Create the ultimate lightweight mobile office with this trio of HP gear

With a little over three pounds of electronics, you can create the perfect mobile office for living the “Up In The Air” lifestyle. The kit we will be reviewing next week consists of the new HP Mini 5102 netbook, the HP Notebook Projection Companion and the HP slim travel adapter.

We’ll be taking this trio on a real business trip to determine whether it really can replace your bulky laptop and massive video projector – and whether you’ll actually be able to show up at an office and fire all the staff without them laughing at you.

So, check back next week to see if this good looking kit can become your new office, and whether lighter really is better when it comes to mobile electronics.

Gadling’s gift guide for the frequent / business traveler

Unlike what many people think, business travel is not the jetset playboy lifestyle the TV makes it appear to be. You are frequently stuck in bad hotels, flights are delayed or canceled, and the little spare time you have, is wasted to create expense reports.

In this Gadling gift guide, we have compiled some of the best business traveler kit on the market. Some are there for your entertainment, others just help get some work done more efficiently, leaving more time for fun.

(Photo from Flickr/garybembridge)Callpod Fueltank Duo

As we become more dependent on our gadgets, we also become dependent on battery life lasting as long as a work day. The Callpod Fueltank won a spot in the Gadling top 10 gadgets of 2009 – and rightfully so. It can charge 2 gadgets at the same time, using the same power tips as on the Callpod Chargepod multi-device charger.

Price: $49.95
Product page: Callpod Fueltank


The Art Of Shaving travel kit

When you are on the road a lot, you tend to miss the comforts of home. One way to pamper yourself (or a loved one) is with some nice travel friendly toiletries. The Art Of Shaving produces a lineup of high quality shaving products, as well as some great travel friendly sized kits.

Their TSA friendly shaving kit contains a badger hair shaving brush, pre-shave oil, shaving cream and some after-shave balm. That way, even in the crappiest of hotels, you’ll be able to get a really nice comforting shave.

Price: $50
Product page: The Art Of Shaving

Briggs & Riley Baseline 20″ Upright

Frequent travel requires good reliable luggage. When you start traveling for business is when it is usually the best time to dump that old $40 rolling bag you got when you were 18. The Briggs & Riley Baseline collection consists of some great looking luggage, designed for the rigors of the airport and overhead compartment.

Price: From $259
Product page: Briggs & Riley Baseline Collection
Gadling review: September 2009

Moshi voice control alarm clock

The Moshi voice control travel alarm clock is the cure for the common hotel alarm clock. Most hotels provide an alarm clock that requires a complicated array of button presses to get the time set correctly – and if you are lucky, it will actually work. The Moshi clock lets you program the time, and alarm using your voice. With simple commands you get the right wake up time programmed. It can even tell you the temperature in your room.

Price: $24.95
Product page: Moshilifestyle.com
Gadling review: November 2009

NeatReceipts Moible Scanner + filing system

The NeatReceipts system is perfect for people who have to deal with the hassles of complex expense reporting. Instead of collecting all your receipts in a plastic bag, you simply scan them with the portable scanner, and let the filing software take care of the rest. At the end of your trip, you let the software produce a report, ready to file and speed up your reimbursement.

In addition to expense report creation, the scanner and software can scan regular documents and business cards.

Price: $199.95
Product page: NeatReceipts

HP Mini 5101 Business class netbook

The HP Mini 5101 builds on the runaway success of netbook size computers, but adds a touch of business friendly features. A specially coated full-size keyboard, 3D driveguard protection and options for integrated 3G make this the perfect companion for someone that wants to travel lighter, without compromises.

Price: From $399 (depending on configuration)
Product page: HP Mini 5101
Gadling review: November 2009

Sling Media Slingbox Solo

Even the most workaholic business traveler needs some entertainment every now and then – and the Slingmedia Slingbox can be the perfect tool to accomplish that. This $180 devices takes your home TV signal, and streams it directly to your PDA, iPhone, laptop or Blackberry, anywhere in the world you can get online. You get full control over your home cable box or TiVo, and even get remote access to a TV guide.

Price: $179.99
Product page: Sling Media Slingbox Solo

hField Technologies Wi-Fire

Crappy Wi-Fi signals are one of my biggest hotel pet peeves. It doesn’t matter how upscale the brand, when you have a room with limited Internet connectivity, it can screw up your entire evening. The hField Technologies Wi-Fire adapter clips to your laptop screen (or sits on a table), and greatly boosts your ability to pick up a signal. In some cases, by more than 10x.

Price: $59.99
Product page: hField Technologies
Gadling review: September 2009

Plantronics Voyager Pro

Forget about every experience you ever had with a Bluetooth headset. The headsets of yesteryear were usually horrible for the listener, and the wearer. In some cases, the Plantronics Voyager actually sounds better than using your handset. Stylish design, great battery life and dual noise canceling microphones make for a very reliable headset. Of course, no amount of stylish design can prevent you from looking like a dork – so only wear your headset when you actually need to.

Price: $99.99
Product page: Plantronics Voyager Pro

Aaxa Technologies P2 Pico Projector

Gone are the days where you had to drag a 20lb projector through the airport in a flight-case. The Aaxa P2 is about the size of the iPhone, and produces enough light to display your presentation in a moderately dimmed room. And at the end of the day, you pop in a MicroSD card and watch some movies in your hotel room.

Price: $359.99
Product page: Aaxa Technologies P2
Gadling review: December 2009

Ipevo Skype phones

If your travels take you outside your local calling area, or anywhere else where a simple phone call costs a buck a minute, then you have probably already found the joy of Skype. Ipevo make a line of great Skype hardware, from the most basic handset, to a full conference phone with DSP noise cancellation.

Price: From $14.99
Product page: Ipevo
Gadling review: October 2009

Gadling gear review – HP Mini 5101 netbook

In this review I’m going to introduce you to one of the newest netbook computers from HP. The Mini 5101 is a very compact machine designed with the business traveler in mind. When building a computer for business use, HP obviously put a lot of time into making the machine able to stand up to the rough environment.

Because of this, the entire machine is built around a magnesium frame, it also features an aluminum screen lid, near full size keyboard, hard drive drop protection, a special keyboard coating and an easy to upgrade memory bay.
The basics

Lets start with the basics – inside the entry level HP Mini 5101 is an Intel Atom N280 1.6G6Hz processor, 1GB of ram and a 7200RPM 160GB hard drive. These specifications are nothing special, and are what you’ll find in almost any netbook nowadays.

Design

The design of the 5101 is where you start to notice major differences between most other netbook computers. As soon as you pick the 5101 up, you know that it isn’t just another all plastic computer. A metal screen lid, rubberized bottom, and not a squeak to be found (many cheap machines squeak a bit due to all the poorly joined plastic pieces).

On the bottom of the unit is a memory slot and the battery compartment. One the left side is the power port, a VGA D-SUB monitor connector and 2 USB ports. On the right is where you’ll find the Kensington lock port, 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, a high power USB port (for devices like a DVD drive), audio in/out and an SD memory card reader.

Once you open the Mini 5101, you find the real treat this machine has to offer – a 95% full size keyboard. For the first time (as far as I can tell), the HP designers were smart enough to design the keyboard without any bezel around the edges. This means all the keys come up right to the edge of the machine. Typing on this thing is absolutely amazing, and I can honestly say that it has the best keyboard I have ever used on a laptop. Not just on a netbook, but the best on any laptop.

The trackpad is equally well designed – for some reason, many manufacturers manage to screw up the trackpad design (I’m talking to you Dell). The Mini 5101 has the perfect trackpad – not too big, not too small, buttons on the bottom with a nice click. Seriously – the combination of the great keyboard with the well designed trackpad means you can actually get some work done on this machine. Above the display is a 2MP camera, which is also a step above the crappy low res webcams found on many other machines.

Software and OS

Because the Mini 5101 is targeted towards business users, it is only available with Windows XP Home or SUSE Linux. A third option delivers the machine with nothing but the FreeDOS operating system, which is great if you want to put your own operating system on it.

In addition to XP, the machine I reviewed also came complete with Corel Home Office (a very decent word/spreadsheet/presentation package) with full Microsoft Office compatibility. This package normally retails for $69.99, so it really does provide a good value for your money.

Also included is the HP 3D Driveguard monitor software. This application works alongside the built in accelerometer to protect your hard drive in the event the Mini 5101 falls.

And finally, the Mini 5101 also comes with a file syncing application, designed to help keep the files on your netbook in sync with those on your (home) office desktop PC.

Battery life

On my Mini 5101 review unit, a 29Wh 4-cell lithium-ion battery was included – when running the machine as normally as possible (WiFi on, browser open), I reached 3 hours 25 minutes before it shut itself down. This is very normal for a battery with those specifications. The 6 cell battery increases power to 55Wh (and just over 5 hours of use).

The battery has a small status button and a couple of LED’s to show its current power level.

Expansions and optional extras

In its basic form, the Mini 5101 features a 1024×600 matte display, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and 1GB of memory. Once you start thinking about getting one, you can order it from the HP site with a whole host of extra features.

The following are some of the options available when you pick a customized Mini 5101:

  • HD display (+$25) – increases the screen resolution to 1366×768
  • HP Mobile Broadband adapter – (+$125) powered by GOBI – allows for 3G (GSM and CDMA) connections
  • Bluetooth adapter (+$18) – integrated inside the machine
  • 6 cell lithium-ion battery (+$25)

Of course, the site also lets you order a variety of additional software, chargers and cases. The only memory configuration available from HP is 1GB, but you can upgrade that memory module to 2GB in a matter of seconds, thanks to the easy-access memory port. Unlike other machines, you do not need a screwdriver to access the memory bay on the 5101.

Final thoughts

The HP Mini 5101 starts at $399. This will get you a machine with Windows XP Home, 160GB hard drive, Bluetooth and a 4 cell battery. This is surprisingly cheap, as machines with these specifications, (but without all the extras HP includes) are normally around $350. You obviously pay a premium for the rugged design and other features, but considering how well this thing is built, I’m convinced that it is well worth it. Especially if you travel a lot, you’ll need a machine that can survive the airport. Design aside, what makes this machine well worth its price is the keyboard.

Of course, once you start configuring the Mini 5101 just how you like it, you’ll creep towards $750. This will add mobile broadband , the 6 cell battery and the HD display.

HP unveils the Mini 5101 – makes the Netbook look all grown up

HP is on a roll this month – just 2 weeks after adding 3 new machines to their Mini PC lineup, they just announced the Mini 5101.

The new Mini 5101 weighs in at just 2.6 pounds, and comes with the usual Intel Atom processor. The machine features the awesome 95% full keyboard found on their other popular Netbook sized machines, though they have moved to a “chiclet” style keyboard – something I really like.

The base model ships with a 7200rpm hard drive, but 80 and 128GB SSD drives are available as optional extras.

Since this machine is aimed at business users, you’ll get the HP 3D DriveGuard protection system and their DuraKeys keyboard coating. These technologies also make the Mini 5101 perfect for travelers who need a durable machine capable of being dragged around the world.

Battery life depends on the choice of either a 4-cell pack or a larger 6-cell pack. The 6 cell battery will keep the Mini 5101 going for up to 8 hours.

The Mini 5101 is available with either a standard WSGA screen, or a high-definition screen. Other options include Bluetooth and mobile broadband wireless interfaces as well as a new lineup of portable accessories.

Expect to find the machine available for orders towards the end of July, the expected retail price is $449.