HP and Vivienne Tam have created a Mini 210 for 'Butterfly Lovers'

HP's latest Mini 210 has turned gold and wears Vivienne's 'Butterfly Lovers' motif

Vivienne Tam has dipped the Mini 210 in pale gold

The butterfly motif comes at a high price: $599.99

Customers can also buy a mouse bearing the same design

HP has unveiled a new addition to its Mini 210 range, which is inspired by Vivienne Tam. The fashion designer's 'Butterfly Lovers' theme envelops the 10.1” netbook in a pale gold finish and colorful butterfly motif. An optional external mouse also shares this design, which is a useful addition for users seeking to extend the theme further.

The Tam 210 has the same set of components as other models in the Mini 210 range. It contains an Intel Atom N450 processor, which is ranked 311 on our processor benchmark list and offers a fair amount of processing power for a netbook. This can be upgraded to a higher clocked N470 for an extra $75, which is ranked 306 on our processor benchmark list. The N450 and N470 contain an integrated DDR2 memory controller and an Intel GMA 3150 GPU within their housing. These processor packages have a TDP of only 5.5W and 6.5W respectively, which helps the Tam 210 reach its remarkable operating times of 5.5 hours on a 3 cell battery (the standard size) and 11.1 hours on a 6 cell battery. However, Amazon.com states that the Tam 210 can manage only 4.25 hours on a 3 cell battery, which is much lower than HP.com's claims.

The GMA 3150 is unsuitable for processing HD content, consequently, it is ranked 216 on our GPU benchmark list. Customers can improve the Tam 210's graphical processing power with a Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video accelerator with ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre for an additional $35. The standard Tam 210 is equipped with a 10.1" WSVGA display, so in order to watch HD content, customers will need to upgrade this to a 10.1” HD (1366 x 768), which adds $30 to the total price.

Most Mini 210 models are fitted with 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB, 5400rpm hard drive; but the Tam 210 has 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 250GB, 7200rpm hard drive. The networking capabilities of the Tam 210 are comprehensive and include support for LAN 10/100 and WLAN 802.11g. For $15 an 802.11 n adapter can be placed inside the Tam 210; other upgrades are also possible, including support for 802.11 g with Bluetooth and WWAN with GPS.

According to HP the Tam 210 is 'coming soon' and it is availabe for pre-order now for $599.99. Orders placed with HP.com should be built by the end of the month, which implies that the Tam 210 could be shipped early next month. Amazon.com is also taking pre-orders, and lists the Tam 210's price at $599.99 as well.

Considering that the standard Mini 210 starts at $279.99 the Tam 210 is grossly overpriced. Previous Mini 210 reviews have been far from favorable, citing poor performance and poor ergonomics as particularly negative points. However, the good mobility offered by the Mini 210's battery life and slim design has impressed reviewers, as well as its typically low price. The Tam 210 would definitely disappoint reviewers with its unwarranted high price, especially as it offers little improvement over a standard Mini 210. Consequently, it is nothing more than a fashion accessory: overpriced and lacking functionality.

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