A knockout event for a knockout product – last May 30 was the designated release day of the HP Mini-Note PC, and if the geek-tastic ultra portable wasn’t enough to poleax any self-respecting geek, the event itself was replete with numerous sights and sounds to tickle the senses and generally to invite celebration for a truly definitive turning point in HP’s product line and our choices as a consumer.

Starting off with the event, the first and foremost surprise was the attendance of one Amanda Griffin, who some of you may recognize. Brad Turvey assisted during the event proceedings. They generated nearly as much attention as the Mini Note, to say the least. The event was held at the  Fort Bonifacio High Street open area, near the fountains and Fully Booked.

Naturally, a group of models err… modeling the HP Mini Note were also present, and they made the rounds among the guests, an easier task than usual due to the small size of the ultraportable.

As a side note, most of the models were old hands at events and unveilings like this, but they were still pretty psyched to be some of the first people to actually handle this little beauty.

A lot of the guests showed quite a bit of enthusiasm as well. We have Tessa Prieto Valdez here sharing a laugh with some of the models after inspecting the Mini Note.

Amazing Race Asia's Marc Nelson engrossed with a Mini Note - perhaps we will be seeing one of these on screen very soon! A lot of celebrities were part of the festivities; with the open-air setup of the event, the whole proceeding felt like a large open circus with the Mini Note as the main attraction. 

Further enlivening the event, these iconic vehicles - the Volkwagon Combi popular during the "Make Love, Not War" era of the 70's, and the original Mini of British engineering fame both boasts the "Go Places" theme and design - and proved an irresistable camera magnet for most of the photographers. Perhaps HP is confident of the Mini Note becoming an iconic product as the first of a line of portable notebooks, same as how these vehicles became some of the best recognized products of their respective parent companies and spawned refinements and other models over the years.

Looking like a celebrity himself, Christian Reyes, HP's Market Development Manager, looks just about ready to dance - he's as excited as any of the press covering his event. He's joined by Bernadette Nacario, Country General Manager, who proudly shows off their latest product.

Some of the models performed an impromptu photo session with the executives, joining them for another round of pictures with the night's main star. Look at how tiny the notebook actually is in the pictures. 

The press joined in on the fun, with at least two of our number trying to inconspicuously  carry it away - no, not really. We see here two methods to do just so - tuck it behind your jean's belt, as demonstrated here by Manila bulletin's Art Samaniego, or have a junior member of the press corps carry it off behind puppy-dog, innocent eyes. 

Asking nicely, glorifying it, or plain singing its praises to the distributor didn't hack it though - they asked for it back after these pictures were taken. Well, better luck next time, guys.

Speaking of luck, Jayson of Studio 23 officially became the luckiest guy of the night, he gets to take home a Mini Note without even doing anything demonstrated in the above pictures.

The HWM crew hanging out with media representatives near the end of an eventful and highly satisfactory unveiling of one of the most important products of recent HP history.

Finally, some belated glamour shots of the event's main attraction: the HP 2133 Mini Note PC - which we will be covering in-depth as soon as we can get a demo unit to salivate over. Be sure to watch this space for updates!