HP Fansite

HP Fansite is here to stay!

There may be plenty of tossing and turning on HP’s part today which may change the computer industry (it already changed the smartphone/mobile field with the loss of one beloved mobile OS today. WebOS rest in peace, you will be missed). In today’s ever changing landscape, one thing frequently leads or affects another, and people are forced to adapt or risk extinction.

It is sad to face the possibility that our love and intense coverage of HP computers and smartphones may not make it past HP Fansite’s third birthday/anniversary, should HP decide to sell off their PC division. But I’m here to assure you that…

HP Fansite will continue to be around and be as relevant as ever to you!

HP Fansite has been the net’s top unofficial place for Hewlett Packard users to congregate and many relationships, ties and bonds between users, staff and such have been formed through discussions and sharing of information here. It would be a shame to see our loyal readers go their separate ways and cause that all go to waste. Which is why we’re not going to let that happen!

IF HP decides to go ahead and sell away their PC business, HP Fansite will turn to cover tech hardware, smartphone and computing news in general (meaning we’ll be doing the same thing as we’re doing now, without limiting the scope to Hewlett Packard as we’re doing now). And what will set us apart from the one billion other tech sites out there will be:

• We’re dedicated and passionate about what we do. We’re not robotic writers and there’s no “tech editor” forced to write news for ten bucks an hour for a desk job here! We cover tech because we enjoy doing it! That means articles with a personal touch, no regurgitation of specifications sheet, no blabbering about 100 technical terms without caring whether you understand them or not.
• We’re readers too! We know exactly what you want, and that is to not be bombarded with several dozen news articles a day, of which probably 80% you may not find useful or relevant. We know you don’t want to waste your time reading about another article about some crazy robot or gimmicky gadget, when you want to look for information on what smartphone app you should get next, what laptop to buy for school, for gaming, for work; what software works the best for photo, video editing… you get the gist.

We did a soft-launch in May on our gaming website, Games Per Second, which we had originally planned as a “spin off site” on gaming… but if HP Fansite turns out to cover tech hardware, then Games Per Second could be the perfect complement to this site! Games Per Second is ‘officially’ launching on September 1, where articles and reviews will go full-steam ahead, so mark your calendars and remember to check it out!

We’re hoping HP will continue to make PCs, but that’s our contingency plan if anything weird happens. We want you readers to know we’re not going to just flip over and die just like that (we’re not going to become the “Hush Puppies Fansite” either, though)

On a personal note, I’m planning to build a desktop of my own using an HP Z-series workstation chassis (either using a HP Z600 or Z800 ‘empty’ base chassis… I need to work out a budget), configured with my own parts and components. I’m excited, and it likely has to happen since the HP EliteBook 8740w I’m using at the moment has recently developed overheating issues (And besides, I don’t really “own” it), because when it happens, it will be my first time using a desktop as a primary computer in many, many years! Not to mention the beautiful graphics and detail intensity it will bring to games with that amount of power. I’ll keep you guys posted for sure!

Got thoughts, suggestions or comments on the future of HP Fansite? Leave a message in the comments section or send me an email at the following address:

HP abandons WebOS, feels like moving away from computers to software; HPFansite’s future now at stake

A massive earthquake (figuratively) occurred at HP today and there’s a ton of news and changes that might just change EVERYTHING (in a not so good way). First off, the biggest chunk of news that’s bound to disappoint many WebOS fans: HP will quote “discontinue operations for WebOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and WebOS phones“, which in English means they’re effectively going to kill (or already have?) the Palm legacy and WebOS. No more WebOS smartphones or tablets! Yup, end of the road for those devices, so long and goodbye (and absolutely zero hope for an iPAQ revival).

HP did spend $1.2 billion on acquiring Palm so it makes sense that WebOS fansite, PreCentral, has reported HP might not flush WebOS and Palm down the drain and opt to sell (or license) it off instead, though things are still looking very bleak for HP’s mobile division (if you can call it that). I’m personally skeptical about another company taking over Palm or continuing WebOS. The ecosystem has already failed twice (once with Palm, and now, with HP) so unless a company is absolutely willing to take a risk to resurrect WebOS and Palm’s legacy for the third time (and how will said mythical company’s board of directors and investors react if that were to happen?), the system is essentially dead.

Many users on the net are hoping HTC might be that buyer should a sale of WebOS/Palm occur, but HTC has moved on to Android and Windows Phone (and recently acquired a commanding stake at Beats Audio) so it’s doubtful they’ll be looking back at WebOS when they’ve already got their hands full and enjoying quite a bit of success in the market.

So much for the HP Pre 3 making it anywhere outside of the UK… and that 7 inch TouchPad will never see the light of day. Though strangely enough, HP did announce a 64 GB variant of the TouchPad tablet earlier today, which is very peculiar indeed. I wondering how tempted consumers will be to buy a product which is essentially obsolete in terms of support (deja vu as I wondered the same thing about Microsoft’s Zune media players; though Microsoft’s move was a good and justified one as they were shifting to focus on Windows Phone 7).

Next up, HP is contemplating a huge move to sell off its PC division and shift its focus to software! Yes, it’s big news that’s maddening to hear that HP is even having THOUGHTS about selling off their Personal Systems Group division (responsible for their PCs and computers). It’s really awful alright. Personally I am devastated because I have grown up (Yes, I’m not old!) on HP (and previously, Compaq) computers and laptops.

Unlike the WebOS door-closing, this part about the PC division hasn’t been confirmed… but don’t go out for cookies and milk to celebrate just yet, because Bloomberg has mentioned a decision could come as early as later today (!). If it happens, HP expects a transition phase of 12 to 18 months for things to finalize and complete… sounds like a reasonable amount of time for us fanboys to cry and get over it and run out to buy a Vaio Z! If this sounds familiar, yes, IBM did something similar when they turned things over to Lenovo, and IBM ThinkPads became Lenovo ThinkPads… same heritage yet some things will never be the same again.

In my opinion, I think that’s not too brilliant of them, to get all hurt about their PC division (and HP IS the number 1 PC manufacturer in the world) and want to get rid of it just because it isn’t bringing in ENOUGH margins and profit. Look at IBM and Lenovo. Sure IBM may be still around and pretty successful nowadays, but I only knew that because I went to look them up on Google and Wikipedia… I haven’t heard about IBM at all, besides the occasional ‘fastest supercomputer achievement’ news, since they sold their PC-making business to Lenovo. Same case with the average consumer… ask them what a ThinkPad is and they’ll probably know, ask them about IBM and many will be “say what? What’s an IBM?” (Especially true with younger consumers), and tell them “did you know IBM originally made ThinkPads” and you’re likely to get “Like what? Did they now?”.

HP plans to move from the hardware business to software… which is slightly questionable too, since I have never been a fan of the pre-installed bloatware bundled software on their computers. They are acquiring a software company, Autonomy Corp for a whopping $10 billion. Well, HP, I hope you’ve done your homework on one, the level of software piracy that exists out there, and two, what kind of software you will be making that people would possibly want to buy. We’ve got Microsoft, Google and Apple for operating systems, Adobe, Corel and Autodesk for graphics software, individual smaller developers and “micro”-companies making mobile apps, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for social networking, WordPress and Movable Type for blogging platforms, and the list goes on.

Granted it MIGHT be interesting if HP decides to go the software route, but extremely depressing if they gave the brand and job of making PCs to someone else. Then we would have to rename this place the “whoever HP decides to sell their PSG to”-fansite.com. Also, by doing that, HP might possibly go the way of IBM… still alive but never to be heard from again by ‘regular Joe’ consumers. Well, maybe not entirely, since they haven’t said anything about their printers, so we might see HP printers for a while.

The potential sale of the PSG division also begs the question about higher end product lines like their Z-workstation (Z800, mmm, yummy!) computers as well as ‘PC accessories’ such as HP monitors… will those go away too? This is a serious question; anyone with information, do email me. Because who’s going to make those lovely DreamColor displays?! And who is DreamWorks going to work with when it comes to computers used to create and process their movies?

And finally, the future of HP Fansite might be on a bit of a limbo in terms of coverage. If HP goes through with selling away their PC business, we won’t be covering “HP computers” anymore, but instead we might cover “whoever buys HP’s PSG”‘s computers. What do you guys think? I would love to hear from loyal readers. Deep inside, I’m still passionate to cover tech news that interests me, so we might continue to do that but talk about computers on a basis that extends beyond discussing a single brand. No worries though, this site will always be around, it’s just a matter of what readers want to see covered. And it’s always fun and great talking and emailing you guys (special thanks to our frequent readers).

Alright, that’s all I have to say for now. We haven’t received official word on what HP is going to do exactly, neither have they made a decision, but the previous paragraph was just a pre-emptive statement/assurance that HP Fansite ain’t closing down regardless of what HP decides to do (heck we might just turn into Hush Puppies Fansite or Harry Potter Fansite… oops, I forgot, Harry Potter just ended with their last movie, so much for that idea).

P.S. I have been working on Games Per Second, a place that covers video games (long time HP Fansite readers know I’m an avid PC gamer!) which was initially conceived as an off-shoot site so folks wanting to read HP news won’t have to bump into the occasional PC game review or mad-hatter videos of racing Lamborghinis on EliteBooks. But if, in an unexpected turn of events occurs at HP which causes HP Fansite to cover computer hardware, processors, graphics card and the like in general, then Games Per Second would make a good complement/sister site… because most gamers are PC enthusiasts and most PC enthusiasts are gamers, am I right?

Sipping coffee… HP fanboy style

The epicness of this HP 'tall' cup makes my coffee taste most magical!

I love coffee but I’m not one of those people who needs a daily dose of caffeine to stay functional and productive. As a casual coffee drinker since 2008, I’ve had my fair share of coffee cups, usually over small talk and meetings with friends or hunched over my EliteBook 2530p replying to emails. But since I cannot afford to have Starbucks everyday or every week, I tend to resort to “made at home” coffee. And if you’re a big time HP fan like me, the picture above is how you roll when it comes to drinking coffee!

Follow HP Fansite on Facebook!

Hey guys, just a reminder and heads-up… remember to follow HP Fansite on Facebook for the latest news delivered directly to your Facebook feed!

HP Fansite gets a new look

Whew, those months of absence surely didn’t go to waste… I’ve managed to sneak in time over fall thru winter to bring you… HP Fansite’s first ever ‘big’ redesign. The major changes are under the hood but you’ll also notice things are more polished on the front too. No drastic changes to the overall look of our lovable design though, because if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it (as we could learn from the love-hate redesign of the new EliteBooks)!

So what do you think? I’d love to hear feedback, comments, criticisms, any new features you readers would like to see, this year on HP Fansite (I do plan to implement a new commenting system, so that’s already on my list =)