5310

Editors' note: The HP ProBook 5310m is currently under review, but here are our initial impressions of this sub-$1,000 ultraportable.

At first glance, it would be easy to label the HP ProBook 5310m a late 2007 MacBook knock-off. The all-black casing made from aluminum and magnesium alloy and the chiclet-style keyboard certainly support that judgment. However, the ProBook is a laptop aimed at business users, not consumers. It's also something we've been longing to see: a powerful, sub-$1,000 ultraportable with a 13-inch screen and a long battery life.

The ProBook is very stately looking. … Read more

Call it the Netbook halo effect: small and cheap is infectious. A quick peek at the lineups of new laptops slated for the Windows 7 (October 22) roll-out make it clear that the prices of mainstream and higher-end laptops are diving, even as the technology gets better.

"There's a new reality in laptop pricing," said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at market-researcher IDC. "It's getting harder and harder to sell anything over $800." O'Donnell cited a data point that showed the average selling price of notebooks falling below desktops briefly in retail. "That may have been an anomaly, but the fact that's it's even close is indicative of this phenomenon."

That said, let's start with HP, the world's largest PC supplier. Svelte, well-built business laptops have historically been priced at a premium--starting at more than $1,000. Not anymore. On October 22, HP will begin selling the 13-inch ProBook 5310m that is about 0.9 inches thin, less than four pounds, and clad in an aluminum display enclosure and a magnesium alloy bottom case for $699.

That's about $800 less than the HP EliteBook 2530p business notebook series introduced in August of last year (that started at about $1,500). The 5310m is priced at $699 with an Intel Celeron dual-core processor and $899 with Intel Core 2 Duo chip. Both come with the Windows 7 operating system.

That's what I call a sea change in pricing.

But it gets better. Then there's the 4-pound HP Pavilion dm3 notebook that starts at $549 (no, it's not a Netbook) and will likely range up to about $700 in price for a reasonable memory and hard drive configuration. The 13-inch laptop comes with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Neo dual-core processors and a standard 6-cell battery that delivers--so HP claims--up to 10 hours of battery life.

I was able to play with a dm3 at a function sponsored by Advanced Micro Devices recently in San Francisco. My immediate impression was that this was a light but solid design.

The Apple $999 MacBook is suddenly… Read more

HP announced its fall lineup today, which included new Windows 7 laptops, an Ion-powered Netbook, SmartMedia network storage products, an all-in-one desktop, and an assortment of business-centric monitors.

HP gets an Ion-powered HD Netbook With a Nvidia Ion processor and a 1,366x768 11.6-inch screen, the HP Mini 311 looks to be the type of souped-up HD Netbook we've been waiting for. (Posted in Crave by Scott Stein) September 14, 2009, 9:06 p.m. PDT

HP 13-inch laptops bring on aluminum and affordability Just in time for Windows 7 comes HP's new Windows 7-preinstalled 13-inch thin-and-lights. (… Read more

As we gear up for Windows 7, manufacturers are lining up their latest updated models to catch your consumer eye. HP's newest 13-inch laptops, the HP ProBook 5310m and HP Pavilion dm3, both toss in fancy aluminum frames, but with different internal stories. The ProBook 5310m has a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor or 1.2 GHz Celeron ULV under its hood, while the Pavilion dm3 has a new dual-core AMD Neo X2 (or if you choose, an Intel Pentium SU4100 ULV) running the show.

The ProBook's looks feature an anodized aluminum chassis, a raised keyboard, … Read more

T-Mobile is offering new colors for its Nokia 5310 Xpress Music phone. Now available are a white model with aqua trim and a white handset with silver trim.

The two phones join the existing four colors: black and red, black and purple, black and orange, and black and silver.

The feature list is unchanged--you'll find the Xpress Music player, a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, messaging, USB support, organizer features, PC syncing, and a speakerphone. The price for both new models is $19.99 with a service contract.

I've written about Nokia's Comes With Music service several times, but the service officially kicked off Wednesday in the U.K. And the first hands-on reviews--from Music Ally and IDG News--are mostly positive.

In particular, reviewers are praising the PC software's intuitive interface and the relatively painless registration process. Access to the free music comes courtesy of a code printed on the inside of the phone's box. Downloads are almost unlimited, although Nokia has a clause that warns it might temper downloads if a certain undisclosed average number of downloads per user is reached.

The … Read more

T-Mobile may be the smallest major carrier, but that doesn't mean it lacks a decent selection of phones. In the past few months the company has introduced two music phones that won our praise. The Motorola Rokr E8 offers an innovative "ModeShift" keypad, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a well-stocked music player that delivers on performance. The Nokia Xpress Music 5310 also brings a nifty music player to the table, but it packages it in a more traditional design. So, which is the better cell phone for listening to your tunes? In the latest CNET cell phone Prizefight … Read more

We've known it was coming for a long time, but only Monday did T-Mobile come clean by announcing the Nokia 5610 Xpress Music. As the big brother to the previously released Nokia 5310 Xpress Music, the 5610 offers an upgraded and music-friendly feature set in a slider design with a brilliant display. Inside you'll find an Xpress Music player, a 3.2-megapixel camera, full Bluetooth with a stereo profile, an FM radio, a microSD card slot, USB mass storage, voice dialing, a speakerphone, and messaging and organizer applications. Unlike the original model, the T-Mobile 5610 doesn't support … Read more