HP brings touch to the mass market with new laptops and desktops

Hewlett-Packard is launching a series of new products today, including some long-awaited touchscreen laptop computers.

The highlight of today’s 10 product introductions are laptops with multi-touch touchscreens that work with Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system.

“We introduced our first touch screens in 1983 and now we’re on our third generation of TouchSmart models,” said John Cook, (right) vice president of desktop marketing in HP’s Personal Systems Group. “Touch may very well be the best way to interact with a computer.”

That’s a bold statement, considering touchscreens are only beginning to make their way into laptops and desktops this year. But HP worked closely with Microsoft to integrate touch technology into Windows 7, the new operating system which launches on Oct. 22.

Consumers can use two fingers to navigate through touchscreen interfaces for the HP TouchSmart tx2 laptop (right), which starts at $799. The screen can rotate 180 degrees so you can use it as a tablet PC. You can write on the screen with an electronic pen or draw and erase. It has the same touch software as HP’s TouchSmart PC desktops; with the software, you can pinch, rotate, flip, press, or drag a finger across the screen to access info or activate programs.

You can use the laptop in PC, display, or tablet modes. The laptops come with touch-enabled games and Corel’s touch-painting program. The tx2 has a 12.1-inch diagonal screen and an Advanced Micro Devices dual-core Turion processor. The laptop weighs 4.65 pounds. It will be available on Oct. 22.

HP is also introducing its third generation of touch-enabled desktops. The all-in-one TouchSmart 300 and HP TouchSmart 600 desktops have wide screens for high-definition content. The 300 version (available Nov. 1) has a 20-inch diagonal screen and the 600 (available Oct. 22) has a 23-inch model. The 300 starts at $899 and the 600 starts at $1,049. The software comes with built-in touch apps such as Hulu Desktop, Netflix (pictured right), Pandora, Twitter, and the HP Music Store by Rhapsody. You can just touch the screen to pick and play movies, music, or send messages.

The good thing about these models is that HP is including more software that makes use of the touchscreens. You can use the webcam to snap your picture and then use the software to create a virtual character based on your image. You can then distort the image (pictured left) and have a ball. It’s the same kind of fun program that is built into Apple’s Photo Booth application.

There are other touch-enabled apps. The Recipe Box is a repository for your recipes, so you can use the vertically-standing TouchSmart in the kitchen. You use voice commands via a Bluetooth headset to operate the Recipe Box software if your hands are dirty from cooking. The Recipe Box software will read the instructions to you and the ingredients. HP is making the touchscreen interface available so software makers can customize their apps.

On the business side, HP is introducing the HP TouchSmart 9100 Business PC, a desktop computer designed for use in hotel, retail, healthcare and government applications. The all-in-one design can be used as a kiosk. It has a 23-inch screen with an adjustable stand. It comes pre-installed with Windows 7 and its pricing is to be determined. The PC can be used as a virtual concierge in a hotel, with touchscreen maps that make it easy to find places nearby.

There are a number of apps designed for the TouchSmart that fall in the category of “virtual assistants.” Digital Aisle makes Virtual Bartender software that helps people plan parties, look up recipes and get bartending tips. Businesses that buy the PC can go to nearby vendors and sell ads that will show up on the digital maps. The machine uses Nvidia GeForce 200 series integrated graphics. The 9100 ships in December for $1,299.

Along the same lines, HP is also adding a new entry in the hp-7digital signage display business. The company pulled out of the flat-panel TV business after a couple of years. But this business is a little more suited to the big services-oriented company. HP entered the market earlier this year with a 42-inch model, and it introduced a 47-inch model last month. The new HP LD42200tm 42-inch liquid crystal display has a touchscreen with a high contrast ratio and full 1920×1080 HD resolution. It can be mounted vertically or horizontally. HP is partnering with software vendor Uniguest, which outfits the displays with software that makes it easy to find locations in a hospital on a map. Companies can also use the touchscreens to visualize clothing sales (right). The displays will be available for $2,799 in December.

HP also has a bunch of other products. The HP Elite 7000 business desktop PC introduces a new business brand. It has a metal surface and high-gloss black finish with the latest high-performance Intel processors, the Core i7 and Core i5 series of processors. It has built-in security and starts at $789.

The HP ProBook 6545b Notebook PC and the 6445b Notebook PC are a couple of business laptops with magnesium alloy supports. These B series machines are follow-ups to the M series introduced a couple of weeks ago and the S series introduced in April. The B series can support DisplayPort, meaning they can be used to power more than one display at the same time. But one of the coolest things about them is that they have spill-resistant keyboards. The picture at right shows water being spilled into the center of the keyboard and the liquid draining out the bottom. There are channels underneath the keyboard that direct the water. Now that can of Coke isn’t so dangerous sitting next to your laptop.

hp-2They sport AMD processors and deliver 5 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery and 8 hours of battery life on a 9-cell battery. They support new docking stations and have a Power Assistant that lets you conserve power, stretch battery run time, and accurately monitor your power usage. You can see exactly how many watts you save by operating in a low power mode, given HP’s own estimates of the cost per kilowatt hour of power. That means IT managers can monitor how much power a whole fleet of laptops is using and can set goals to reduce power usage over time. The laptops start at $799. For extra money, you can buy a new docking station (pictured) that comes with a key so that you can lock down the laptop and make it harder to steal.

hp-9HP is also introducing laptops, displays and desktops using the Compaq brand, which has appeal around the world as a “pragmatic” brand for first-time buyers, families with young kids, and small businesses. While the Compaq brand has billions of dollars in value, HP concluded it has been under-using it in the U.S.. Now it’s going to emphasize how the Compaq brand means you can get great value for your dollar with machines that are “just right” for what you need to do. If you’re buying a third computer in the house, HP hopes these Compaq models will make sense.

The Compaq Presario CQ61z notebook has a 15.6 inch-screen and yet it sells for the low price of $399 (after a $100 instant rebate). It has a choice of AMD processors and Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics chips. The Compaq 500B business desktop PC sells for just $359 and has an Intel or AMD processor, a 250-gigabyte hard disk, a gigabyte of main memory and Windows 7. The 505B sells for $409. Lastly, the Compaq Presario 4010f desktop has an AMD Sempron processor, integrated graphics from Nvidia, a 250-gigabyte hard drive. It sells for the astoundingly low price of $309.

The new displays range in size from 17-inch to 24-inch sizes and start at $190. All of these models suggest that HP understands that the recession is going to have an impact on buyers and that low prices are critical now.

HP jump-starting Compaq brand with ultra-cheap machines

Remember Compaq? Hewlett-Packard acquired the venerable computer company way back in 2002, but it's kept the name alive as a secondary brand ever since, mainly relegating Compaq to overseas markets (Compaq is particularly popular in Asia) and as second-tier PCs sold on the cheap at warehouse-style stores.

But now HP is looking to breathe a little new life into the Compaq brand, positioning it not just as a label for extremely cheap computer equipment but also as one with mainstream appeal in the U.S.

Today the company is announcing the rollout of a line of ultra-inexpensive PCs, both laptops and desktops, with extreme budgets in mind.

Consider first the Compaq CQ61z (pictured), a 15.6-inch laptop with an AMD Sempron CPU, 2GB of RAM, DVD burner, 160GB hard drive, and discrete graphics. Running Windows 7 Home Premium, the machine costs a nearly unfathomable $399. That price point probably sounds familiar -- it's the usual cost for your average netbook, which in comparison offers a tiny screen, minimal hard drive, and an ultra-low-power Atom CPU.

With the $400 laptop's arrival, Compaq wants potential buyers to ask: Why not jump up to a much larger and more capable system for exactly the same price? I'm having a hard time seeing any reason not to. Seriously, it even has a numeric keypad.

Even better bargains abound for desktop shoppers. The attractive Compaq Presario 4010f has similar specs (with a 250GB hard drive) and starts at just $309 after a $100 rebate.

Both systems are available on Windows 7 launch day, October 22.

Compaq's aggressively inexpensive hardware -- particularly the $399 laptop -- could have massive ramifications for the computer market. Will netbooks finally feel the pinch that they've been giving to standard laptops for two years now? And what kind of pressure will machines like this bring to bear on more expensive notebook PCs? Price war in 3... 2... 1...

How to Speed Up Your Computer? 4 Ways to Make Your Computer Run Faster Than Ever!

We all deal with slow computers eventually. Often they crash and then just shut down for no discernible reason, or they totally crash, freeze, or else take too long to go from one page to another page. So you have to learn how to speed up your computer. If you have such problems as mentioned above, consider the following five tips to make your computer run faster and speed up the whole system.

1. First, visit your control panel. Delete all non-essential programs or software already installed. Many of them are no longer in use, but they still take up valuable RAM space, thus slowing the startup time. Deleting this will get you more space, more computer speed, and a faster system overall.

2. If you can possibly put in two hard drives, do so; then move the My Documents Folder from your C:drive to your new hard drive. Since the My Documents Folder tends to have large files of varying sizes, moving it to a new hard drive will help you improve OS performance. Also, always get rid of temporary files, cookies, and anything in your recycle bin.

3. Be sure you put antivirus and anti-Malware software into your system; such software helps to find and eliminate any Malware or Viruses in the computer. If you ever wanted to know how to speed up your computer, this is a good tip; it makes your PC performance better.

4. Clean up your Windows Registry: this is by far the best way to speed up a computer, since many problems can be traced to the registry. When the registry is corrupted in any way, your whole system slows down, and the issues will occur even more often. You can also learn how to speed up your computer in mere minutes by installing software to clean the registry, which will improve matters greatly.

This software automatically scans your system and finds all corrupted files. The software must be allowed to correct all computer issues it finds. Reliable Registry Cleaners offer free scans, so that you may determine ahead of time whether your computer has such errors.

By taking all of the advice above, you can speed up your computer considerably, the system performance will improve, and the system will run more rapidly and smoothly for years, doing all the things it was meant to do.

In conclusion; a registry cleaner software will definitely cleanup a computer from errors that often cause it to crashes, freezes, and make the applications and tasks run slower than they are supposed to. A good register cleaner software will scan and restore your pc, optimize performance, protect your computer, make it run faster as well as others basic functions.

If you wish to increase the speed and restore the performance of your PC or Laptop and completely stop constantly freezes, crashes and errors, then you must visit How To Speed Up Your Computer right now. You don't have to buy a new PC or take it to an expensive repair shop; to have your computer working like a new one go to this site immediately: How To Speed Up Your Computer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erika_S._Wirfield

Industrial Computers - Pros and Cons

The industrial computer has been around since the early eighties when it was recognised that computing could be as advantageous for the factory floor as it was for offices. Industrial computers are mostly based around the same technology as standard desktop computers but are built to be more rugged and durable.

The industrial computer comes in several forms such as rack-mountable industrial computers that can slot in server racks, panel PC's that integrate a PC and screen together to solid state industrial computers that contain few or no moving parts.

Industrial PC's are designed fro the factory floor and all different types of industrial computer share a similar philosophy of providing a controlled environment for the installed electronics to survive the rigors of the plant floor.

There are many advantages of running industrial PCs on the factory floor, they are reliable and can withstand excessive water and dust. However, industrial PC's do pay a price for this durability in that they are not very flexible.

Most industrial PC's are built with reliability as a prerequisite, for this reason they need to use tried and tested components, while this makes them extremely reliable it does mean that often industrial computers lack the processing and memory capabilities of standard desktop PC's.

Another disadvantage of industrial computers is that most are virtually impossible to upgrade. If additional processing or memory is required then a new industrial PC will have to be purchased. They can also prove problematic when they fail and need repairing, particularly solid state machines, the only option is to call a service engineer but if the machine is operationally critical then this could mean vital production time lost.

An alternative solution to the industrial is to use a standard desktop machine and protect it in a waterproof and dustproof computer enclosure. Industrial computer enclosures offer all the protection of a standard industrial PC but with the added bonus of flexibility. With an industrial PC enclosure you can:

* Choose what specification of PC to use in your industrial environment

* Upgrade the PC at will

* PC can be repaired by your standard IT support worker or the entire computer replaced within minutes

* Can be budgetary cost effective when compared to an industrial PC

* Computer enclosures can be reused with different machines

* Industrial computer enclosure will lengthen the life of you IT

Richard N Williams is a technical author and a specialist in the industrial computer industry helping to develop industrial computer enclosures and protection for all environments. Please visit us for more information about an Industrial computer or other industrial computer systems.

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5 Useful Tips to Speed Boot Up XP

No doubt you have noticed how fast Windows XP boots up compared to Vista even. It is still the preferred operating system and it will be until something better comes up. In this article I will show you 5 of the most useful tips when it comes to speeding up not only the boot up time but the overall performance of your Windows:

1. Free up hard drive space. If you have your Windows XP installed in a separate partition you should leave at leas 5 GB for it to run smoothly

2. Install more RAM. This type of memory is used for the tasks you are running each moment. More memory means that you will have more space for more processes to run. Less memory means that in order for one program to run smoothly another one should be extremely slow.

3. Remove any unnecessary software from the start up menu. You can find that when you type "msconfig" in the run menu. You might even be surprised how many programs are starting when you boot up Windows XP.

4. Edit the boot.ini file. There is information about the boot conditions of your Windows and by doing little tweaks in it you can make it start much faster.

5. Remove any unwanted registry entries. The Windows XP registry is the focal point of your operating system. Everything that happens is logged in the registry. Even when you uninstall a piece of software it still leaves tracks in the registry which slows down your computer and might even result in error messages.

These are 5 of the most common ways to speed boot XP and make your Windows run smoother. It is absolutely critical to do a backup before undertaking any system changes.

Georgi has been into IT for 8 years now and is currently the technical support in a major IT company. Did you find the information useful? You can learn a lot more how a registry cleaner can help you and get a completely FREE computer scan here: Speed Up XP

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Georgi_Dimitrov_Georgiev

Top 5 Common Computer Problems and Solutions

If you own a computer, then you have probably encountered these computer problems before. Once you buy a computer, you must accept that sooner or later it will eventually crash due to a virus or some other massive error. If someone told you that your computer will last more than a decade, don't believe it because it is just a myth or another sales pitch. But of course, you should take care of it if you want it to last for its third year without any defects.

However, there are many people that would prefer to buy a new computer than spend some time trying to fix or figure out the problem with their laptop or desktop. Usually after the first two years, you will need some kind of maintenance because your computer will tend to lose its original speed and performance. Well, here are some if the common problems that a computer user usually experience.

You may ask why your computer has problems. To tell you frankly, most of the time the biggest problem that your computer has is YOU - the owner or the user. There are many people that neglect the first signs of computer problems. You shouldn't neglect those simple maintenance tasks that can enhance or prolong the life of your computer.

1. Computer speed or performance has slowed.

One of the things that computer owners usually notice is this. There are several reasons why this happens to your computer. Lack of maintenance, fragmented data, corrupted registry, spyware, and unnecessary loading of computer programs and services can surely affect your PC speed and performance. Managing your programs and cleaning your registry can easily boost your computer's performance speed up to 30%.

2. Computer system freezes and blue screens of death.

You need to do some serious diagnostic procedures to effectively know the problem with your computer. Computer virus or spyware are maybe some of the reasons why this is happening to your computer. Update your anti-spyware immediately to avoid this kind of problem and thoroughly scan your computer to see if it has any viruses or spywares. If you find that your computer is free from spyware then updating your hardware drive is the next step. Hardware drives makes it easier for your computer to effectively communicate with other hardware components. Without an updated driver the CPU locks up and may cause problems when you are using your computer. If that doesn't work try to increase your Computer RAM to help avoid computer freezes. By increasing the RAM you get more use out your computer's computing power.

3. The computer keeps on rebooting again and again.

This kind of problem is usually associated with hardware issue. Faulty power supply is usually the cause of this problem. Dirty or defective cooling fan is another reason why your computer is rebooting spontaneously. When your computer is trying to cool itself when the fan is defective it automatically switches off. Dust that accumulated in your computer can trap the heat inside which makes it hotter. What you should do is to clean the fan and make sure that it is running properly. Do not forget to check your power supply.

4. Noises and vibrations.

This one is almost certainly that your have hardware issue. High pitched noises can be caused by electronic components. Whatever the reason, you conduct a small investigation. Unplug your computer and remove the case and run the computer to discover the origin of noise. If a loose wire or faulty fan is not the one that is making the noise then it may be time to call a computer tech to help you with your problem.

5. Your browser home page changed itself.

It is known as "high-jacking" which is also caused by a Spyware installed on your system. The spyware in your computer installed a java script into your web browser that tells your browser to change settings hence changing the default home page of your browser. What you can do is to run an anti-virus or spyware program to remove the spyware from your computer.

All of the problems stated in this article can be avoided easily by simply maintaining your computer. Do not panic when you are experiencing a computer problem with your PC because the key to fixing that problem is to properly diagnose to identify what's happening to your computer. Take a few minutes to run some diagnostic test or seek help in computer forums before you rush out to computer technical center.

Jewel Cole is a freelance writer for a computer parts retailer company. A website administrator in one of the leading laptop battery retailer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jewel_Cole

2038 - The Next Computer Time Bug

Remember the turn of the millennium? Whilst many of us were counting down the seconds until midnight, there were network administrators across the globe with their fingers crossed hoping their computer systems will still be working after the new millennium kicked in.

The millennium bug was the result of early computer pioneers designing systems with only two digits to represent the time as computer memory was very scarce at the time. The problem didn't arise because of the turn of the millennium, it arose because it was the end of the century and two digit year flicked around to 00 (which the machines assume was 1900)

Fortunately by the turn of the millennium most computers were updated and enough precautions were taken that meant that the Y2K bug, as it became known, didn't cause the widespread havoc it was first feared.

However, the Y2K bug is not the only time related problem that computer systems can be expected to face, another problem with the way computers tell the time has been realised and many more machines will be affected in 2038.

The Unix Millennium Bug (or Y2K38) is similar to the original bug in that it is a problem connected with the way computers tell the time. The 2038 problem will occur because most machines use a 32 bit integer to calculate the time. This 32 bit number is set from the number of seconds from 1 January 1970, but because the number is limited to 32 digits by 2038 there will be no more digits left to deal with the advance of time.

To solve this problem, many systems and languages have switched to a 64-bit version, or supplied alternatives which are 64-bit and as the problem will not occur for nearly three decades there is plenty of time to ensure all computer systems can be protected.

However, these problems with timestamps are not the only time related errors that can occur on a computer network. One of the most common causes of computer network errors is lack of time synchronization. Failing to ensure each machine is running at an identical time using a NTP time server can result in data being lost, the network being vulnerable to attack from malicious users and can cause all sorts of errors such as emails arriving before they have been sent.

To ensure your computer network is adequately synchronized an external NTP time server is recommended.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

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