In addition to the listed specifications for each model of the HP Mini 210 (cpu, memory, disk, exterior color/finish), there are other physical variations depending on model number.

Depending on which HP Mini 210 model you get, some differences are:
- A different keyboard (”island” keyboard or traditional keyboard)
- A matte or glossy screen
- A different physical size of battery
- Different wireless support (802.11b/g vs 802.11b/g/n vs 802.11b/g+bluetooth)

At the time of writing, existing reviews and photos make it difficult to tell what you’ll end up with. According to the HP website, there are a dizzying one hundred ninety different HP Mini 210 models.

Some of the popular models that I saw had these attributes:
210-1010NR: Matte screen, traditional keyboard
210-1030NR: Matte screen, traditional keyboard
210-1040NR: Glossy screen, island keyboard

I ended up with a 210-1040NR. I prefer the island keyboard, it seemed to have less flex than the traditional keyboard. Touch typing on either keyboard was not an issue, punctuation is in the correct place, and both the shift keys and the spacebar are nice and large. The multitouch touchpad works better than the competition. I installed Ubuntu Netbook Edition 9.10 and everything works out of the box. (Although the internal fan appears to be on regardless of temperature)

For me, knowing the limitations of the cpu, keyboard, and build quality, the 1024×600 resolution of the display is the weak point. I see there’s also a HP Mini 210 HD lineup with a higher resolution display, which may be worth considering.