HP has unveiled new PC designs that reflect its design philosophy of balancing material selection, product usability and sensory input to deliver a superior PC experience. The new products launched included the HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje, the first companion PC from the critically acclaimed Dutch designer.

HP Mini 110

“Design is not just about what the computer looks like or even what it does for us. It’s also about the experience of using the PC and ultimately what the computer says about us,” said Anil Kumar, General Manager, PSG Division, HP Middle East. “We look at every opportunity to design the ‘wow’ that people value in a PC – that surprises, delights and fulfills.”

Starting at only 1.21-kgs and measuring just over an inch thin, the HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje features a 10.1-inch, mercury-free LED display and a 92 percent of full-size keyboard that makes it an ideal travel companion.
The HP Mini 110 features the debut of HP Imprint 3-D, the industry’s first 3-D PC surface technology. Multiple layers on the top cover are used to make the art appear to float on the surface while casting shadows onto lower layers.

This new technology brings a depth to Boontje’s intricate pattern of plants and animals. Built-in tools including Windows Live Writer desktop icon for blogging enable quick access to popular social networking sites for staying in sync with friends and family.

The Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje with Windows 7 Starter can be personalized with 15 wallpapers, a screen saver and a Stardock MyColors desktop theme – all unique to this product and designed by Boontje to deliver an integrated visual experience. In keeping with HP’s and Boontje’s shared environmental philosophies, the packaging, Quick Setup Poster and User Guide are all printed with soy- or water-based inks while the outer box and cushions are all made from 100 percent recycled material.

A custom microfiber protective sleeve ships with the Mini. Additional accessories are available for purchase including a matching PVC-free wireless mouse and a handbag made in part with natural materials. The Mini 110 features HP QuickSync software that automatically synchronizes files created or edited on the road with a home PC over a wireless connection when connected to the same network. The HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje with Windows 7 Starter is priced at AED 1,888.

Creative Technology Ltd., has today introduced the Creative Inspire S2 speaker system, positioned at the top of the Creative Inspire line of speaker systems. Building on the Creative Inspire tradition of merging high performance and value, this compact yet powerful speaker system is perfect for users who want a dynamic audio system to complement their notebooks, MP3 players or desktops.

Creative Inspire S2 Speaker System.

The Creative Inspire S2 speaker system successfully combines great sound and innovative technology into a surprisingly compact package that into even small spaces. Each satellite speaker is just slightly larger than the size of a tennis ball, yet delivers full-bodied audio uncommon in speakers of this size and class. Miniaturisation while maintaining performance is a key feature of the Creative Inspire S2 speaker system, and the highly efficient Creative DIRECT-THROW subwoofer delivers dynamic mid-bass while taking up little room.

Completely new, the Creative DIRECT-THROW subwoofer is designed to permit most of the usable bass energy from the subwoofer to reach the listener in an efficient manner. When placed to face the room, its key advantage is that the directional mid-bass accurately reaches the listener, while the rear slotted port tube delivers the deepest non-directional bass notes to fill the room.

This translates to faster delivery of music with deeper impact. Another key benefit is experienced when the subwoofer is placed close to wall boundaries – common in desktop applications – and the unique front driver/rear-firing port tube design utilises acoustic boundary coupling to greatly increase the bass output, allowing a much louder than expected bass from such a compact speaker.

By employing such efficient techniques for optimal bass reproduction, the Creative Inspire S2 speaker system sets itself apart from other subwoofers of similar size and class, which can struggle to generate a powerful but clean bass. A convenient control knob on the Creative Inspire S2 subwoofer allows the bass level to be easily adjusted to suit personal preferences or room conditions.

In addition, the Creative Inspire S2 speaker system comes with dual inputs conveniently located on the satellite speaker: a Line-In input for connecting to notebooks or desktops, and a gain-adjusted AUX-In input for connecting to low-powered handheld music devices.

A Headphone-Out connection caters to private listening. Combining these convenient features together with innovative audio technology and a small footprint certainly makes the Creative Inspire S2 speaker system a perfect companion for notebooks, MP3 players or desktops. The Creative Inspire S2 speaker system is available now at all authorised retailers in the Middle East at the suggested retail price of AED 309

The advantage with the Blu-ray technology is that the laser beam can be focused much more tightly at the surface of the disc. Tight focus means that a smaller spot will be produced on the surface on the disc, and when the spots become smaller there will naturally be room for more information on each disc. The minimum spot size of any laser depends on a naturally accruing phenomenon called diffraction. The narrow beam of light sent out from a laser will always diverge into a wider beam eventually, due to the natural diffraction of waves. Diffraction will also occur the waves meet an obstruction. By reducing the wavelength of a laser, we can affect the diffraction.

The standard for Blu-ray technology has been developed as a joint venture between several major manufacturers of PCs and consumer electronics, including Sony and Philips. The group is called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The first Blu-ray recorder was launched in Japan in 2003, by Sony. Today, Samsung, JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and LG Electronics are all examples of companies using Blu-ray technology in their products. Hewlett Packard has announced that they will release desktop PCs equipped with Blu-ray technology in late 2005.

Are you considering the purchase of your very first PDA? If so, what should you look for? How much should you spend? What features should you get?

Before making the final decision to purchase a PDA, have you thoroughly researched what they can do, and if you really need one or are you just intrigued by having a new gadget like your friends? Let’s start with this question. One of the first and still major uses for a PDA is an appointment book or calendar. If you are currently using an appointment book like a Franklin Planner, the PDA can certainly replace this. One advantage of a PDA over an appointment book is that changes don’t require constant erasing and re-writing. A PDA is usually backed up on your PC, so there is always a back-up.

A new PDA does not have to be purchased every year like a Franklin Planner, so in the long run it will be cheaper. This plus the previous mentioned advantages may be enough to make the switch. Of course there are many other features and uses for a PDA besides an appointment book, among which are:

• Address book

• Calculator

• Internet Access

• Notes and document management

• Games

• GPS

Given that you are ready to go forward with the purchase, your choice of a PDA model will depend on what you need it for—what you want it to do. Following are some of the important considerations:

Memory – If you plan to use your PDA for storing large documents and other reference works, then you’ll need the corresponding amount of memory. Also check to see if the memory can be expanded. You’ll need to consider the other software that you might want to run on your PDA.

Size – All the features do you no good if you don’t bother to bring the PDA with you due to its bulky size.

Input Options – If you plan on using the PDA to take notes with, a compact external keyboard is essential. The built in stylus input is designed for small amounts of data only.

Battery Life – Again, dictated by your specific needs.

Finding the best place to purchase your PDA can be done easily with online shopping portals. Ebay of course always has offers. One thing to consider for a PDA is a buyers protection plan that is offered by many local retailers. Normally these end up costing more than they are worth, but just one drop of your PDA onto a hard surface can destroy it. If you are buying a high end PDA and will be running around with it daily, a buyers protection plan may be worthwhile.

For a long time Intel has been leading the market in processor sales and popularity but AMD is finally putting a stop to that.  With the release of their Athlon 64 processor, with 64 bit computing capabilities, they have been slowly but surely regaining the market back from Intel.

The Athlon 64 processors have been around for a while now and they have proven themselves the market leaders in processing power.  As we know AMD processor run at a lot slower speeds than Intel processors making them cooler to run.  This has eliminated the need for expensive cooling equipment and opened the doorway for overclocking.

Although AMD hit the target by releasing their 64 bit processor long before Intel did, they are not standing still.  They have been constantly upgrading their line up to increase speed and efficiency.  This is apparent with their fx series processors and their dual core processors.

The fx series processor are the king of the hill at AMD.  They are the most powerful processor that is available.  They show blistering speeds for CPU intensive functions such video encoding and gaming.  They also show great performance in database driven work and most other aspects of computing.

The dual-core line of processor are the ultimate in multi-tasking.  They provide the power of two processor running in unison while still being able to fit in a single processor motherboard.  Although these processors are essentially two processors in one, they are rather pricy and may not be everyones cup of tea.

Intel is trying to fight back by forming an alliance with Apple.  All macs are now available with Intel processors.  Whether this will be profitable for Intel only time will tell.

With competition growing stronger from AMD this can only mean increased benefits for the consumer.  As the war between Intel and AMD intensifies, the consumer will benefit from lowered prices, and increased quality in their processors.

Laptops can be sent back to the manufacturer if the purchaser finds the screen of the laptop scratched or with a minor blemish, or if it is an unwanted present to him or if the packaging of the laptop is dented etc. Such laptops are inspected, tested again for quality and repackaged by the manufacturer and sold for a very less price. Such laptops are called as refurbished laptops.

Factory refurbished laptops:

The laptops in the factory undergo rechecking for any manufacturing defect by passing through various stages of examination. Then, when no fault is found, the hard disk of the laptop is reformatted and again the operating system is loaded. It is again made to work for less than 4-5 hours time to check for any defect and the parts are replaced if they are found to be defective. The refurbished laptop is then updated with a new serial number to mark it as a factory refurbished laptop. Such factory refurbished laptops are of high quality available to the consumer at a lesser retail price. Such refurbished laptops can be got from almost all the renowned brands. However the process carried out for the restoration of laptops may differ from company to company. The main aim is to make the laptop run again efficiently as it used to be previously.

Custom refurbished laptops:

These are repaired laptops which are reassembled to match the customer’s preference. It gives an opportunity to get a complete laptop solution at a very affordable price to the customer. The utilities offered by the customer refurbished laptops are got at a cost of a used laptop. It also avoids the necessity to upgrade immediately, which is not the case with the standard laptop. It allows the customers to have preferences in terms of selecting the features like the screen size, processor speed requirements, multimedia, memory capacity, hard drive size, optical drive, graphics, accessories, Bluetooth etc.
When purchased in bulk, custom refurbished laptops are the best option as it combines both functionality and price advantage together. Additional benefits can be availed through promotional offers and discounts from the manufacturers.

Advantages of purchasing refurbished laptops:

The refurbished laptops are of high quality as they are checked for high standards of performance at each level of examination done. The consumer can get a branded, quality laptop of a latest model at a very less price compared to the retail price. More over discounts are offered to military personnel, senior citizens and students who can maximize their savings by purchasing a refurbished laptop. The refurbished laptops can be selected from renowned brands available in the market at a lesser cost. Such refurbished laptops are also got with 1 year warranty which can be extended up to 3 years. The warranty period supports replacement of parts and maintenance required by the laptop. Hence purchasing such laptops are very reliable. The refurbished model laptops enable the customers get more features at a lower cost. When the purchaser is bent on buying the latest, trendiest laptop, but cannot afford to buy a new one he can go for a refurbished laptop to get satisfied.

Like with many other things in the world of printing, laser printers have come a long way in the past few years. They have gone from being found almost exclusively in offices to being offered at $100 for a home user. Although they are better for a lot of people, some have a hard time imagining themselves buying a laser printer for their home. A lot of people have the idea that laser printers are just the big clunky machines in their offices where the toner cartridges cost a fortune. However, if you are someone who prints out a large amount of documents and is tired of always having to buy new black inkjet cartridges, laser printers can be the solution. Once you get past the initial sticker shock of buying laser toner cartridges, you will realize the numbers for an entry level laser printer versus an inkjet printer look something like this:

Typical toner cartridge – $50-$60

Page yield – 2,000-3,000 pages

Average cost per page – 2-2.5 cents per page

Typical inkjet cartridge – $20-$30

Page yield – 400-500 pages

Average cost per page – 4-6 cents per page

Although these are just averages and may not seem all that different, in general if you are printing documents, it will probably cost you twice as much to run an inkjet printer than a laser printer. It is better to think of things in the long term when it comes to laser printers, because only then will you truly appreciate their value. If you buy a laser printer and then a backup toner cartridge at the same time, by the time you will have finished that second cartridge, you would have gone through roughly 10 inkjet cartridges.

So if you aren’t into printing color, then you are probably better off going with a laser printer over a standard inkjet printer. You will appreciate the speed and low maintenance of a laser printer, while also saving money on printer ink in the long run.