HP Mini 1000

Were dubious of HPs bizarrely proprietary "HP Mini Mobile Drive" slot, which is basically a recessed USB port into which only specially branded HP USB drives can fit. Wed happily trade this slot for a media card reader or ExpressCard slot. Without it, we might have been able to get separate headphone and mic jacks as it is, you get only one shared audio connection. Still, the actual hands on experience is the best of any Netbook weve tested so far, making it well worth a look for anyone interested in jumping into the Netbook arena, especially those who dread spending time typing on cramped keyboards.

Specification

• Price as reviewed or Starting price $549 - $399
• Processor 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• Memory 1GB, 533MHz DDR2
• Hard drive 60GB 4,200rpm
• Chipset Mobile Intel 945GM Express
• Graphics Intel GMA 950 (integrated)
• Operating system Windows XP Home Edition SP2
• Dimensions (WDH) 6.6x10.3x0.95 inches
• Screen size (diagonal) 10.2 inches
• System weight / Weight with AC adapter 2.5/3.1 pounds
• Category Netbook
  

The Mini 1000s footprint is nearly identical to that of the earlier HP 2133 Mini Note PC, measuring slightly wider and thinner. Its also a little lighter, thanks to the switch from aluminum to plastic. Netbooks are designed with price and portability in mind, so theyre usually not the fanciest designs to come out of a PC makers lab.

While an aluminum chassis is generally preferred to one made from plastic, the switch to plastic here makes sense because every penny and ounce counts. Overall, we appreciate the Mini 1000s efficient and attractive layout theres hardly any dead space on the keyboard tray. The biggest selling point for the Mini 1000 is its fantastic keyboard, which HP claims is 92 percent of the size of a full size laptop keyboard.

Other Netbooks have been plagued by tiny Chiclet-like keys, which make typing a pain and typos plentiful. By expanding the keyboard right to the edges of the system, HP was able to fit bigger keys into the tray than other Netbooks (and even ultraportable laptops). The result is a comfortable typing experience that beats even Dells Inspiron Mini 9.

The 10.2 inch wide screen LCD display offers a 1,024x600 pixel native resolution, which is standard for Netbooks. Its certainly readable, but most documents and Web pages will require some scrolling. The display is covered by the same edge to edge glass we saw in Apples new MacBooks, which adds to the aesthetic, but is also a glare magnet.

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HP extends enterprise services to spot serious security breaches within minutes

HP has unveiled a host of new enhanced enterprise security services and tools, which it claims will let enterprise-size businesses spot security breaches in 12 minutes.

HP announced Supplier Security Compliance Solution and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection Services, claiming they will let customers resolve 92 percent of major incidents within two hours of detection. The features fit into HPs existing Managed Security Services (MSS) and Enterprise Services.

MSS chief technologist at HP, Rhod Davies, told V3 the new Supplier Security Compliance Solution builds on the companys experience to help companies become compliant with governments data handling and security laws.

"This grew out of the deployment of one of HPs biggest UK customers. Weve been doing that supplier management for them and it we learned a lot of lessons and have expanded to offer it to our other customers," he said.

He added the compliance tool will also help customers boost security across their supply chain. "Quite a few recent attacks have been not against the organisation itself but against their supplier, because its easier to get around and in through them. So one of our announcements is a series of consulting services that will help. It starts off by letting you see what the threats are and what controls you should have in place, and ultimately offers you the option to have HP run that supply chain compliance," said Davies.

HPs DDoS Protection Services is a key tool built off DDoS protections technology provider Akamais platform. "The DDoS is a general application that plugs into our existing managed services. The underlying platform is Akamais anti-denial of service technology, but weve put a management wrapper around it to make it integrate with the other management services we deliver," he said.

As well as the new services, HP also unveiled its next-generation portfolio of anti-hacker technologies. Key additions include the HP Threat Central, SureStart tools and TippingPoint Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) services.

Davies explained that HP Threat Central is a community-sourced security intelligence platform designed to increase the amount of threat data being shared by businesses. He added it is an essential step in the firms ongoing battle to combat the recent wave of advanced attacks being created by cyber criminals.

"Weve seen attackers that have their own ecosystem, where they can more or less plug together modules and are specialising in specific forms of attack, and collaborating and sharing information. The attack side has become that much more sophisticated while on the defence side. I think its fair to say a lot of security professionals live in their own little bunkers and dont exchange information," he said.

"This is partly because theyre too busy and partly because theyre worried about the information theyre trying to protect potentially being shared with the competition. We need to step up the level of collaboration."

The centre is aided by HPs upgraded HP ArcSight and HP Fortify security technologies. The technologies are designed to...Read the rest of this post ---->V3

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