HP Fansite

HP Pavilion dv7 featured in Microsoft’s latest ad

The HP Pavilion dv7 was recently featured in Microsoft’s latest “Lauren and the under-$1000 17 inch laptop ad“. As usual, many Apple/Mac fanboys are screaming and trying to enforce “Windows PCs are rubbish”, yet again. Is that not surprising? Somebody actually said the $699 HP Pavilion dv7 is a, quote, “crappy budget notebook”… excuse me? The HP Pavilion dv7 is a very capable notebook – you can watch videos, play games (intensive ones included) and do a whole lot of things on it; it’s nowhere CLOSE to being a “crappy budget notebook”. Did anyone read about a certain brand’s PC hard disks failing because of using the built-in speakers at a loud volume (hint: it’s not HP); now they are the real makers of really cheap notebooks, in all senses of the word.

Back to the point… people should just face the facts: ANY other notebook PC is priced much lower, with better specifications, than an “equivalent” Apple Mac/Macbook computer. True, even I would agree that the advertisement may be somewhat “stretched” in the sense most people won’t shop for their notebook based on screen size alone, but here’s a real life experience from me: A friend of mine, Steven, has been looking for a decent notebook PC priced around $900. He’s in college right now and wants something that he can use for documents, surfing the web and also for watching movies as well as some gaming (he wants to be able to run games like Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4 and 5 at decent quality settings and frame rate).

He’s not asking for a massive screen (in fact he prefers a 14 to 15 inch LCD as a nice compromise between portability and screen viewability) but he’s quite particular about the graphics and gaming part there. Here’s a comparison of the HP Pavilion dv4 notebook PC versus the unibody Macbook (click for larger):

Upper left: HP Online Store, Lower left: Apple Online Store, Right: Excel comparison table (As of March 30, 2009)

A HP Pavilion dv4 with a 2.4 GHz processor, 3 GB of RAM, 320 GB hard disk, 512 MB Nvidia GeForce G105M graphics and 14 inch screen would run you roughly $925.
A Macbook (Unibody model) with a 2.4 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, 320 GB hard disk, 256 MB Nvidia 9400M graphics and 13 inch screen would cost about $1600!!!

Turns out a *similar* Macbook would cost almost $700 extra while having inferior graphics, a smaller LCD and 1 GB RAM less than the HP. Hey, point proven. And the higher you go, the larger the price difference between a Windows computer and a *similar* Apple computer.

He’s already checked out other “Windows PC” options and likes the HP Pavilion dv4′s build quality and design better versus the others; and is currently waiting for any additional/potential “summer specials” before springing for the notebook.

UPDATE (April 2009): Steven finally bought a laptop after much comparison and shopping around; he got a good deal on a HP Pavilion dv3000 and went for that, instead of the dv4 he was planning for.

External display problems with HP Mini’s?… yea right…

I just read one of the trashiest news stories I’ve ever seen this morning – about lack of VGA adapters for the HP Mini 1000 and secondary display output problems from the HP Mini 2140; which implied that both problems were ever so serious and at large… this is coming from one of Apple’s biggest fansites disguised as a normal tech site. Mini 2140 secondary display output problems? Yea right… nothing wrong here, I can even connect an external 1920 x 1200 resolution monitor… and it works… connections to projectors is almost a weekly/monthly thing for me… and it works every time.

I’m pretty sure the HP Mini 1000′s port for external display is also the same thing as found on Sony’s Vaio P netbook, and not some proprietary port. So even if HP or Sony didn’t officially sell/lacks stock for those VGA adapters, why not head on to your nearest electronics store or eBay to find a 3rd party version?

Seems like the guys over there who wrote such a post are trying to down HP’s image and reliability. It’s as if Apple’s Mini Display Port (the REAL proprietary, Apple-exclusive port) doesn’t have its fair share of problems either…

To be honest, I’m quite sick of websites which claim themselves as “tech blogs” despite them being apparently and obviously biased towards a certain brand… and that brand only. I’ll save my rant in full for another day, but the summary of today is: if you’re singing praises about Apple products on an almost daily basis, why not call yourself “The Apple Fansite” instead of a “general tech website”? You don’t exactly have to create false issues or blow up a tiny problem of other brands either, do you?

HP’s future Pocket PC phones to run Windows Mobile 6.5!!

And it was officially confirmed last week; right from the horse’s mouth too! Now can we see some new stuff, which are more up-to-date, that will be competitive with those other manufacturers (or preferably, with absolutely kick-ass features/specifications) when they get announced?  And please don’t take months to deliver them to store shelves. And maybe we’ll see one of those Windows Mobile UI overlays/add ons…*ahem* use Touchsmart design team *ahem*

For me, even very tiny, subtle hints of future products like this one is good news! (Don’t we wanna see the ex- #1 Pocket PC manufacturer return to its former glory again?)

I love this Elitebook!!

Netbook? Who needs a netbook when you can have THIS! The HP Elitebook 2530p blows away literally any netbook in the market, looking utterly stylish (sexy?) while at it. Of course, such greatness comes at a price – you could buy several netbooks with the price of just ONE Elitebook.

Still, that won’t stop me from comparing the Elitebook 2530p to my humble Mini 2133 and the 2140… (excuse the tiny wireless mouse dongle connected to the Elitebook in the picture above)

The Elitebook 2530p is wider and slightly longer than the HP Mini 2133/Mini 2140. I’d gladly carry a slightly larger bag if I owned one though! Oh, naturally the Elitebook 2530p is about 300 grams heavier than the Mini 2140 but the weight difference wasn’t too significant though.

In terms of thickness, the Elitebook 2530p is a wee bit slimmer than the Mini 2133/Mini 2140. HP says the Elitebook 2530p is 25.2 mm thin while the Mini 2140 is 26.7 mm thin. Put on the Mini 2133/2140′s 6 cell extended battery and it becomes a different story – I like the Elitebook 2530p’s 6 cell battery which sticks out the back of the notebook, as opposed to the Mini’s 6 cell battery which extends downwards so you have a thick bulge at the back that makes the notebook hard to store.

One other thing is that the Elitebook 2530p’s keyboard is about the same size as the one on the HP Mini’s except the arrow keys are larger on the Elitebook while its function keys at the top row are a tad smaller. The Elitebook 2530p also has dedicated Page Up and Page Down keys, something I appreciate a lot. Well, that’s all for today, the Elitebook 2530p is perfect for what it is and dare I say, flawless… with the exception of price and the fact I can’t keep it =( , of course.

Microsoft Store is open!

The Microsoft Store is now open. Located at “store.microsoft.com”, the official store by Microsoft sells their software (that includes Windows OS and Microsoft Office suites), Zune media players, XBox 360 games and hardware (mice and keyboards with their famous ergonomic wave design).