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Computerworld reports that HP and Acer are engaging in a price war, with the US school opening season upcoming this fall.

Acer slashed prices on its Aspire One netbooks on Friday to as low as $329 for one version, while HP revealed new prices for Mini-Notes on its Web site.

The price of the HP Mini-Note 2133 KR948UT has been slashed to $789 from $949, according to HP. The device has an 8.9-in. screen, uses a 1.2-GHz Via C7-M microprocessor, and has 2GB of DRAM and a 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) for data storage.

The lowest-priced Mini-Note running Windows Vista Home Basic is the KX868AT, which costs $599, down from $786, according to HP.

The lowest-priced Mini-Note is the HP 2133 KR922UT at $499 on Amazon.com and elsewhere, but a better version of that netbook, the Mini-Note 2133 KX869AT, offers a lot more for $549.

The education sector is being targeted by the netbook manufacturers, with portable, lightweight and small devices that cost less than full-sized notebooks being viewed as ideal for students of all ages. For me I would say that the big issue here would be battery life, given that schools and libraries may not always have wall outlets available for charging. Asus’ concept of whole-day computing comes into mind here.

Yugatech reviews the MSI Wind U100 and gives a generally favorable verdict.

If you looked at these specs (including possible upgrades to 2GB RAM and 320GB HDD), they’re very comparable to a lot of entry-level 12.1? to 15.4? laptops from last year. In a way, we can now say that the MSI Wind has a good potential to be a primary laptop (see related story on Intel Atom here). The design is simple yet elegant with a glossy finish on the screen lid so expect it to be a fingerprint-magnet.

Given that the Wind comes with a generous 10-inch screen, it can be considered enough for most to serve as a primary computer. Remember that for in some markets, netbook manufacturers are targeting those whose use would be as a primary computer, rather than as a secondary/portable one. Given the relatively lower prices of netbooks, as compared to, say, a full-featured 14-incher, I would find this reasonable.

When I first got my HP Mini Note, it came pre-loaded with Windows Vista Business. Sure, I like Vista on my other, faster, machines. But on the Mini Note, Vista really crawled. Startup was about 2:30 minutes, and the system was generally lagging in terms of responsiveness.

And so I decided to install Windows XP. I called up HP support to ask if this was possible, and they said they did provide free XP “downgrade” discs, but that they were out of stock at that time. So I just used an old copy of Windows XP Home lying around (which I installed on my old computer which I was no longer using), installed the drivers, and the system was running smoothly. Bootup time was about 50 seconds (up to usable state!), with some tweaks and fixes. And the system was generally more responsive than with the original Vista installation.

I got two discs with the package that the courier dropped off yesterday: the XP install disc, and the driver/application disc.

HP mini note XP discs

I decided to overwrite the existing XP installation, since I thought the new XP install woudl come pre-loaded with the drivers. sure, I don’t like the usual stuff that pre-loaded OSes come with, like Antivirus software, apps, utilities, and the like. But I was in for a surprise to learn that the HP install disc was just the usual Windows XP Service Pack 2 installation. The OEM version didn’t even say “HP” (whereas on my other netbooks, like the EeePC 900, it said “ASUS”).

Installation was quick - at about 45 minutes. I then stuck in the driver/app DVD and installed all the drivers. I was a bit selective with the add-on apps I installed, since I didn’t want some of them, particularly because they just added to bloat (like Norton Antivirus).

One gripe I have is that when Windows Setup formatted the new partiiton for installation, it renamed it as drive D. So now, the Vista restore partition is drive C, while the system drive is drive D.

But overall, the “downgrade” process was painless, and Window XP is very usable on netbooks.

DailyTech reports that Lenovo is set on competing in the netbook market with its upcoming IdeaPad S10. The S10 will come in 10.2 inch widescreen form factor, and will sport the Intel Atom N270, whch runs at 1.6 GHz. According to Lenovo, the S10 will be super-slim. Pricing starts at $399 for the lowest-spec’d model.

The notebook will be sold in two different configurations. The first has 512 MB of memory and an 80 GB hard drive. The second, which likely be priced somewhat higher, ups the memory to 1 GB and features a 160 GB hard drive. No solid state drive options have been announced yet. Both configurations come with Windows XP preinstalled, courtesy of Microsoft’s stay of retirement on XP for ultra-portables.

Lenovo will also release 9-inch versions of the IdeaPad in some markets, and also plans to bundle some models with Linux instead of Windows XP.

Okay, so I didn’t really get to post my observations for the past couple of days. Been busy with a whole lot of things. Let me just list down some points I noticed.

I’ve been playing with the Mini Note’s accelerometer, and I’m pretty much surprised it works as well as it’s supposed to. If you try jerking your Mini note around while turned on, the hard drive LED will turn amber, which means the drive is automatically parked to prevent the heads crashing. I don’t think you need any additional software or drivers for this, but HP’s 3d drive guard driver lets you control whether the accelerometer is on or off.

I do have “drive guard” markings on my B1256, but I can’t figure out how to turn it on, or if it actually exists on my bigger laptop.

Also, I notice that the touchpad isn’t as big as it appears. The surface area is small enough as it is (compared to my EeePC 900’s). But the actual tracking area is even smaller. You have to touch the touchpad about one centimeter from the edges before it detects movement. And I thought it was the whole area! I think I’ve been spoiled by my EeePC’s touchpad, with its size and multi-touch functionality. The EeePC’s touchpad plus the Mini note’s keyboard would definitely make a winer out of any netbook.

I also noticed that you don’t have the option of turning off the bluetooth only or the wifi radio only with a switch or even with software settings. On my B1256, HP gives you the option to switch on or off either WiFI, bluetooth, or both at the same time. This translates to added battery juice when you’re using just one. One could turn BT or WiFi only off in BIOS, but that would be too much of a hassle, having to reboot the computer.

Lastly, I’ve been scouring local retail stores for sleeves that would fit the Mini note, to no avail. HP’s Mini note is one of the more expensive netbooks around and you’d think that they would include carrying accessories. Both my EeePCs came with sleeves. Acer’s Aspire one has a sleeve. The MSI Wind comes with a zip-up sleeve. The Mini note? Nada.

I’ll be returning this review unit soon. Perhaps I’ll get myself my own Mini note one of these days.