook has drivers for Windows 7 x64. This tells me that somewhere down the line, the CPU is going to change. Either to a newer Atom, or to a CULV that supports 64 bit instructions. I just find it... Odd. Maybe something is coming down the pike?

 

Might be a Via Nano CPU.

"NVIDIA has announced that it will also release the Ion platform for the VIA Nano processor some time in Q4 2009.[7]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Ion

"The VIA Nano (formerly codenamed VIA Isaiah) is a 64-bit central processing unit for personal computers..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIA_Nano

 

I believe the dual core atoms are 64bit.

I wonder if its a surprise for the 22nd ? two gigs of memory and a 64 bit atom with win 7 installed ?

Yup the atom 230 and 330 desktop models have 64bit instructions. The N and Z do not. The 230 is 1.6ghz and the 330 is two 1.6ghz cpus. The 330 is what i'd be interested in. Kind of a waste though if there is only 1 dimm slot. If it came with 2 dim slots you can do 3x3 for 6 gigs or 4x4 for 8 gigs. Max out the avalible memory for hte ion and your set with a decent gaming rig

Be nice to see

 

The Atom 230 and 330 are power hogs. You would never want them in a Netbook. You would give up more than you would gain. The Atom can't really be stated as 64-Bit when discussing netbooks as only the desktop versions have those instructions.

The person who posted about the Via chip, I would be willing to bet you are correct.

 

http://hothardware.com/Articles/VIA-Nano-L2100-vs-Intel-Atom-230-Head-to-Head/?page=2

The nano isn't that great though. 1.8ghz nano vs 1.6ghz atom 230. In the vantage benchmark it was 21% faster but had a 12.5% advantage in clock speed. in 3dmark 06 its 20% faster but a 12.5% clock speed advantage. So its faster .

However in total system load the atom was using 55ws under load vs 74 of the nano. Now the nano tested was 65nm vs the 45nm atom , but at that point i don't think it matters much.

The nano might be nice if we see it on 45nm but right now its power draw is similar to the dual core atom. The nano 1.6ghz has a TPD of 17w. The dual core atom 330 1.6ghz has a TPD of 8. So the neo needs more than double the power.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=664&type=expert not an exact hardware match up but a 1.8ghz nano vs a 1.6 ghz atom 330.

The atom 330 becomes so much faster in multi threaded apps

 

Talking to friends and reading on various forum. It seem people are trying to combine the power of gaming laptops in Netbooks. Netbook dont need 6 gig rams or dual core chips. They are not design for video encoding or playing high end pc games. They are design to be PC on the go.

I have notice some people want this crazy spec. system. However in real life, most of them will never even use 70 percent of that system power. They are just fixated on, the bigger the numbers the better.

Personally i think 311 is perfect for netbook. All the basic stuff you can do on the go, with a bonus of being able to play Hi-def video and some Low end games.

 

Thats the very same reason why I'm looking at this. As long as it can play the animes and movies I want, I'm more than happy. And the price point is very attractive. I keep wanting a more powerful CPU for the netbook, but that comes at the cost of price and battery-life, and in a way that becomes somewhat of a hard decision for me to make.

EDIT: And besides I have a PSP and DS for all my portable gaming needs (not the same as PC games but gaming isn't as important for me on a netbook).

 

Yep, I agree with what most of you say. However, I do believe that a dual core Atom would have been better. It would only have increased the idle by around 2watts or so and the load by around 2-3 watts. The power envelope would still have been great. So instead of getting 2.66 hours of battery life under full load, you would get 2.33 or so. Worth the trade off for a CPU that is a slightly more competent.

 

Update on LOTRO:

It runs reasonably well. Again, keep in mind that I am use to running it butter smooth at 60 FPS with every single option maxed out in DX10 mode. So, when I say it runs reasonable well, it does in fact. After adding more memory, 21st hall become much better.

21st Hall (major choke point) = 7 - 15 fps

Moria in general = 20 - 35 fps

Lothlorien 30 - 50 fps


Now, would I do a 12-man raid? Nope. But I think I would do 6 man radiance instances. So Moria is the most taxing on the system. The new SoM expansion, provided they did not go all crazy with their engine update, should run better than Moria, but probably slightly worse than Shadows of Angmar. Regardless, leveling an alt would be no problem at all.

 

its not so much that. Most of us want to be able to ugprade (4 gigs or more) and most of us want want something competent for low res gaming. SW TOR is coming out next year most likely and I'd love to be able to kill some mobs when I'm out and about . I don't want ot do power gaming ,I also don't want something that wont play games well from 4 years ago. You know what I mean ?

64 bit is important to me , it allows for more memory and more memory is a good thing esp at current prices. Why not be able to put 4 gigs of ram into an etbook and actually be able to use it ? That would give the life span of it more time. Why wouldn't I want 720p playback or even 1080p ? Why wouldn't I want to be able to play modern games on really low settings. i want to go on vacation and be able to take my game with me esp if i have a large group of friends.

I don't see why they would't have the option for a dual core atom. If you don't wnat it then don't upgrade. dual 1.6ghz atoms would make alot more things possible , youtube and hulu wouldn't stutter any more and even when the ion gets flash support it will still inable better playback. My games will also have more stable framerates.

 

Sucks you wont be able to take advantage of the dx 11 patch coming out should be faster than the dx 10 path.

 

Two things on my wish list right now that are doable.

1) I'd like HP to release a BIOS to allow the GPU to take 384 memory instread of 256MB. If 1GB ram is in the system, 128MB reserve for GPU. 2GB and 256... But 3GB is still 256 and that is a bummer.

2) I'd like to figure out how to get 1024x576 or 1024x600 working on this LCD display. I am bumming over it and if I can't figure it out, I might actually return the laptop to HP. 1366x768 on an 11.6" display would be like having 2475x1575 on a 22" dsplay. It makes the DPI crazy small.