It seems that HP mini 110 had a good makeover as the new HP mini 210 emerges from the scene. From its soft curved lid edges and black crystal lid color, HP mini 210 is stunning. The lid opens smoothly revealing a 10.1” WSVGA LED widescreen display with a higher resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixel; pretty useful for HD videos. On top of the display at its center is the webcam (VGA) with integrated digital microphone. If I may note, I particular like the glass over the display that extends up to its edges. Quite deceiving. It actually makes the screen look bigger when turned off.

Mini 210 features a 93% full size island style keyboard or to others they refer to it as the “chiclet” style keyboard. Interestingly, despite its minute dimensions (26.8 cm x 17.8 cm x 2.29 cm (min) and at 2.83 (max)), the keys are big, flat, soft to touch and evenly spaced. Surprisingly, very comfortable to work with. Even the key sizes of the Tab and Shift keys were not that compromised.

The touchpad will surely make you smile. It comes in a smooth, soft flat surface that is truly responsive and supports multitouch gestures. In contrast to the Mini 110, the mouse buttons are now located on the lower right and lower left corners of the touchpad. There are actually no edges or bumps to indicate where they are. As previously mentioned, the whole touchpad is flat.

You will only notice a distinct T-line at the button of the pad indicating where the mouse buttons are. This I particularly like. It makes the whole touchpad look neat and serene; not too busy to look at.

HP Mini 210 is juiced-up by 1.66 GHz Intel’s Atom N450 and an integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics controller. It has a memory of 1GB of DDR2 (800 Hz) and 160 GB hard disc capacity that runs at 5400 rpm. It supports WiFi, Ethernet, bluetooth and it features a reasonable number of ports including 3 USB 2.0 ports, audio outs, SD card reader and HDMI video out along with VGA out.

On simple regular computer use and/or function, HP mini was fairly swift and rated more than adequate as it is loaded with HP Quick Web, Genuine Windows 7 Starter and Microsoft Works.

Its overall design and looks on the other hand is definitely something that girls will surely swoon over. Its size, in particular, won’t make you think twice to bring it with you anywhere you want to go. Its 6-cell battery can last you for about 6 to 7 hours and is indeed more than enough for simple computing tasks. Not bad for a mini, right? Your daughter might want to bring it to school for it is stylish and chick as it can be.

She can just easily clutch it or stack it among her books and it will surely go unnoticed. It is pretty solid and sturdy so even for work, you can easily slip or slide it in your bag without adding on much weight. You can even insert it in among your other file folders and still won’t be a bother. It is such a wonder how a small thing can bring great pleasure.