HP this afternoon held a rare UK-first debut for one of its notebooks. The Pavilion dv8 is now HP's largest non-HDX notebook and carries an 18.4-inch, 1080p display that lets it replace a desktop. A 1.6GHz Core i7 and a dedicated GeForce GT 230M also put the dv8's performance closer to that goal.
Sony's VAIO X ultralight could be ready next month and have a second notebook follow along if a rumor tonight proves true. The 1.5-pound notebook would ship in November, according to CrunchGear, and would be a direct replacement for the VAIO TT. A strategy of the sort implies it will use a low-voltage Core 2 Duo, which would support Sony's claims of extra-long battery life.
HP inadvertently confirmed its own notebook plans this morning by posting specs of its own in a technical brief. The Pavilion dv8 (not yet pictured) will be its first 18.4-inch notebook and its second system after the Envy 15 to use a mobile Core i7 processor. While it's unclear if there will be multiple stock configurations, the one model on show has the base 1.6GHz Core i7, which can clock up to 2.8GHz when less than four cores are needed.
As part of a shift to ultra-thin notebooks, HP tonight launched two crossover 13.3-inch notebooks that it hopes are both fast and portable. The ProBook 5310m is unofficially the most portable full-performance notebook ever with an 0.93-inch thick body (versus Apple's 0.94 inches) and a 3.8-pound weight; it accomplishes the feat through an aluminum shell without an optical drive and, unusually, by giving the option of a full-speed 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo as well as a CULV-based 1.2GHz Celeron dual-core. Using the Celeron gives the system as much as 7 hours of battery life using the stock 4-cell battery.
HP's launches today have included the company's first Pavilion All-in-One PC, the MS200. The system borrows the same core design principle as the iMac and balances the entire computer on an angled stand; compared to Apple's full speed computer, though, the MS200 is consciously treated as a step above nettops and is meant as a dorm room or kitchen PC. The new offering is based on a 1.5GHz Athlon X2 and brings Radeon HD 3200 integrated video that can offload much of the 3D acceleration and movie decoding work.
HP's netbook line should get a larger 11.6-inch model if a source today proves true. Computer industry contacts for DigiTimes say Quanta is about to mass-produce such a system next month. Other details aren't published, but the larger size likely means a 1366x768 screen resolution instead of the more common 1024x600. One of HP's 10-inch netbooks should also get a revision and is purportedly slated by its manufacturer, Inventec, to be mass-produced in September.
Greenpeace through its Twitter feed said Tuesday that it has launched a campaign against HP today to criticize the company for its environmental policy. The activist group claims to have painted the roof of HP's Palo Alto headquarters with the words "hazardous products" and to be calling HP staffers with automated messages from William Shatner asking why the company hasn't lived up to its promises of greener products. The protesters now hold Apple as a model for green improvement and claim HP is lagging behind, particularly in its continued use of toxics like bromide flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in its computers.
Microsoft has returned to its ad campaign with the first ad in its "Laptop Hunters" campaign in weeks. The TV spot sees couple Matt and Olivia tasked with finding a system at Best Buy with a large screen, long battery life and good support for pictures at $700. They dismiss a 13-inch plastic MacBook as "too small" and too expensive at $1,000, eventually settling on an HP Pavilion dv7 exactly matching their target price. In comparing the Mac and Windows lines, Microsoft is direct and emphasizes absolute price over features.
HP today acted on two of its planned system updates by launching them through its online store, including an unannounced processor. The new dv2z costs slightly more than promised at $625 but now has a white color trim option and starts with a single-core 1.6GHz Athlon Neo, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive with Radeon X1250 integrated video. Adding a dual-core 1.6GHz processor costs $25; in a surprise, an option now exists for a 1.6GHz Turion Neo that likely boosts performance still for an additional $75.
HP this morning rolled out a trio of notebook refreshes it's gearing towards students, particularly in price but also in design. The Pavilion dv6 is being given a headlining dv6z Artist Edition 2; the 16-inch notebook has special lid artwork that won a recent MTV design contest and also comes with relatively high specifications for an AMD-based system, including a 2.3GHz Turion X2 Ultra, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and a Mobility Radeon HD 4650 for its video. It also gets a bundle of three Corel audiovisual editing apps and will launch on June 10th for $950.
AMD this afternoon confirmed that its new dual-core Athlon Neo should show in a new version of HP's Pavilion dv2 ultraportable next week. The upgraded system is due on June 10th and, according to CNET, should have the same power use as the present-day single-core model but run much faster in multi-threaded tasks. Integrated graphics will also get a lift through the Radeon HD 3200 chipset, though HP's notebook currently uses dedicated Radeon HD 3450 video.
HP's first ultraportables to use Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors will at first just conversions of existing models, those building the notebooks in Taiwan said on Wednesday. They claim to DigiTimes that the first models will actually use existing case designs and that a true redesign to take advantage of the platform won't be ready until the fall. The makeshift change is reportedly triggered by pressure to chase after the Acer Timeline as well as reducing the costs of the systems themselves.
HP today issued a US-wide recall through the Consumer Product Safety Commission for 70,000 notebook batteries. The recall affects most Compaq and HP home models sold from August 2007 through March 2008 and is prompted by HP's fears that the lithium-ion pack could overheat, catching fire and potentially burning owners. It cites two incidents in which the battery burst due to internal pressure and caused minor area damage but no injuries.
HP may overlooking widespread instances of NVIDIA's known graphics defect on systems that fall outside of the official recall list. Users on the company's support forums explain that many dv9000-series notebooks with GeForce 8M-series graphics chipsets are exhibiting the same problems as those covered under a warranty extension and eventually fail with a blank or visually corrupted display. The failure usually happens within 1 to 1.5 years and in many cases falls outside of the warranty.
HP this morning formally unveiled a mild redesign of the Pavilion dv3t. The 13.3-inch notebook is HP's lightest Intel home notebook at 4.9 pounds but is positioned as both fast and longer-lasting. It can use up to a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo and has options for 8GB of RAM and dedicated GeForce 105M G video, but will run for up to 4.25 hours (with wireless off) on the stock battery and up to 7 hours on an extended 9-cell pack, both thanks in part to an LED-backlit display.
HP this morning stepped up the performance of its higher-end, mainstream towers with the launch of the Pavilion Elite m9600t. The system is built on Core i7 processors and takes advantage of the triple-channel memory bus; it also has unusually fast video for the class with a 768MB GeForce 9600 GS. A base model at $950 comes with a 2.66GHz Core i7, 3GB of RAM, and 500GB of disk space while further options add Blu-ray drives, 12GB of memory, Blu-ray burning and Radeon HD 4850 graphics.
A leak posted today by retailer J&R has unintentionally revealed a new 16-inch media center notebook from HP. The Pavilion dv6 would have a similar 16:9 ratio display to the earlier HDX16t but would have the chromed look of the current dv line and slightly lower performance to drop the price. A base model would start at just $800 and would carry a 2GHz Core 2 Duo and basic GMA 4500MHD video. The system would nonetheless have 4GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive and 802.11n Wi-Fi as standard.
Sony on Friday said it would back a voluntary recall begun by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission that asks customers to replace over 35,000 lithium-ion notebook batteries included in US systems from Dell, HP and Toshiba, as well as 65,000 worldwide. The Japanese PC builder believes that batteries using 2.15Ah cells made during a production transition between October 2004 and June 2005, as well as some with a change in raw material, carry the risk of overheating and catching fire. At least 40 incidents involving the batteries have surfaced, a small portion of which have resulted in burns and property damage.
HP's dv3500t has already but inexplicably disappeared from the company's online store. The 13.3-inch notebook surfaces in a search of the company's site but results in a dead product link, leaving only the 12-inch tx2500z tablet and the 14-inch dv4 series as HP's smallest mainstream notebooks. The company had only revealed the system on October 1st.
Apple's new MacBook may be the first to take the system upscale, but the system is ultimately entering an increasingly crowded marketplace of high-end, 13.3-inch notebooks that all carry features normally left out of small systems for the sake of a low price. With that in mind, Electronista looks at the MacBook and three of its most obvious rivals in the marketplace -- Dell's XPS M1330, HP's dv3500t and Sony's VAIO SR -- to see whether any one notebook has a clear advantage and whether stereotypes of Macs as more expensive hold true.
The increasingly widening scope of NVIDIA graphics failures now includes certain Apple and HP desktop systems, according to a pair of reports. Officially, HP now says that several variants of its Pavilion Slimline mini-tower using certain GeForce video chipsets have had their warranties partly extended to address the same symptoms suffered by notebooks with the defective parts, including a loss of video output and occasionally a refusal to start up altogether. The PC maker is extending the warranties on these problems for an extra year or up until December 31st, 2009 and will replace the mainboards for free under the plan.
HP today gave virtually all its notebook line both a cosmetic and performance update, including some of the first Centrino 2-based notebooks. The Pavilion series is now said to have a subtler look with displays that are flush with the bezel, silver-on-silver insides, and a new Imprint finish on the outside. The Intel-based systems use their new notebook platform to supply both faster Core 2 processors as well as faster X4500 graphics on systems that go without dedicated video hardware, while a similar match uses the platform behind the Turion Ultra platform. Improved touch-sensitive media controls and an External SATA port are common across most systems, HP notes.
HP today rolled out a slew of updates to its mainstream desktops and also touched on its Media Vault server. The PC builder's m9200t media center now has the pick of Blu-ray combo and burner drives for HD video and up to 1TB of storage; it also picks up the choice of 45 nanometer Core 2 Duos as well as 65 nanometer Core 2 Quad chips. This relative flagship system is already available and starts at $800.
Hewlett-Packard has broken from its usual emphasis on the US by introducing a new Pavilion notebook model first in Asia. The dv3000 series is the first modern home portable from HP to ship with a 13.3-inch screen and takes up a smaller footprint than the dv2000 as a result. The change also brings a new external SATA and USB hybrid port that offers expansion for fast external hard drives without compromising on size.
As promised, Hewlett-Packard today continued its string of CES announcements with both an upgrade to its home tablet PC and its flagship gaming notebook. The tx2000 is the first major update to the 12-inch convertible tablet from HP and now brings an active pen input that simplifies drawing with a stylus compared to the simpler, passive tx1000. It also boosts speed with a 2.3GHz Turion 64 X2. The system will be available as of next week at a base $1,299 price with a 120GB hard drive, DVD burner, and integrated graphics.
HP today unveiled four new desktop computers that it will be showing at CES 2008, three of which are designed primarily for home theatre owners while one is ideal for digital photo enthusiasts. The Pavilion Slimline s3330f uses a smaller tower chassis that is a third the size of a conventional PC. While small, the s3330f upgrades to an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 5400+; the option of a dual-format Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player allows users to view high definition movie content, and connects with home theatre systems through an HDMI connector. An integrated TV tuner allows television recording, and the Nvidia GeForce 8500 graphics card can run DirectX10 games. The HP Pavilion Slimline s3330f will be available along with the other systems in February for $950.
