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Hewlett-Packard Upgrades Portable Lines

NEW YORK

— Hewlett-Packard rolled out its
fall line of revamped laptops and netbooks.

Upgrades to the Mini 210 line, Pavilion dm3
and Envy high-end notebooks are a mix of cosmetic
and technical.

The Mini 210 received a palette upgrade
and is now available in five new colors: Charcoal,
Crimson Red, Lavender Frost, Luminous
Rose and Ocean Drive. There are matching
sleeves and mice for each.

Despite the changes, HP did not alter the
device’s name. The Mini 210 name will now
be the primary moniker covering HP’s mainline
netbook offering. The company will no longer
change the model number to coincide with an
upgrade, said Kevin Wentzel, HP’s technical
marketing manager. HP will continue offering
the lower-priced Mini110 line as well.

Technical changes for the Mini 210 include
an optional Intel dual-core Atom processor.
This will enable the netbook to better play
back 720p video. There is also a more conformal-
appearing six-cell extended-life battery,
and the keyboard is 93 percent the size of a
traditional keyboard.

The bottom panel is also more easily removed
by pushing a button located under the
battery. Previously, those interested in upgrading their device had to unscrew several screws, and this
proved somewhat daunting to the less tech savvy, Wentzel
said.

The Mini 210 carries a $329 starting price point.

Changes to the mainstream Pavilion dm3 line center on
improved cooling capability.

Originally launched a year ago, the dm3 now sports HP’s
CoolSense Technology. This includes a newly placed venting
system that pulls the vent intakes from the bottom of
the laptop and places them along the front edge of the keyboard.
Here they will not be blocked by a table or a user’s
lap. The vent outlet is now located along the left side of the
device and is about two-thirds longer. This was done so it
would not blow on a person’s mouse hand, the company
said.

Most of the heat-producing internal components were
shifted from the wrist rest area to under the keyboard so
the user’s hands would not be uncomfortable.

There is also a software component to CoolSense. This
uses the laptop’s internal gyro to tell if the laptop is sitting
on a desktop or lap, and it adjusts the fans appropriately to
keep the heat level down on the user’s lap. The software
also allows the person to adjust the cooling level.

Other technical upgrades include a longer battery life of
7.5 hours.

Externally, the dm3 is no longer being offered in a multitude
of colors, but instead in a flat black-matte finish. The
paint itself also has thermal properties and is capable of
dispersing heat.

It will ship with a $549 starting price point.

The high-end Envy line now includes the 17-inch Envy
17 with 3D option. The unit was beefed up with a brighter,
400-nit display and 1,080p resolution. While the Envy 17
is capable of playing all 3D games, HP is marketing it more
as a movie-watching platform. It is slated to ship for the
holiday season when more 3D movies are expected to be
available.

Pricing has not been set, but HP expects its cost to be in
the same range as other 3D notebooks now on the market.

The company also gave a new twist to the Envy 14 Beats
Edition laptop. Originally intended for the music professional
looking to mix and play songs in a night club atmosphere,
the newer version is scaled down. A 14-inch display replaces
the original 15-inch screen, and it drops several of the
mixing functions that came standard with the original model.

This has allowed HP to almost cut the price in half. It will
ship later this year with a $1,249 price point.

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