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Microsoft and its partners have found an opening against Apple. That's rare these days.

The Windows 8 touch screen is the first real change that has come to Windows laptops in a long time.

I would put it right up there with the trackpad and, more recently, the MacBook Pro Retina display.

And it's made more significant by the fact that Apple has rejected the idea of a hybrid device via Tim Cook's refrigerator-toaster analogy. Which gives Apple's less-nimble Silicon Valley neighbor, Hewlett-Packard, a rare leg up.

Just check out HP's Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook. … Read more

Windows RT is not bowling over PC makers. What's not clear is whether this is just the usual startup snafus of a new platform or something more serious.

RT is new. It's the first mainstream Windows operating system to run on chips from companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. So, it's more vulnerable to glitches and gotchas and vendor skepticism.

That said, Hewlett-Packard does not appear to be showing any enthusiasm for the platform (yet), based on what I'm hearing from sources as well as empirical evidence (no HP Windows RT devices).

And Asian sources … Read more

The designers at Samsung and HP sure love Apple's laptop design philosophy, but the duo may want to take a step back next generation and innovate a little bit. CNET found several new computers from these companies that look just like an Apple MacBook Air. Can you tell which one is the real Apple product in the picture above?

Our more discerning readers might easily spot the differences between each of these devices, but Crave decided to make it a little more challenging by shrinking the pictures down a bit. Readers who participated in our guessing game on Facebook had a pretty easy time spotting the real Apple, but the pictures were also much larger. … Read more

Not too long ago, a budget laptop was, by default, a big, ugly plastic box. It may have gotten the job done in terms of school or office work, but it wasn't going to turn any heads at the coffee shop, or fit comfortably onto an airline tray (with the exception of too-small Netbooks, which had their own list of problems).

We'll look back on 2012 as the first year when budget laptops really got a fair shake, with many models looking and acting much more like their expensive cousins than ever before.

Even at the very low end of budget -- laptops that are $600 or under -- you can get a slick-looking HP Envy Sleekbook, or a powerful Acer Aspire V5.

Here are a handful of recent favorites, from 11-inch ultraportables to 17-inch desktop replacements, each of which costs about half as much as a 13-inch MacBook Air.… Read more

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman came out swinging in today's earnings conference call.

"We are under attack by very strong competitive pressures and we are going to respond," Whitman said when asked by an analyst about the PC business.

The company will respond with "two tablets, if you will, combined with laptops for the consumer space," according to Whitman.

This is in addition to the Windows 8 business tablet that HP has already discussed (see photo above).

She added that HP has "one of the best product lineups we've had in the PC business … Read more

Ahead of its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard is virtually absent in tablets, one of the hottest device markets today. And its fresh entry into the market will face an entrenched iPad ecosystem at businesses.

There's no guarantee that HP's upcoming Windows 8 Pro tablet aimed at corporate enterprise customers will stop the iPad's march into businesses, according to Rhoda Alexander at IHS iSuppli.

"It is the established leader in all of the markets. It has more of a reach into business, into education than its competitors," Alexander said, referring to the iPad. "The consistency … Read more

Students trudging back to school can soften the blow with a free Xbox console and a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8, as long as they buy a new PC.

Several PC vendors have cooked up the deal to attract students who need to buy a new computer. Here's how it works:

Buy a new PC for $699 or more from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, Newegg, or the Microsoft Store. You'll have to show some proof that you're a student currently enrolled, either through a school e-mail address or ID number. You then get your free Xbox … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is apparently diving back into the consumer tablet business.

The company is apparently developing a new Mobility unit to concentrate on consumer tablets, says an internal memo first published by the Verge. An HP representative confirmed the memo's authenticity, though he declined to comment on its substance. The memo is the work of Todd Bradley, head of the company's Printing and Personal Systems Group.

Beyond handling tablets, the new mobility unit will also be responsible for "additional segments and categories where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers," according to the memo. … Read more