Just a few hours ago, we had visions that the newly announced Mini 2140 could be the netbook answer to sliced bread. But after speaking to a HP rep, we've learnt that the 6-cell battery option that we were so impressed by will now cost an extra $169. We still want one, but not quite so much.
Whilst we expected the 6-cell battery option to be priced 'a little higher', we're slightly shell-shocked to see the cost, especially in the cheap netbook space.
The inclusion of a 6-cell battery on the Mini 2140 is likely to give the Atom-powered model a serious boost in battery life, given that it has a LED screen which will help save power.
Previous LED-based netbooks such as the Asus 1000HE, which debuted at CES earlier this year, boast as much as 9.5 hours battery life if you're to believe the manufacturer. Still, we'd expect something in the order of 6 to 8 hours given the combination of the Atom, 6 cell battery and LED screen.
The total cost of the Mini 2140 will be $968 ($799 + $169) if you include the 6-cell battery, which is teetering close to regular notebook prices (like the ASUS S101, which landed at $999). If you want Business Vista, Bluetooth and an additional 1Gb of RAM (bringing the total to 2GB), be prepared to fork out an extra $300.
At the end of the day, is it worth more than $160 to get better battery life? Would you pay more for it? And how much is too much? Let us know in the comments below.