20 August 2010

The HP Mini 311 Is A Sad Mac* After All?

*or a PC, if you didn't hackintosh it.

It's no secret that my HP Mini 311 died on me a few months ago and before that, my HP Mini 1000 did too at about a month before its 1 year international warranty expired. But then it's also no secret how "intimate" I've been getting with these two machines -- and before you color me perverted, that is, a perverted geek-wannabe to be exact -- the "intimacy" described here deals with logic boards (Apple parlance, hello!), PCI slots, U.fl antenna connectors, 2.5" hard drive bracket mounts, and DIMM slot clips.

To cut the story short, the HP Mini 311 died because I fried its bios chip with the wrong bus speeds while learning how to over-clock hands-on. That the HP Mini 1000 still lives is a miracle given the many times I've cracked its shell open to extract and restore its infamous BCM94312HMG WiFi card. In my case, the less than stellar user experience has been self-inflicted.

We are also aware of the controversy claiming that netbooks are not at all made to last. It's something that's been circulating on the web for quite some time now, since the advent of this new machine category and I bet Timmy C. and Stevie J. have been effervescently delighted with that, but most of us "netbookers" trudged on happily with our little wonder gadgets to our fave cafés.

But now, after reading a post at blogeee.net, I feel imminently disturbed: HP netbooks have been pointed (again) in particular to have the shortest life span of them all!

The thought of my Mini 311 deteriorating within 12 months - that's before I can even complete the installment payment plan - is just troubling.

You, how's your HP experience so far?


4 comments:

Iperzampem0 said...

Mine is still alive and without any problem though...! Fortunately!!! :)
I wish it can lasts for years!

jccw said...

My 1000 is about a year old. Still working even though I dropped it on a marble floor from a height of about 5 feet shortly after hackintoshing it. The drop seems to have killed the lid switch, but nothing else, so my vote is for food solid machine.

Elceb said...

I've got my 311c since 9 months with any issue. I hope keeping it at lest 2 year without problem.
My 2 years old Aspire One A110 run very well, after many dismantling and some shock.

joe_dude said...

Haven't heard of any dead Mini 311s yet, short of OC'ing too far.

I'm hoping because it's an Ion netbook, the build quality is slightly better. ;)