More and more people are asking my opinion on which is the best ultra mobile laptop at the moment. The two that first spring to mind are the HP 2133 Mini-Note and the ASUS Eee PC. HP’s 2133 is now available in most countries whereas ASUS is coming out with an Intel Atom chip based model in a couple of weeks (ASUS Eee PC 901).

Which one is better?

Let’s compare the specs of the two little titans:
(take note that not all specs for the 901 have been made official yet - some were based the ASUS Eee PC 900)

	HP 2133 Mini-Note	ASUS Eee PC 901
OS	Windows Vista Business Linux	Windows XP Home Linux
Chipset	VIA C7-M ULV 1.6Ghz	Intel Atom 800-1.1GHz
Memory	2GB 667MHz DDR SDRAM	2GB DDR2 SDRAM
Network Support	802.11b/g WLAN Bluetooth 2.0 Gigabit E’net (10/100/1000 NIC)	802.11b/g WLAN Bluetooth 2.0 Gigabit E’net (10/100 NIC)
Disk	160GB, SATA ,5400RPM	12/20GB Solid State Drive
Display	8.9″ WXGA (1024 x 800)	8.9″ WSVGA (1024 x 600)
Battery	6-Cell 28Whr Li-ion	4-Cell Li-ion
Graphics	VIA Chrome 9	Intel UMA
Dimensions	255×165x27mm	225×170x34
Weight	1.27kg	1kg
Price	US$1000 RRP	US$650 RRP

So based on the above, the ASUS Eee 901 only has 3 things (at most) over the HP 2133 Mini-Note:
1. Intel Atom CPU : slower speed but battery optimised
2. Weight : around 30 grams
3. Price : this would be based on the 800Mhz - 1.1GHz CPU version

Personally, I would go with the HP 2133 Mini-Notemostly because of the hard disk space, nicer casing and better resolution. At this size, you want to get as much on the screen as possible. Better still would be an Intel Atom based HP 2133 Mini-Note! Bring it HP!