Ok so recently I got myself a Compaq Mini 311c netbook direct from the HP store, As there are many unboxing's already on youtube at the moment, I won't bother doing mine and posting up (I have recorded one but its pretty crap haha).

**NOTE: This netbook is known to users in Europe as the Compaq Mini 311c..Everywhere else it will be known as the HP Mini 311c** 

 Ok so onto the pressing matters that be!...Whats the specs of the netbook?. Now most folk think that "its a netbook so specs are all the same, Just the style that looks different"...I would be inclined to agree...But also now performance is starting to become a factor. So the main specs are

Intel Atom 1.6ghz N270 processor

160GB HDD

 Nvidia ION  LE graphics chipset (Full ION if go Win 7)

1GB DDR3 Soldered RAM (supports up to 3GB DDR3 RAM)

11.6" Screen

HDMI Port

 Full specs can be found here 

So what makes this netbook so different from the rest?..Nothing much to be honest apart from the fact that it has a HDMI Slot, ION graphics and a 11.6" screen and supporting RAM up to 3gb.

Device Tour 

 So lets do a tour around the device..From left to right

Kensington Lock, AC Power, USB Port, HDMI Port

Card reader slot supporting SD,MS/Pro/MMC/XD, Joint Headphone/Microphone jack, 2 USB ports, VGA Port & 100mbps ethernet port

 Battery is 6 cell which is supposed to last around 6 hours give or take...Netbook comes pre-loaded with Windows XP Sp3 Home Edition unless you specify your model.

Screen is 11.6" and glossy (urgh)...Keyboard feels exactly the same as the HP Mini 2140 gives good response back when typing...We have left and right click button in the bottom of the trackpad..Towards the right of the trackpad is a up and down scroller & finally the bottom right of the netbook 2 status LED lights.

Ok so now thats over and done with. Moving on...

Performance

 If your expecting something on par with anything over a dual core processor then you can think again and you need to look in the laptop segment area of the world of computing.

 The atom 1.6ghz processor is enough for daily tasks such as browsing the internet, word processing, social networking etc, But don't expect it to play the latest games, Do video encoding, etc.

According to the folks at MyHPMini you can overclock the 311c to 2ghz. For the record..I have overclocked to 2ghz and this is about the top max stable rate you can get!...It's also noted that this does give a noticeable boost in gaming.

Gaming

 Although the ION has been touted and has been shown playing Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare, Don't expect it to be in ground breaking playable form..Expect low framerates for your games..Especially if they are CPU demanding.

Screen/Build/Lid

Initial impressions are good with this netbook compared to other models I've read about (Acer 751 which is terrible)..My major gripe however is the glossy lid and the glossy display..I can understand the screen in some sense for HD playback, But its a god damn finger print magnet!!!...Matte would have been better for me personally...Hence at the moment I kept the protective lid on the cover as I hate fingerprints on shiny things haha.

HD PlayBack

Well I must say, I will agree what Tej at Netbook Choice said about HD Playback...It's dependant on the application you are using for playback and also as well the graphics chip itself.

 I downloaded 8 1080p trailers (Green Zone, Salt, Cop Out, Avatar, Iron Man 2, Dark Knight, Up In The Air, Quantum Of Solace) and played them in VLC player and playback was...well...shocking at best...Played it in Media Player Classic Home Cinema it was flawless!

Colours are vibrant in playback and as I say, Depending which program you use for playback, Results will differ..Media Player Classic gets my vote as it uses hardware acceleration of the ION graphics chipset so this was there is less strain on the CPU.

Keyboard

Give yourself an hour or two with it, And even the person with the biggest hands will be up to normal typing speeds...The Compaq Mini 311c keyboard is of the same style as previous HP/Compaq's of the 2140.

Trackpad

I've had a couple of days to play with this trackpad and for the first couple of days I've used it, One word can sum it up for me....Annoying!!!

The "Tap to Click" system on the touchpad is just damn right annoying!!...If you are typing away and you just by accident touch the touchpad, You highlight all the text and up typing over yourself..Highly annoying if you are a student or something I can bet...After 3 days of messing on the netbook and 1 hour of calling HP Tech support..We managed to disable it...Turns out the software wasn't installed correctly...Customer service these days eh? lol

The side scroll is a nice feature, But in all honesty, Half the time you forget its actually there and just use the down arrow on your keyboard lol.

RAM

As I  mentioned above already..You get 1GB RAM soldered onto the board itself..Upon removing the back panel of the netbook, I found one slot for RAM which was not being used. There are numerous confirmed reports on the net that the machine itself will allow a 2GB RAM stick to go in to boot it up to 3GB no problems at all. Also take into consideration that this is DDR3 and most netbooks have DDR2 so you may pay a little more for your RAM...I currently still have 1GB installed and I'm in no rush to upgrade.

Battery Life

With Wifi disabled and just doing standard word processing..I managed to get just over 5 hours battery life which isn't that bad...With 1080p videos running on loop I was looking at just over 4 hours and 30 mins..Still not bad considering it has to use more resources.

Hackintosh Compatible?

There are reports on the internet that you can indeed install MAC OSX onto the netbook and it does run fine. However in order for wifi to work, You will as it stands have to buy a new wireless card or a USB dongle...Also many users said that you need atleast 2GB RAM..I will try this later in the year :-)

 Modding

Well you can replace the wireless card quite easy, And if you look on the net, You can also unlock the ION LE to a full ION as well as overclocking the Atom processor to 2ghz...The worlds your's really on what you want to do with it  

Overall Verdict

It's a very good netbook, Especially for light gaming such as playing street fighter, Modern Warfare at low frames whilst also being a very good high def portable device.

One you disable that annoying "Tap to click" interface on the trackpad, You will be much happier and will be to enjoy the machine more..The glossy display and lid is down to personal preference..In time you will learn to live with it I guess.

I would recommend upgrading the RAM to 3GB just to give you that extra piece of mind and that extra leg room for other applications.

 Apart from that..Not bad at all 4/5