The PC Report

Rumour has hit the streets this week that suggests that the recently announced Windows 7-packing HP Slate has been killed shortly after HP bought smartphone maker Palm. According to sources, HP is not happy with Windows 7 as the operating system for the device – could this mean Android or the recently acquired Palm WebOS will be powering the device instead? Windows fans are surely just a little disappointed that the main attraction from Microsoft’s CES 2010 live event has been seemingly cancelled.

Fresh from the release of the Apple iPad, Engadget has got their hands on some info regarding the tablet to come out of HP – the HP Slate. The HP Slate will come loaded with an Intel Atom Z530 processor at 1.6 GHz and Intel UMA graphics capable of 1080p video playback, 1 GB of non-upgradeable DDR2 RAM, 32/64 GB of flash storage, WiFi b/g with bluetooth and optional 3G, SD card reader to expand memory, USB port supporting HDMI out and a VGA webcam.

Instantly beating the iPad is the HP Slate’s use of Windows 7 Home Premium, which will presumably support everything that the desktop counterpart does including multi-tasking and Adobe Flash playback. All of this will be done using the Slate’s 8.9″ WVGA (1024 x 600) capacitive multi-touch display with pen/stylus support. Battery life on the Slate is rated at 5+ hours on the 2-cell battery.

The HP Slate should be retailing at its base configuration for US$549, probably the 32 GB model with no 3G, and go up to US$599 which should include maximum storage and 3G – which places the Slate at a much better price for what you get compared to the iPad. No word on release date as of yet. Check out the video below for a closer look at the HP Slate.

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The new HP G62t is a fairly nice looking laptop, comparable to the Envy 15, and comes with a fairly nice price tag too of only US$599 for the base model. For that price, you get a new Intel Core i3 processor at 2.13GHz (although you can pay more and get an i5 or i7 instead), 3GB of DDR3 RAM, a 160GB hard drive that’s upgradeable to 500GB, a 15.6-inch LED display, Intel HD graphics (not so great), DVD burner, Wireless N and a multitude of connectivity options.

If you want to get this Macbook-Pro-esque laptop it should be available now in stores as well as via the HP website.

It appears as though HP has leaked a huge heap of info about some upcoming products they are releasing, including info about new Intel processors and ATI graphics cards, along with the new HP software suite. All of the leaked info looks current and details the new North American Spring 2010 line-up from HP, which by the looks of it is going to be a good line-up.

In the new HP Pavillion desktop computers it appears as though we will be seeing the latest from Intel’s Clarkdale range. The new Core i5-6xx processors will be included, featuring Intel’s Turbo Boost technology that can speed up certain cores depending on the workload at hand. Core i3-5xx processors are also going to be used, however these will feature a lowered L3 cache and no Turbo Boost technology. It is also speculated that the HP TouchSmart will be getting an upgrade to the Arrandale Core i5 and i7s.

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In the mix between slim & light and the nice looks of Apple’s latest MacBook Pros we have new laptops from HP – the ENVY 13 and ENVY 15, named after their 13 and 15 inch screens respectively. Both laptops are enclosed in an aluminium/magnesium body with a Macbook-style glass single-button trackpad and are set to launch on October 18 pre-loaded with Windows 7.

The ENVY 13 is the smaller and less powerful of the two laptops. It packs a 13.1″ WXGA display with excellent colors and brightness, a Core 2 Duo processor and discrete Radeon 4330 graphics and manages to pack a battery life of 7 hours, or 18 (supposedly) with the Slim Fit extended life battery. It also only weighs 1.7 kg and comes with a price tag of US$1,699

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Hewlett Packard is well known for some nice laptops, and some of these new laptops look real nice. First off is the massive, 18.4-inch dv8, which is set to pack a nice quad-core Core i7 720QM processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive and a Blu-ray drive. The price should be over US$2,000.

Next is two new ultraportable laptops, the dm1 and dm3, both which are set to pack CULV-based processors and 1366×768 displays (the dm1′s being 11.6″ and the dm3 being 13.3″). The dm3 is also set to have another cheaper option, which uses the AMD Neo platform over an Intel-based CPU.

Last on the list of announcements is the ION-based Mini 311. It will be a fairly standard netbook, with an Atom N270, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD and a 11.6″ screen – and of course the 9400M to make up the ION platform. All laptops are set to be released near to the Windows 7 release in October.