HP unveils new PCs in massive product roll-out
It may be sitting pretty atop the PC market, but Hewlett-Packard isn't going to sit still.
The world's largest PC manufacturer plans to roll out 50 new products Tuesday at a conference in Berlin, the largest such product refresh in the Personal Systems Group's history. Of those products, HP added new touches to just about everything, freshening up its TouchSmart all-in-one desktop, commercial and consumer notebook lines, as well as two machines within its high-end gaming brand, Voodoo PC.
While it's that time of year for product refreshes, this is more than the usual speed bump or spec tweak. Though competitors like Dell, Acer, and Lenovo are increasingly focusing on consumer retail PCs, HP is showing that it doesn't want to give up any of the ground it's gained over the last couple quarters.
"They're fortunate for being in right place at right time: being in consumer, and being in retail," said Richard Shim, PC analyst with IDC. "They're showing they're not taking that for granted, and keeping consumers engaged in the products."
It's a tough task when most PCs are made by the same manufacturers with products from shared suppliers. That's where HP hopes its new and improved TouchSmart PC comes in.
It's slimmed down in size--far more minimalist in design concept--and price compared with the original model, but the key is really the improved touchscreen interface. Exterior design used to be a way to stand out, but with a category in decline like desktops, a unique software experience could be an attention-getter.
Offering an experience that you can't get from a Windows-based Dell, or even an Apple iMac, is complicated, said Shim. "That really separates the major players from the minor players, since only the big guys can afford to do this kind of thing. HP is taking advantage of its position in the market."
The new HP-only interface is also a kind of "end-run" around Microsoft's Windows we'll be seeing more often, said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group.
It's already happening in the mininotebook category, where instead of being limited to one option for an operating system, PC vendors are offering different flavors of Linux, as well as alternate interfaces that sit on top of Windows.
Design continues to be a priority for HP, as evidenced by the new products, from the high-end to the refreshed line of consumer notebooks, to the new brushed aluminum finish for its commercial Elite line.
But it's the Voodoo brand where HP is most able to experiment with new looks.
Last week, Rahul Sood, Voodoo PC's founder and current CTO of HP's global gaming business, released photos of him cutting his birthday cake with the famously thin MacBook Air. In the accompanying blog, Sood slyly remarked that he "wouldn't be needing this notebook for long anyways."
The Voodoo Envy 133
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)That's because HP's got its own razor-thin notebook now, called the Voodoo Envy 133. Though the price (starts at $2,099) puts the machine out of reach for most mainstream PC buyers, the ultrathin and light Envy is HP's attempt to position the Voodoo brand name in the same arena as Apple and Lenovo. For now Voodoo still has limited awareness outside the gaming and performance PC enthusiast crowds. As with the Blackbird 002 gaming desktop, the Envy will tie HP's recognizable brand to up-and-coming Voodoo.
The other Voodoo product released Tuesday is a departure for the brand in another way. A new gaming tower, the Voodoo Omen, is unlike anything HP has released before, and has no real counterpart in terms of design in the gaming world. The Omen is stark and simple on the outside, with brushed aluminum tower with the Voodoo logo on the face replacing colorful plastic. It's nearly the exact opposite of last year's Blackbird, or
Despite all this, there's still big challenges for HP ahead as it attempts to differentiate its products from the rest of the field and offer a wide array of products. Not only are they trying to take on Apple in terms of design and innovation, but it's still doing battle with and old, but suddenly resurgent foe, Dell. Plus, Acer is selling notebooks like hotcakes, and even Asus is trying to push its way into the consciousness of the mainstream PC buyer.
So despite the progress the company has made, HP can't get comfortable.
"The challenge for them, is that other guys will do same thing," observed Shim of IDC. "The difficulty for HP is to integrate new technology and new innovation and still remain price competitive."
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
Deal with that.... it's just part of living in a technological society.
in the following sentence?
"The world's argest PC manufacturer plans to roll out 50 new products Tuesday at a conference in Berlin, the largest such product refresh in the Personal Systems Group's history."
Laptops aren't not going to be dead in the foreseeable future. Laptops are selling better than desktops ever sold. Then again, price is king and laptops are cheaper than desktops were too.
...BUT....
HPs love affair with ATI will cost them my patronage. TERRIBLE driver support for Linux! I will (sadly) get rid of my trusty HP and look to Asus or Dell.
I still use an old HP laptop that runs iTunes for my iPod, it's sort of the living room computer now, sits beside my couch if I need to do something while watching TV, like pop into a LOST chat room and discuss where the island went :) but that laptop has been great. The only thing I would change would be upgrading that 40gb harddrive.
> HP used to make good product, I still have my HP calculator, but lately their products are
> horrible, kinda like Chinese made products.
Watch your mouth when you say stupid words as above.
As you know, apple manufactures most of its product in China. The latest iPhone 3G is made in China.
The major reason why you bought low quality products made in China because you pay for it. The price always tells you how much you should expect.
Don't be shame that you are poor so that you have to buy cheap products to work around.
Walmart earns lots of money from China and slaves many works there. How can you expect good quality products without paying the corresponding price tag.
Thank again.
As I knew, the U.S.A produces the world most reliable cars, such as Taurus.
Everyone knows:)
During the first four months, my new HP computer crashed three times. The only thing HP Tech Support could do was to restore my system to "factory defaults" to get it running again.
This wiped off all my user-installed software and Microsoft Office files. it was a nightmare. Fortunately, I had backups on everything, but I had to do a complete reinstall of my software and files three times.
The HP Tech Support manager in India blamed the problems on IE 7 and suggested going back to IE 6.
An online friend, who is the computer guru for his company, also suggested using Norton SystemWorks to ride herd on my system. I installed SystemWorks, which found and corrected literally hundreds of errors on my system.
I've been using SystemWorks ever since and my system has been stable--however, I have two sets of backups, just in case.
As far as HP Tech Support is concerned, I was astounded that when my brand-new HP computer crashed, they tried to sell me a new "better" computer for about $2,000. Their tech support people seemed very much interested in making sales and selling new equipment.
The experience left a bad taste in my mouth--and I still don't know to this day if it safe to upgrade to IE 7. I don't want to risk crashing my system again.
If I could slap someone over the internet, I would have slapped those guys... they had no desire to help, had zero knowledge, and would ask me questions I had already answered... if they cannot keep up or understand and comprehend English, then they need to find another job. I love HP but hope I never have to contact their tech support again.
Problem is, companies are always looking for ways to save money, so instead of paying a tech who actually knows how something works, and has used it and troubleshoot'd it for years, they would rather save that $20 an hour and pay some 3rd world idiot who is willing to read a script for $.50 an hour. So CEO gets a million dollar bonus for off shoring the tech department and saving the company tons of cash, stock holders are happy and they vote to give the executives a nice raise. It's corporate greed that is killing us and sending our jobs outside the US and as a result, our 3rd world tech support is 3rd and 4th rate.
Who today, apart from Apple and (possibly) Lenovo, *doesn't* have lousy tech support? I won't even bother with extended warranties any longer; if I purchase one at all for my next system, I'll get one from Square Trade. They cover it for about 1/4 of the price of a manufacturer's warranty, the only difference being that they don't offer tech support - but who needs it? I ALWAYS end up doing the diagnostic work myself. I can't remember the last time I spoke to a tech support person who wasn't totally useless.
Imac) but is the visual SW experience like MAC! in my opinion Vista is functional but not
exciting. there is something theatrical about OS 10. that elevates the PC experience way beyond MS/Vista! so, HP/PC may look like a duck, but does it quack like a duck? we shall soon see when it arrives at the store.
Back to the post, HP has really stepped up their game recently. I bought a Quad Core packaged HP desktop like 2 weeks ago for my cousin and "hackintoshed" it to run mac osx. I have to say, it was a very solid computer both on the windows and mac side.
- by benjaminstraight July 30, 2008 3:30 PM PDT
- Lookin' good.
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