My month with Verizon's $199, 2.5-pound HP netbook

It's small, light, cheap (unless you consider the monthly data fees), and ... did I mention small? I had a ball trotting around New York City with the diminutive HP Mini 1151 in my shoulder bag, but think twice before replacing your current desktop or laptop with one of these babies.

Verizon Wireless was kind enough to send me a review unit of the HP Mini 1151nr, a custom version of the HP Mini 1000 that taps into Verizon's 3G EV-DO data network (courtesy of an integrated 3G chip). I've been toting it around my apartment and the streets of New York for about a month now, and it's been … well, an eye-opening experience, in more ways than one.

First, a little background: The one-inch-thick, two-and-a-half-pound Mini 1151 is something of a first—namely, it's the first netbook offered by a U.S. wireless carrier, subsidized as if it were a smartphone. (AT&T will also have its own subsidized netbooks this year, and I'm confident more are on the way.)

That subsidy brings down the price of the Mini 1151 to just $199 (with a $50 mail-in rebate)—the same price as the (subsidized) Samsung Alias 2 for Verizon, and cheaper than Verizon's two-year contract price for a BlackBerry Storm.

Then again, remember that you will be on the hook for a two-year contract with Verizon, which entails monthly data fees ranging from $39 to $59 a month—for a grand total of $1,640 or so over two years, if you choose the pricier 5GB/month option. You can also get the 1151 from Verizon without a contract, for an un-subsidized $569—or, by the same token, simply snap up a cheap netbook and use it with a Verizon Wireless broadband card.

But lets stick with Verizon's HP Mini 1151—which, if you're a newcomer to netbooks (as I was, until recently) makes for a shockingly small gadget, especially considering that it runs on Windows XP.

Measuring just 10.3 by 6.6 by 1 inches and weighing in at a mere two-and-a-half pounds, the Mini is only about the size of … say, your average hard-backed beach book. I slipped it into my regular laptop case (in which I usually lug around a 5.5-pound, 15-inch MacBook Pro) and couldn't believe how small it was, taking up just a fraction of my bag's notebook sleeve. Slung over my shoulder, my case felt like it was practically empty.

Open up the Mini 1151 and you'll find a 10.1-inch, 1024-by-576 display, along with a full QWERTY keyboard that's just slightly smaller than you'd find on a standard laptop. Fire it up, and you'll get the familiar XP splash screen.

Of course, what's especially cool about the Mini is its integrated 3G capabilities. Once you've booted into Windows, you just launch Verizon's VZAccess application, select the internal 3G modem, and click "Connect"—and within a few seconds, you're connected to VZW's broadband EV-DO network.

Personally, I had a blast zapping around Manhattan with the Mini 1151 tucked away in my shoulder bag. I loved being able to duck into a café, quickly start up the device (provided you're in "Hibernation" mode, rather than booting up cold), and quickly check my email, dip into Facebook, and browse a few key Web sites, all on a decent-sized screen.

That said, would I recommend the Mini 1151 for, say, hard-core video editing, full-page word processing, or tinkering with giant Excel spreadsheets? Of course not.. While the 1151 comes with a decent 80GB hard drive, its mobile-oriented, 1.60GHz Intel Atom processor was never intended for serious number-crunching or HD video processing, and the 10-inch, limited-resolution display isn't well suited for viewing standard-size Word or Excel documents. And then there's the QWERTY keyboard, which—while roomy by netbook standards—is still small enough that I frequently found myself typing gibberish by mistake. Oh, and no optical drive, either.

Of course, that's pretty much the deal with netbooks in general: they're great for anyone who needs serious portability, but doesn't mind the inherent trade-offs—and, most importantly, isn't relying on said netbook as their primary computing device.

Unfortunately, based on a recent survey by the NPD Group, it sounds like many consumers are jumping into the netbook fray without fully realizing what they're getting into.

The survey (as reported by CNET) found that only about 58 percent of netbook users are happy with their netbooks, versus about 70 percent for those who bought standard laptops. Other results from the survey: Nearly 60 percent of users said they only use their netbooks at home (doh!), while 65 percent of those between 18 and 24 thought their netbooks would perform better than they do.

The key with netbooks—whether we're talking about the HP Mini 1151 on Verizon or any number of other models—is to only buy one for the right reasons. Constantly on the road, and need something a bit bigger than a BlackBerry for answering e-mail, checking the Web, and doing some light editing in Word? Then a netbook might be the ticket. Expecting something more, like HD video streaming on Hulu, speedy application launching, or seamless multitasking? You're probably better off with something that's a little heavier than two-and-a-half pounds.

So, any netbook veterans out there with advise for newbies (like myself, admittedly) who are circling the Verizon's HP Mini 1151, or something similar? Thoughts on netbooks in general? Fire away.

Note: For those of you asking about battery life (good question), I found the Mini was fine for quick hits, but the battery meter showed a definite dent after only about an hour or so of sustained use (and with 3G on). The reviewers at CNET performed a proper battery-drain test and got about two-and-a-half hours of juice out of the 1151nr—not horrible, but not great, either.