HP Mini 1000

The Mini 1000's footprint is nearly identical to that of the earlier HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, measuring slightly wider and thinner. It's also a little lighter, thanks to the switch from aluminum to plastic. Netbooks are designed with price and portability in mind, so they're usually not the fanciest designs to come out of a PC maker's lab. While an aluminum chassis is generally preferred to one made from plastic, the switch to plastic here makes sense because every penny and ounce counts. Overall, we appreciate the Mini 1000's efficient and attractive layout--there's hardly any dead space on the keyboard tray.
The biggest selling point for the Mini 1000 is its fantastic keyboard, which HP claims is 92 percent of the size of a full-size laptop keyboard. Other Netbooks have been plagued by tiny Chiclet-like keys, which make typing a pain and typos plentiful. By expanding the keyboard right to the edges of the system, HP was able to fit bigger keys into the tray than other Netbooks (and even ultraportable laptops). The result is a comfortable typing experience that beats even Dell's Inspiron Mini 9.
The 10.2-inch wide-screen LCD display offers a 1,024x600-pixel native resolution, which is standard for Netbooks. It's certainly readable, but most documents and Web pages will require some scrolling. The display is covered by the same edge-to-edge glass we saw in Apple's new MacBooks, which adds to the aesthetic, but is also a glare magnet.
The Mini 1000 has fewer ports and connections than many other Netbooks, but the two USB ports should be enough for most users. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9, in comparison, has three USB ports, plus separate headphone and mic jacks, while the HP has only a single switchable audio jack. We wouldn't mind so much, but HP felt the need to include a proprietary recessed USB jack for use with the company's HP Mini Mobile Drive--basically an elongated USB memory stick. We'd rather the chassis space and hardware costs go into another USB port, a video output, or even a separate mic jack.
Intel's single-core 1.6GHz Atom CPU offers enough computing power for the basic tasks for which Netbooks are designed--namely Web surfing, working on documents, and some basic multimedia playback. That combo of Intel's Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and Windows XP (a Linux version of the Mini 1000 will be released in early 2009) is found in almost every current Netbook, so it's not surprising that we saw no real performance difference between the Mini 1000 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 or Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Any of these are fine for basic on-the-go computing, as long as you keep your expectations modest.

Killer Xeno Pro

EVGA Killer Xeno Pro. Designed to accelerate real-time internet gameplay, the EVGA Killer Xeno Pro fights game lag, smoothes game play and boosts frame rates. Also included is hardware-accelerated voice chat that ensures hiccup free communication during the most intensive game sessions. Gamer-grade network traffic prioritization and security tools further prove that this is not your grandmas networking card. Get the competitive edge today with the EVGA Killer NIC Pro!
How does it work?
Bigfoot Networks™ technology is optimized for online gaming and real-time communications applications. The EVGA Killer Xeno Pro uses a 400MHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) to offload all networking operations. The NPU acts as a co-processor dedicated to running the networking portion of games and other applications. This NPU, along with Bigfoot Networks™ patented software algorithms, accelerates, prioritizes and shapes the packet stream that goes to and from the computer, thereby allowing EVGA Killer Xeno Pro to bypass the Windows Stack and allow the NPU to handle all the network functions. This results in the CPU being able to run at full speed, while checking for and receiving network data as fast as possible.
This Process:
Optimizes and speeds network operations
Prioritizes game network traffic to ensure game data is always injected into the game the instant it arrives.
Offloads packet processing for latency intensive applications, like VoIP, to provide clear and clean communications
Frees up the CPU to do more game logic and other computations.
As a result, gamers see less lag, better frame rates and smoother, more responsive gameplay during intense action. In fact, on average, gamers see from 10% to 20% increase in frame rate!

"Killer Xeno Pro"