Hewlett Packard has entered the mini-notebook market with the Mini-Note PC, which ships next week. While mini-notebooks have been a popular category, HP’s entry marks an “acknowledgment that it’s a real market,” said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, in a telephone interview.

The mini-notebook market has been dominated by the ASUS Eee PC, one of the top sellers on Amazon.com. The basic model lists for just more than $500, although it is discounted to $372 on Amazon, and features a four-gigabyte hard drive, an 800-MHz Intel Celeron processor and 512MB of RAM.

A Lifestyle Machine

HP’s Mini-Note 2133 is aimed at the education market and weighs under 2.5 pounds, the company said.

“Education shouldn’t end at the bell,” said Jeri Callaway, vice president and general manager for HP’s personal-systems group. “HP believes providing each student with an affordable, creative multimedia tool like the HP Mini will better prepare them to live, learn and work in

an information-rich society.”

The machine’s features include a lightweight anodized aluminum shell, a clear protective coating by the keyboard, a scratch-resistant screen, hard-drive protection, an 8.9-inch display, Wi-Fi and BlueTooth connectivity, and an optional webcam.

Emerging Business Market

HP clearly believes there is money to be made in mini-notebooks, King said. The Asus Eee has been “incredibly successful,” he noted. And Microsoft’s announcement that it will extend Windows XP for use on the small machines breathes new life into the category. The PCs don’t have adequate hard-drive capacity or memory to handle Windows Vista.

Aiming at the education market makes sense, King said, since it appeals to students who just want to toss a lightweight machine in a bag. But the category may additionally have appeal to a positive class of business worker, who doesn’t want or need to carry a full-blown machine. “There’s a class of road warrior…

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