Verizon's HP Mini 1000 due to launch May 17th?

Sure, the hot buzz right now is centered on to release a unicorn-built iPhone tablet that runs on marshmallows and cuddles, but Boy Genius Report says that Big Red's is about to bear fruit -- the long-rumored subsidized Mini 1000 is apparently due to launch on May 17th. The specific model will be the Mini 1151NR, and if that we saw earlier holds water, we're looking at a pretty standard Atom / XP configuration with a 3G modem built in. Pricing hasn't been locked down, but according to BGR, it'll be as every other subsidized netbook: $299 after rebate with a mandatory two-year data contract. That's more or less $200 off standard MSRP, a discount we're sure you'll pay back twice over the course of the contract. Seriously, we'd much rather fiddle with a USB stick that we can use on multiple machines than spend around a grand on data fees just for a netbook -- what about you?