HP Pavilion dm4 and dm4 Beats Edition

HP Pavilion dm4 updated with a subwoofer and Beats Edition

HP also announced an updated Pavilion dm4, their 14 inch consumer notebook model. On the outside, it looks almost identical to its predecessor launched 6 months ago, but the new Pavilion dm4 now sports Beats branded speakers (versus Altec Lansing on the previous laptop) and adds a new mini subwoofer unit.

The new Pavilion dm4 is equipped with a selection of Intel Sandy Bridge processors for you to choose from, two DDR3 RAM slots, hard drive configurations that go all the way up to 1 TB, HD webcam and 1366 x 768 resolution 14 inch display. HP is also offering the option to add on THE latest graphics card from AMD, the Radeon 7470M, which is an entry-level GPU but a good sign of things to come… perhaps we will see AMD FirePro equivalents for HP’s 2012 EliteBook business laptops.

Another brand new feature is Beats Edition of the Pavilion dm4, which gives the notebook a spray of black and red, similar to the paint job given to the Envy 14 Beat Edition. The Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition comes with a red backlit keyboard which does look pretty slick.

HP mentions the regular Pavilion dm4 will have a starting price of $630, while the Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition will start at $900, though the latter will obviously be more decked out than the regular dm4 base model to justify the price difference. Both notebooks will be available for order beginning December 18th, which may be cutting a little too close to be a suitable Christmas gift but you may still have enough time to celebrate the start of 2012 with a brand new Pavilion dm4.

HP Folio 13 finally official

HP Folio 13 Ultrabook

HP finally came up with their own Ultrabook model yesterday, officially, after that initial preview spotted in Australia. The 0.81 inch thin notebook, now officially named the HP Folio 13 sports a 13.3 inch display and an EliteBook-esque design. The Folio 13 looks like a mashup of HP’s Pavilion models with the ProBook 5330m, and overall, it does look pretty slick.

The HP Folio 13 features two USB ports in total (one 3.0 and one 2.0), Ethernet port, SD/SDHC (and presumably SDXC) card reader, HDMI port and combo headphone/microphone jack… nothing new if you’ve read the our news article from earlier this week. There aren’t any surprises under the hood either: you get a choice between two Intel Sandy Bridge low-voltage processors, 128 GB mSATA SSD comes standard as does 4 GB of RAM (user replaceable), the 13.3 inch comes at a fixed resolution of 1366 x 768 and there’s a buttonless trackpad too. Good news for folks who like working in poorly lit or dark places: the Folio 13 comes standard with a backlit keyboard.

Now, the new information here, now that HP has officially revealed the Folio 13 on a worldwide scale, is that the HP Folio 13 will be making its way to the US, and will be available on December 7th, starting at $900! Just in time for holiday shoppers! There’s also a fancy claim of up to 9 hours of battery life, which is excellent news if you’re working long days away from a power outlet.

Spotted: HP Ultrabook Pavilion ‘Folio’ dm3 in the wild

2012 HP Pavilion dm3 (Photo by Ritchie's Room)

Well, what do you know, the mythical unicorn is about to become real… originally rumored to be released before September, tech blog Ritchie’s Room has information about the upcoming HP ultra-thin ultrabook model shown by HP Australia! The new notebook, the 2012 Pavilion dm3, also codenamed the HP Folio, is said to be making its debut next month in December, at least in Australia… so book those flight tickets if you want to get your hands on one before Christmas!

The 2012 HP Pavilion ‘Folio’ dm3 is a 13.3 inch laptop (yup, 1366 x 768 resolution display, as expected) which is expected to give buyers a choice between two low-voltage Intel Sandy Bridge mobile processors (Core i3 1.4 GHz or Core i5 1.6 GHz flavors), one DDR3 RAM slot (which will give you configuration options of either 4 or 8 GB, this is supposedly user-accessible so you don’t need to pay obscene prices for a simple RAM upgrade when making the purchase) and 128 GB SSD (not sure of its size or whether it’s soldered into the laptop ala the Apple MacBook Air).

The HP Folio has a pretty full-sized keyboard, minus dedicated Home/End/Page Up-Down buttons, that’s backlit and a large buttonless trackpad. However, this ultra-thin notebook skimps on port selection quite a bit; the ports available are a single HDMI port, two USB ports (one 2.0 and one 3.0), SD slot (no word on whether it supports SDXC), Ethernet port and single combo microphone/headphone jack.

The HP Folio is said to measure 1.8 cm thin (about 0.71 inches) and weigh 1.49 kg (3.3 pounds). In comparison, the much hyped Apple MacBook Air (13 inch variant) is 1.7 cm (0.68 inches) at its thickest point and weighs a slightly lighter 1.35 kg (3 pounds). However, it seems HP is hoping to negate these tiny measurement differences by offering excellent build quality; the folks at Ritchie’s Room who handled the HP Folio commented how durable it is.

But based on my many years using a range of HP products, here’s my (speculative) take on build quality: this HP Folio is still a ‘Pavilion’ (consumer model) which means it might survive getting squeezed by books in your backpack and hold up just as well, if not better, than other branded ultrabooks and the unibody MacBook Air… but I doubt it will survive the sheer abuse and multiple beatings that a true business-class HP EliteBook can take. Treat your notebook well!

No word about pricing of the HP Folio or availability outside of Australia, but Ritchie’s Room still has plenty of huge 8 megapixel photos of the 2012 HP Pavilion dm3 ‘Folio’ ready for you to admire.

HP to continue making computers as they are now

Everyone's happy with HP now!

Whew, after much confusion as to what HP was thinking and what would happen to HP Fansite if they did, and a sprinkle of hope when they swapped out CEO’s, the verdict is in this week. According to HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman, they’ve looked at the idea of spinning PSG (HP’s computer division, essentially) off, but have decided against it, saying it was the right thing to do for just about everyone (from customers to employees) if they just kept things as they were right now.

To add a little disco ball for us party-goers who are going out to celebrate not having to buy a Dell or Lenovo as their next machine (or icing on the cake if you will), HP will also be making Windows 8 PC when Microsoft’s revolutionary operating system (versus the Vista to 7 jump) debuts next year, along with the fact they’re gonna be making Windows 8 tablets to keep costs under control (yup, if you’re still hopeful about WebOS, you should really stop now).

Alright HP, now that you guys have ironed things out, how about finally launching them Ultrabooks soon after missing the initial rumored due date? And updated Pavilions and Envy’s sporting Intel’s very latest Sandy Bridge processors (those seen in the recent MacBooks and stuff)? And perhaps updating the rest of the Z-workstation line after just doing the Z210 updates earlier this year? How about an EliteBook refresh for those of us who like stepping on our notebook screens or have been using those reliable old-school models for too long?

But we’re just happy that HP has decided to make this decision, probably one of their smarter moves since making blunders with WebOS and such. Hopefully a sign of better things to come for HP indeed!

Spotted: HP EliteBooks and business monitors at BMW AppCenter China

HP EliteBook spotted with BMW (Picture by BMW Blog)

Well, we’re decidedly alive and kicking once again, with HP seemingly upbeat about their computer division (PSG) by being the sponsor/partner of several popular TV shows that kicked their new seasons off earlier this month/late September. In particular, I’ve spotted quite a number of HP products (including the now-dead HP TouchPad) being used by various characters in several CWTV shows (anyone care to take a guess?) but more on that later. As long as HP shows signs that they won’t be doing bizarre things to their PSG division and make HP computers… well, not HP computers anymore, we’ll continue bringing to you the latest about HP stuff. We can hope for the best with their recently appointed new CEO right?!

But back to the topic at hand… I’m personally an avid reader of the BMW Blog (though I wish I can one day actually afford a BMW!) and one of their latest articles today talks about BMW setting up a new AppCenter in China. And what do you know, evidence that BMW and HP are still good pals (hardcore HP fans will remember BMW had a hand in the design of HP’s Z-series Workstations and HP has been a close companion in supplying servers and tech in the past). We can see an admittedly not-so-new 2009 HP EliteBook 6930p in the foreground, a HP monitor (either ZR22W or ZR24W) in the middle, and another EliteBook with its lid closed towards the background.

And speaking of EliteBooks and HP laptops, will we see HP come up with new models of laptops and desktops soon? Like before the holiday season/year end for the consumer line? And/or after CES and the new year in 2012?!