HP Coupon Codes
Introducing Mini Mi...
Last year, several sections were added to Themebot for laptop deals with coupons from various computer vendors. That area of the site was pretty small. I would hand-pick the best deals and post them there so that visitors could save money. The main focus was computer companies that provide laptops with Linux pre-installed. Shortly after adding a section for HP coupon codes, I decided it would be better to move this to a completely separate website, so that it could be more easily maintained and expanded to provide many more coupons and deals than what is possible in a small section on Themebot. Thus, Coupons Dealuxe (now known as Coupon Code Swap) was created and the HP Coupons section was transferred over. Be sure to check it out if you are looking to buy a new HP laptop or desktop. The HP coupons for laptops tend to go very quickly, sometimes reaching the redemptions cap in less than 24 hours.
Recently, I won an HP Mini 1000 Mi Netbook in a drawing. WOOHOO! I was even more excited when I found out that the Mini 1000 Mi would be shipping with an operating system based on Ubuntu. I was a little concerned that HP may have neutered Ubuntu to provide the Mobile internet experience. "Mi" is an acronym for "Mobile internet". I guess HP didn't want to scare anybody with the idea of using Linux :P
So, I got the HP Mini 1000 Mi about a week ago. Let's just call it Mini Mi.
Does Dr. Evil approve?
Yes! The Mini Mi is better than frickin' sharks with laser beams attached to their heads!
I haven't even gotten around to writing a full review for my New MacBook yet and I already have another new toy to play with. I don't know if I should start feeling geeky now that I own three laptops. Well, technically the Mini Mi is a netbook. However, I could see owning one as an only computer for people who aren't power users. It would also make a great secondary computer for people who are power users and need a toteable laptop to use when away from home. The Mini Mi is a well-equiped and an amazingly feature-rich laptop considering the size, weight and price (starting at $329).
Back to Ubuntu. I believe that this is the first consumer oriented HP laptop / computer to ship with a Linux operating system pre-installed. And, I was very happy to find out that HP didn't neuter Ubuntu. In fact, it ships with a full-blown Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy install and I have full access to everything I would want to configure in Ubuntu. I was able to open up a terminal window and edit the xorg.conf file, etc. HP provides a very nice looking theme for Ubuntu and a simplified launch panel for running applications etc. I'm probably going to try installing Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope when it is released about a month and a half from now. I think most computer users will appreciate the Mobile internet experience and the customizations HP has made. And, advanced users will appreciate being able to fine-tune and do advanced Linux stuff with Ubuntu under the hood.
As far as I know, Dell is the only other big name computer company shipping laptops with Ubuntu or even shipping mainstream consumer-oriented computers with Linux at all. Hopefully, more companies will start doing this.
Okay, I'm off to play with Mini Mi. A full review should be coming soon.