HP launches new notebook, tablets and mini PC in India

HP has launched new products including HP Stream 11.6-inch notebook, HP Stream 8 and HP Slate 6 VoiceTab II tablets, and palm sized desktop HP Pavilion Mini in India. 

The HP Stream is a Windows 8.1 notebook PC that sports an 11.6-inch diagonal HD anti-glare WLED-backlit (1366x768p) display, a 2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2840 Processor, 2GB RAM and 32GB storage along with a multi-format SD media card reader. 

The device comes with free cloud storage with 1TB of Microsoft OneDrive for one year and free Office 365 Personal for one year. The HP Stream 11.6 starts at Rs 19,990. 

The HP Stream 8 is an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet which is powered by Intel Atom Z3735G Quad Core processor, 1GB RAM, and has 32GB storage. The 4G-enabled tablet also comes with a micro-SD card slot, a 2MP 1080p front-facing webcam and a 5MP 1080p rear-facing camera. It has a 4,000mAh battery. The tablet has an 8-inch diagonal HD WVA IPS capacitive multitouch-enabled display (1280x800p). The HP Stream 8 tablet starts at Rs 16,990. 

The HP Slate 6 Voice Tab II is an Android 4.4 KitKat-powered tablet that sports a 6-inch diagonal IPS multi-touch-enabled (1280x720p) display. Powered by a 1.2GHz Marvell quad-core PXA1088 processor and 1GB RAM, the tablet comes with 16GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB via micro-SD card slot. It sports an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2MP front-facing camera. The tablet supports GSM voice calling, 3G, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity options. HP Slate 6 Voice-Tab II is priced at Rs 15,990. 

The company has also launched the HP Pavilion Mini Desktop at a starting price of Rs 26,990. The mini PC features Intel Pentium 3558U processor, 4GB RAM and a 500 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD). It comes without a Monitor, Keyboard and a Mouse. At 2.06 inches in height and weighing 630 grams, the HP Pavilion Mini Desktop can fit in the palm of a hand as per the company. It supports processors up to Intel Core i3. Customers can store more content with up to 1TB storage and up to 8GB of expandable memory. It also offers dual display support with DisplayPort and HDMI compatible ports, giving users the ability to stream and access content on multiple screens, including TV with Quad HD support.

Dell launches rugged notebooks in India

Computer firm Dell India has launched rugged notebooks, made to withstand heavy rains, moisture and over 60 kg weight on to them, with prices starting at Rs. 2.29 lakh.
    
Dell is mainly looking at big organizations in oil and mines, defence and infrastructure segment as its potential customers for these products.
    
"Dell Latitude 12 and 14 Rugged Extreme are our first rugged notebook in India. They are meant for people working in harsh weather conditions. The price of Dell Latitude 12 starts at Rs. 2.39 lakh and Dell Latitude 14 starts at Rs. 2.29 lakh", says Dell India's Director and General Manager, Indrajit Belgundi.

The prices will vary depending on the configuration of notebooks.
    
"These notebooks are available with Intel processors i3 to i7. They contain solid state drives of various capacity starting 128 GB", says Dell India's Product Manager for Commercial Notebooks and Tablets, Suresh Muppavarapu.
    
The rugged notebooks can operate in temperatures ranging from minus 29 degree Celsius to 63 degree Celsius, withstand drop of about 6 feet, tolerate blowing dust and rains.
    
Latitude 12 has 12-inch display screen which can also be taken out of the notebook for use as tablet. It weighs 2.72 kg, while the weight of Latitude 14 is 3.54 kg.
    
The battery back-up for these notebooks will support 8 to 9 hours of working.

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Notebook offers 24 hrs of battery life

Computer maker Lenovo has formally announced its new ThinkPad X220 ultraportable notebook and ThinkPad X220 convertible tablet PC, incorporating second-generation Intel Core processors for plenty of computing oomph and promising road warriors up to 15 to 24 hours of battery life, depending on configuration.

“Put simply, The ThinkPad X Series has everything a modern road warrior needs without compromises - low weight, long battery life, and high performance,” said Lenovo’s VP for ThinkPad marketing Dilip Bhatia, in a statement. “We’ve refined the mobile computing experience to make it more productive and enjoyable with features like smart PC technologies and enhanced video and voice calling.”

Both the notebook and convertible tablet versions of the ThinkPad X220 feature a 300-nit, 12.5-inch high-definition screen with space-saving self-closing hinges, with the convertible tablet version getting a Gorilla Glass screen that can stand up to the bumps and scratches of mobile use. The systems use the Intel integrated graphics built into the Sandy Bridge chip, and select models will feature a USB 3.0 port for high-bandwidth connections to peripherals and storage devices. The systems will be available with a range of second-generation Intel Core and Intel vPro processors.

Lenovo says the X220s will get up to 15 hours of battery life with a standard 9-cell battery, and up to 24 hours of use by adding a new ThinkPad external battery - when configured with a ULV processor and an SSD drive, anyway. With a four-cell battery, the notebooks start out under four pounds.

Lenovo is touting the new ThinkPads as big productivity aids partly because users won’t have to wait around as long for the machines to get ready. Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 improves shut down, start up, and resume times for the systems, and a new Instant Resume function maintains wireless and network connections for up to 99 minutes during sleep mode so connections don’t have to be re-established when the system wakes up. And the convertible notebook version will notify a user if they move the tablet without having the pen in the integrated pen-holder.

Lenovo says the ThinkPad X220s will be available in April with the ultraportable notebook starting at $899, and the convertible tablet starting at $1,199.

Sprint unveils Dell Netbook and Notebook

Sprint and Dell has announced the first dual-mode 3G/4G-embedded netbook and notebook, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook and Inspiron 11z notebook.

Adib, Sprint's vice president of product development said "The addition of these two exciting 4G-embedded Dell products fits nicely within our current ecosystem of fixed and dual-mode devices that also includes phones, mobile broadband cards, mobile hotspots, and routers."

Both devices come with Windows Live Essentials 2011 pre-installed to help users share and sync content on the web and on their PCs and phones. Some of the products included in Windows Live are Hotmail, Messenger, SkyDrive, and Photo Gallery.

The Mini 10 netbook comes with a Windows 7 Starter. It features a 1.66-GHz Intel Atom processor, a 10.1-inch screen with 1,024-by-600 resolution, 1GB of memory, and a 250GB hard drive. The Mini 10 will be available to business customers on Oct. 31. It will hit Sprint stores and the Web on Nov. 14. The device is free with a $100 mail-in rebate for those who sign a two-year contract.

The Inspiron 11z notebook on the other hand has a 1.2-GHz Intel Core processor, an 11.6-inch screen with 1,366-by-768 resolution, 2GB of memory (expandable to 4GB), HDMI out, and a 250GB hard drive. The 11z will be available starting Nov. 14 in Sprint stores and online. It will be $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year service agreement.

Sony to launch lightest Notebook PC

Sony Corp has planned to launch the world's lightest 8-inch Notebook PC.

The new Sony Vaio PC will come with Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system, supporting all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks, and sell for about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.

Pioneered by Taiwan's Asustek in 2007 and one of the rare bright spots in the electronics industry, Netbooks are generally described as low cost, mini-laptops optimized for Internet use, and sell typically for $300 to $400.

According to Sony the new notebook weighs around 1.4 pounds. It is as thin as a mobile phone, will be available at major retailers in the United States beginning February.

Apple MacBooks unveiled in India

One of the most celebrated digital leaders of the world, Apple has recently landed in Mumbai, India with their superior MacBook models initiating new effervescent waves in the fields of high-end digital world. The new notebooks from Apple are believed to be of thinnest and lightest, and of course not with the least price tags.

MacBooks were unveiled in India just after a week they were launched in US. The product, made out of aluminum frames, is available in 7 models under 3 different product categories, which include MacBook, MacBookPro and MacBook Air categories. Most exciting feature of these new models of MacBook notebooks is that they are highly customized for seamless video editing works. Thrilling gaming experience coupled with awesome entertainment options forms integral part of these high-end costly notebooks.

Powered with Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor chips, Apple’s MacBooks become first users of latest GeForce 9400M 3-D processor. Speeds of these classic notebooks vary from 2 GHz to 2.5 GHz. NVIDIA’s innovative graphics-centric integrated chips inside the ‘unibody’ ultra-light aluminum chassis make these machines unique and creditable.

You will find these varying-cost smart MacBooks in different sizes, such as 13.3 inches, 15.4 inches, and 17 inches under the price tags from Rs. 79,700 to Rs. 1.62 lakh. Touch pad and light-adjusting keyboards made available with these next-generation notebooks represent Apple’s innovative efforts towards bringing user-friendly machines. Expressing happiness on the new launch, Angeline Tan, Apple’s Product Marketing Manager for Portables and Wireless (Asia Pac), said, “they are designed to be as beautiful inside as they are outside.” She also endorsed, “It is specifically for the professionals working in the area of graphics, gaming, designing software and programs.”

500 GB hard drive in Acer notebooks

Acer will incorporate 5400.6 hard drive with 500 GB storage capacity in its notebook. The hard drive has been launched by seagate and it reportedly has a data transfer rate of 87 Megabytes/second. This 2.5-inch 5400-rpm drive features Perpendicular Magnetic Recording technology, a Serial ATA 3GB/second interface, and capacities of 500GB, 320GB, 250GB, 160GB and 120GB with 8MB of cache.

Campbell Kan, vice president, mobile computing business unit, Acer said, “Acer mobile PC customers want notebooks that deliver state-of-the-art capabilities to meet their needs for capacity, performance and durability. Seagate’s new 500GB Momentus hard drive enables Acer to deliver the richest multimedia experience and on-the-go robustness available for notebook computers.”

BanSeng Teh, vice president and managing director, Seagate Asia Pacific said, “We are pleased that Acer is delivering cutting-edge mobile computers with 500GB notebook hard drives from Seagate, with more personal computer makers to follow.Seagate continues to advance hard drive capacity, speed and durability, and our latest 500GB 2.5-inch drives and 1.5 Terabyte 3.5-inch drives provide the highest capacities on the planet to meet the growing need to create, store, share and protect digital content.”

HP announces notebook with 24 hour battery power

HP has announced the release of a laptop with outstanding battery power that can run for 24 hours at a stretch on a single battery charge. Reportedly, the notebook will be a special configuration of the 6930p, part of HP’s EliteBook line. The notebook will run on a 12-cell Ultra-Capacity additional Battery, which costs US$189.

HP EliteBook 6930p sports an Intel Core2 Duo 9000/8000, mobile 45 chipset and is only 2.1 kilogrammes in weight, including the 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display. The box features a shock-resistant hard drive, spill-resistant keyboard and is tough enough to meet MIL-STD 810F military-standard tests of temperatures of over 60 degrees Celsius and below -29C, apparently.

However,the limitation is that the laptop has to run only on Microsoft’s Windows XP. The other windows operating system named ‘Vista‘ is not ideal for this laptop as this particular operating system contains some power-draining features.

The power saving quality of the battery is further assured by HP’s Illumi-Lite LED display instead of a atraditional LCD screen, and an Intel SSD or Solid state drive that ensures powersaving through its NAND flash memory instead of a rotating magnetic disk.The company is yet to list the price of the high-capacity battery configuration, although HP lists the current version of the 6930p as starting at $1,199 on its website.

Samsung unveils X360- Lighter than Air Notebook

The largest gadget and electronics show, IFA is in full swing in Germany. This has provided a great platform to hardware manufacturers including Samsung to unveil a slew of new products. Samsung has unveiled an ultra thin notebook called X360. At 1.27 Kg it is literally lighter than the MacBook Air that weighs 1.36 kg.

This high end notebook has a 13.3 inch screen with a 1280×800 resolution. It offers an option of the 120 GB 5,400 rpm hard drive or a solid state 64 GB hard drive. It has an external DVD writer.

At one glance at the Samsung X360 and you can tell that the notebook is aimed squarely at the MacBook Air buyer. Samsung even uses the slogan "Lighter than Air”. Samsung doesn’t list the specific dimensions of the X360, which probably means that the Air can keep its world's thinnest notebook title. If Samsung's X360 was both lighter and thinner than the Air, I am sure that Samsung would have listed all the specifications prominently.

Other features include a 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI Express Card Slot and a RJ 45 jack. Biometric security is provided by a fingerprint reader. Other features include a webcam, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Graphics are accelerated by Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500. Battery life for the X360 is expected to be 10 hours.

The Samsung X360 is expected to be available in Europe in September. The price for Samsung X360 has not been yet disclosed.

Intex to launch a series of nine notebooks in India

Intex has announced to launch a new series of notebooks in India. The new series consist of one model each in the Lifestyle, Gaming and Tablet Pad types and three models each in the Business book and Education notebook series.

All the newly launched Intex notebooks are equipped with connectivity features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The Lifestyle Book targets working women. The notebook comes in pink, black and white colors and weighs only 1.8 kg. It is priced in the range of Rs 33,000. The Gaming notebook is a high-end laptop. It sports the Intel Centrino technology with Nvidia Graphic Power. It has a hybrid TV tuner card and targets the younger generation of gaming enthusiasts. It is priced at 75,900.

The Tablet Pad has a 12.1inch TFT touch screen that can be rotated through 180 degrees. It is aimed at professionals. The Business Book variant comes in 15.4 inch and 13.3 inches size screens. It features a HDMI port, security features of finger-prints and hotkeys to play music. It is priced between Rs 32,900 to Rs 42,900.

The Education laptops are value for money laptops. They are targeted at students and promise to deliver high performance. The education laptops from Intex are priced between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.

Lenovo all set to launch netbooks in India

The trend of launching low cost laptops that can perform basic functions like surfing the Internet and office applications has caught up in a big way.

Lenovo too has jumped in the fray along with Acer, Dell and HP by deciding to launch the IdeaPad S9 and S10 netbooks. These netbooks will be ultra-portable and thin. Mr Liu Jun, senior vice president, Consumer Business Group, Lenovo says “IdeaPad netbooks are the latest in a string of recently announced Lenovo products, designed specifically for consumers worldwide and developed through our heritage of technological innovation and exceptional engineering,”

Their features include 8.9 and 10.2 inch screens with enhanced battery life, WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity and an Express Card slot for users with high speed mobile broadband connectivity. In built web camera, a multi-card reader and two USB ports are provided. With hard disks of 80 GB or 160 GB the net books will be operated by Windows XP or Linux operating systems.

The netbooks will be available in India in September.

Lenovo launches Ideapad Y710 in India

Lenovo has launched a high end Lap Top, the Ideapad Y710 in the Indian Market. It has many unique features such as a swappable twin hard drive and the RAID function.

Salient features of the Ideapad Y710 include a 17 inch screen with a resolution of 1440 X 900 pixels. It has WLAN connectivity, Dolby Surround Sound and an optional Blu-Ray DVD reader. The hard drive is of 320 GB and a webcam of 1.3 megapixel. VeriFace face recognition technology can be used for log-in.

High end gaming facilities have been included in certain models. Four customizable buttons can be used. Touch sensitive controls have also been incorporated.

The laptop will be available in India within a price range of Rs 45,000 to Rs 85,000.

ASUS Eee PC 904H and Eee PC 1000H comes to India

After doing quite well with the Eee PC in the notebook segment, ASUS has launched two more notebooks in Indian market. The models Eee PC 904H and Eee PC 1000H and are targeting the middle section of the laptop market. They are ideal for computing applications combined with surfing the internet and music applications.

The Eee PC 1000H sports 10-inch display, ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine for longer battery which offers a lifespan of up to five hours and Dolby Sound Room. Unlike previous version of Eee, the 1000H features 95% size of generic notebooks facilitating easier typing. The ASUS Eee PC 1000H runs on the Intel’s Atom processor and features a 1.3M Pixel webcam. It’s also capable to get connected with LAN (10/100 Mbps), Wireless internet (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth.

The ASUS Eee PC 904H features a smaller 8.9-inch screen and offers 1024×600 resolution display and ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine for longer battery lifespan up to 4.5 hours.
Eee PC 904H and Eee PC1000H are priced at Rs. 26,990/- and Rs. 29,990/- respectively.

VAIO FW- World’s First 16.4 Inch Wide Multimedia Notebook from Sony

Sony has recently introduced a notebook which can play Blu-Ray discs. VAIO FW notebook will be capable of displaying HD movies.

Powered by a new Intel Centrino2 technology, the notebook is more responsive and energy efficient. It uses the Windows Vista Ultimate operating system. The software bundled with the notebook includes VAIO Movie Story software, VAIO Music Box software and the Disc/Editor software for creating DVD/BD video. It permits you to use the lap top in a wireless mode throughout your house.

FW is the world's first 16.4-inch widescreen notebook, meant to deliver a 17-inch widescreen 16:9 experience in a 15-incher's footprint. It's optimised for HD and Blu-ray playback. The SR-series notebooks bring some higher-end features down to the consumer level at a decent, with an LED-backlit 13.3-inch widescreen and G-sensor HDD shock protection.

According to Sony, VAIO® FW notebook- a multimedia PC displays HD movies the way they were meant to be seen. Extra-wide LCD and Blu-Ray Disc Technology Make for a Powerful HD Experience.

The VAIO FW notebook comes in multiple configurations, including a premium and a standard model. The premium model plays Blu-ay Disc™ high-definition content like movies in full 1080 HD resolution when connected to a compatible HDTV. It can also record, store and play back personal content on high-capacity BD media.

Weighing a little over six pounds, the FW notebook features the world's first 16.4-inch display, which combines the benefits of a slightly larger17-inch widescreen with the smaller "footprint" of a 15.4-inch model. The display is ideal for Blu-Ray Disc movies. Since many HD films are shot with a 16:9 aspect ratio, the unit's extra-wide LCD is constructed with the same dimensions. This minimizes the black bars that typically appear, letting you view movies in their intended format.

The extended workspace also lets you view two full websites at once or compare two documents side-by-side without tabbing back and forth. The notebook uses Sony’s patented XBRITE-HiColor LCD technology which enables glare free viewing with absolute picture quality.