A few days ago I bought a HP Mini 1033CL netbook at Costco. So far I’m very impressed with it and can see why its garnered such high marks from those who’ve reviewed it. With 1Gig of Ram, the Mini is pretty fast as is — but it’s capable of 2Gigs, so why not max it out? With that in mind, I went ahead a little while ago and ordered a Kingston 2Gig stick from NewEgg for $28 (with tax/shipping). There’s a great video showing how easy it is to install the memory here:
http://www.notebooks.com/2008/12/12/hp-mini-1000-how-to-upgrade-ram-in-less-than-20-seconds-video/
UPDATE 1/1/09
The Kingston 2Gig stick from NewEgg arrived yesterday and is working great! However, there are a couple of things about the HP 1033CL that I don’t like:
1.) The Webcam: the picture is so dark it’s practically useless! From numerous posts on various Netbook forums, there’s a number of people who are having the very same Webcam problem I am with the 1033CL. One person commented that he installed Ubuntu on the HP 1033CL to determine whether it was a hardware or software problem. His test showed that in Ubuntu the Webcam worked well and that the contrast problem in XP was gone. Whether or not HP is going to fix this software problem remains to be seen.
2.) The other drawback of the 1033CL is the lack of VGA port to connect to an external monitor. I’ve read that HP offers a special connector to make the 1033CL capable of connecting to an external monitor for $79, but I haven’t seen the part for sale yet. Frankly, the idea of paying $79 for a proprietary cable just so I can hook the 1033CL up to a monitor doesn’t sit well with me, especially when less expensive Netbooks like the Acer Aspire One has a VGA port and a working Webcam. 😐
Thank you to you I just got a 2Gb memory upgrade for my HP 1033CL. I do not know why HP tech support told me few times that the max is 1GB. Only when they transfer me to a memory manufacturer (which i forget the name) the manufacter told me that there is memory for that. I am on my way to get my 2Gb and test on my machine.
Do you have any news about the AV connector for monitor?
Thank you
Joaquim
Hi Joaquim,
I no longer own the 1033CL. I returned it to Costco a few days ago. My main reasons were:
Lousy .3MP Webcam
No VGA port
Side buttons on trackpad
3 cell battery
As for the cable, after much time trying to get an answer from HP, I found out that it isn’t available yet.
(I posted about it here)
I’ve decided to hold off on a Netbook and just stick with my iPhone 3G and MacBook. I’m hoping Apple will get into the Netbook market and release a 10″, (not holding my breath on that happening anytime soon). The Samsung NC10 looks like the best bet right now.