With HP losing profits, it certainly makes sense to focus on the segment of the tech industry that’s actually doing well. Two new variants of HP’s Mini series are on the way, including one model breaks the $300 barrier. The new Mini 110s are a lot like their predecessors, but you can add a widescreen display and optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator for watching high-definition video. The Mini 110 starts at $330 with Windows XP, but you can save $50 by fitting it with Linux instead (it goes great with the Pink Swirl model). For the business set, HP’s Mini 1101 has optional mobile broadband and a six-cell battery, and can be equipped with Windows XP Home, XP Pro or even Vista, though we’re not sure why you’d want the last option. The price begins at $329. Look for the Mini 110 on June 10 and the Mini 1101 on June 1. [via InformationWeek]
Stories of tech layoffs were a dime a dozen earlier this year, but there’s been some hope lately that it’ll all turn around soon. If HP is any indication, that’s not the case. The company’s profits fell 17 percent in the second quarter, and now it will slash 2 percent of the workforce, or roughly 6,420 people. As the New York Times notes, HP makes a pretty wide variety of products, so its performance can be viewed as a barometer for the entire tech industry. Out of its major divisions, notebooks saw the least decline, with sales falling by 13 percent compared to 28 percent for servers and storage, 23 percent for printers and related technology and 15 percent for software. I imagine HP’s netbooks are buoying the notebook category, but they only account for a small (but growing) share of the market. There’s always next quarter. [via NYTimes]
A quick update to our DealCrave post from earlier today… The HP Mini 1010NR has been spotted for just $299.98 at Staples.com, which is $50 off the normal selling price. HP’s Mini 1010 series of laptops have been lauded as one of the better netbooks available today, and this price is likely to make it a lot more popular. If you’re looking for reviews on the HP Mini 1010NR and other HP Mini laptops, we’ve got a few lined up. To start head over to Staples to check out the deal, then free to come back here for HP Mini 1010NR reviews… [staples]
- HP Mini 1010NR Review at CNET
- HP Mini 1010 customer reviews at Amazon
- 1 customer review available at Target for the Mini 1010NR
Editor’s Note– Its a big news day for HP– here’s part two of three of the releases revealed by HP late last night. HP’s Mini 2130 may not be the perfect choice for those with business interests at heart. That’s exactly why the all new Mini 2140 was announced. Designed to keep your commerce needs connected, it runs on an Intel Atom processor, features a LED backlit 10.1-inch screen display, has an aluminum casing, packs 80 GB SSD and 3D DriveGuard. The cool look and the corporate-styled casing along with Vista, XP or SuSE Linux makes the stylish Mini 2140 pretty much all work and no play. Price is $499. [via CrunchGear]
Editor’s Note– Its a big news day for HP– here’s part two of three of the releases revealed by HP late last night. HP has introduced (or rather will be introducing at CES in a few days) a new quad-core desktop line. The Firebird 800 is built with the idea of taking up as little space as possible while still providing the power of a full desktop computer. The quad chips running the PC consume just 65W of power (previous version ran 95W) and has a custom liquid cooling set-up which reduces fan noise from the machine. The PC’s two models are expected to be used primarily as home theater or gaming PC’s. The 802 is the entry-level version and has a 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad processesor, 4GB of memory, 500GB of disk space split across two drives and a slot-loading DVD burner on top of the NVIDIA hardware. The 803 has a 2.83GHz Core 2 Quad with more cache, 640GB of total hard drive storage and a Blu-ray combo drive. It also brings new wireless options over 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi mini PCIe card. No word yet on pricing of an official release date for the device…
Editor’s Note– Its a big news day for HP– here’s part one of three of the releases revealed by HP late last night. HP is expected to announce the HP Pavilion D2 laptop at CES this week. The laptop is meant to be a competitor for the traditional netbook, by providing things that netbooks do not like high-definition movies and basic gaming, while keeping the price low enough that the computers are affordable. The Pavilion D2 will be built on the new AMD Athlon Neo CRU and integrated ATI Radeon X1250 graphics or—for 1080p HD video and HDMI output—a discrete HD 3410 video chipset. Pricing for the device is expected to hit around $500, no word yet on a release date. [via BoingBoing]
When HP acquired the high-end PC maker Voodoo in 2006, the two companies fused their know-how to create the Blackbird, a snazzy-looking, high-powered gaming desktop. Speculation of a laptop equivalent was answered this week with the Voodoo Firefly, thanks to an exclusive look from Laptop Magazine. The preview breathlessly calls the Firefly “one of the most innovative gaming notebooks we’ve ever fragged on,” featuring a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core PCU, 4GB of RAM, dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUS running in CrossFire mode and a 250GB, 7,200 rpm hard drive.
We’re particularly tickled with the secondary 4.3-inch, 800×480 resolution screen, allowing gamers to glance at e-mail and other distractions while the main 17.1-inch display is occupied. The multi-touch trackpad is also a nice addition. Sadly, this monstrosity won’t likely see the light of day beyond a demo at CES, but Voodoo says there are more concepts in the works. [Laptop]
The (pretty sweet looking) HP Mini 1000 now has official support for 3G WWAN Mobile Broadband directly out of the box, with support for several different mobile carriers. Getting the 3G rolling in your netbook will run you an additional $200, so you still might be better off rocking your old wireless card. We’re happy to see the option regardless, as this is one pin drop toward a fully mobile future for the netbooks of the world. [HP]
The Touchsmart tx2 by HP is one of the coolest laptops we’ve seen in a while. The notebook has a 12.1-inch multi-touch display, a 2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 processor, ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics, 8GB of RAM, Bluetooth, integrated webcam, 8x DVD burner, and a 500GB hard drive. Pre-orders for the $1200 laptop start today at HP’s website, with units shipping at the end of November. [HP via Gizmodo]
