A sentinel without a ton of EHP doesn't sound like a very enticing offer to me. I would LOVE to hear how other people are justifying spending 3m SP to get a proto Minmatar sentinel. I would be happy if someone could convince me Minmatar isn't going from Winmatar to Minmatarded.

I think the minmatar will be the least used because of the stigma. But there are some redeeming qualities here. It has IMO the BEST slot layout of all heavies (mimics the adv min assault) 3 high 2 low. The shield depleted/recharge is a bit gimped given the already low EHP but I don't think its gamebreaking. The pg/cpu will hurt this suit, but I'm not sure how bad(haven't run the numbers yet) The hidden gem of this suit is that it should always have a kin cat on it, with that take a look at the stamina regen rate. It is one of the highest in the game. This suit IMO will be the sentinel flanker, always sprinting around the map and a decent clip. If engaged by another heavy, simply run away to fight another day. Positioning will be vital with this suit, as any minmatar suit, so skilled players will see more success with it.

A fit right off the top of my head:

2xshield ext
1x shield energizer

1 x kin cat
1x shield reg (maybe 2nd kin cat?

But it seems you're suggesting ditching EHP for kincats or some such thing? The 5% movement bonus isn't actually that significant, unless you're using kincats, which seems to me rather contrary to what a heavy should stand for, particularly when you will be dropped by every other heavy since they have twice as much EHP, and probably have resistances vs. your weapon, where you have none vs. theirs (in all likelyhood)

Fit Kincats + Shield Extenders on it, then imaging it as an Assault suit that trades its equipment slot for an HMG.
Not so bad, huh?

Here. An example.
http://www.protofits.com/fittings/index/0/1439

I run dual enhanced Kincats on my Amarr Sentinel. It's legit and I've chased down Assaults and Scouts alike.

I don't know if the Minmatar Sentinel will be a good biotics tanker, but the Amarr Heavy can totally do it.

I understand the speed boost is nifty, though, it doesn't seem nearly significant enough to counteract the massive drop in EHP compared to other suits.

But it seems you're suggesting ditching EHP for kincats or some such thing? The 5% movement bonus isn't actually that significant, unless you're using kincats, which seems to me rather contrary to what a heavy should stand for, particularly when you will be dropped by every other heavy since they have twice as much EHP, and probably have resistances vs. your weapon, where you have none vs. theirs (in all likelyhood)

Actually many people love the idea about it'' speed - think about it, you run in the underground "supply -depo room" and dish out a bullets in half a minute. Afterwards you collect tears.