Posts Tagged ‘Hewlett-Packard’
Hp Releases Pavilion All in One MS214IN Desktop
The HP MS214in has the same design as most HP laptops and desktops. The combination of glossy black with silver has become a trademark of HP now, and makes it looks quite elegant. The design of the stand is similar to that of the Apple iMac. It is not carved out of metal, but the build of the plastic body is pretty decent.
The 18.5-inch widescreen has a resolution of 1366 x 768 and the display portrays colors quite well. HD movie looked pretty good on it but we felt that the maximum brightness was a bit too low for our liking. This is especially evident when you are sitting in a sunny room. A speaker strip placed right below the LCD panel emits fairly audible sound with decent clarity. A webcam above the screen delivers decent clarity and a speedy frame rate.
The peripheral ports are placed conveniently at the sides. On the left, we got two USB ports, a card reader and headphone/microphone jacks. On the right, we have a tray-loading DVD writer and buttons to increase or decrease brightness. There is not a button to turn the display off though, which is slightly disappointing. The rest of the ports, including a LAN, four USB, and an S/PDIF are placed at the back.
Another sore point that needs to be mentioned is that, unlike most all-in-one PCs we have seen, the HP Pavilion is powered by a chunky adapter that adds to table clutter. We would rather have liked it to be integrated into the body so that a single power cable would run to the electric socket.
The HP MS214in is powered by a dual-core AMD Athlon X2 that runs at 1.5 GHz. That, along with the 2 gigs of RAM and a 7200 rpm drive, keeps Windows 7 Home Basic running at a fair pace. But the Home Basic version does not have Windows 7s full Aero UI that apart from looking fancy also improves usability.
The ATI Radeon HD 3200 is an entry-level dated graphics chip. It’s better than Intel onboard GMA4500 graphics,but definitely not suitable for running modern games at their fullest settings. This was evident when we ran the Street Fighter IV benchmark. At max settings,it belted an un-playable 11.7 frames per second. Thus, games that are a couple of years old can run smoothly with toned down settings.
The power-draw of this PC while idling ranged between 42 to 44 watts. On full load, it shot up by just 10 watts, drawing a steady 55W. It consumes almost half power as compared to its elder Touchsmart 300 cousin. Thats comparatively low power consumption for an entire PC. This is possible thanks to the power-efficient Athlon 3250e processor. Another reason could be the lower-than-usual max brightness.Due to the older AMD chipset used, it has only support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b and g. This could be a problem if you’re using an 802.11n router, as you wouldn’t get the faster connectivity that 802.11n standard supports.
The HP Pavilion All-in-One MS214in Desktop.Since this is a niche segment device, such pricing can be expected. An entry-level Lenovo IdeaCenter A600 (30112VQ) model also costs the same. But it comes with a faster 2 GHz Intel dual-core processor, a bright 21.5-inch full HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) display and a 500GB hard drive. It’ll be a good choice if you want to watch a lot of HD content. The only sore point is its Intel X4500 graphics.
HP Offers Transparent Records Management For Enhanced Risk Management
HP has introduced a records management solution that will enable customers to reduce the business risks associated with the growing regulatory compliance and legal discovery demands.
HP TRIM 7 will enable organisations to transparently manage all of their Microsoft SharePoint Server records in a single environment, regardless of the source. This includes documents as well as information found in SharePoint Server blogs, wikis, discussions, forms, calendars and workflows.
Widespread adoption of SharePoint Server provides the opportunity to consolidate and simplify the management of content stored across multiple SharePoint instances. HP TRIM 7 enables the transparent capture, search and management of all types of physical and electronic business information, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the upcoming SharePoint Server 2010.
“Organisations today need solutions to manage the explosion of large volumes of information,” said Mark Gilbert, Research Vice President, Gartner. “New solutions are growing rapidly for authoring and managing enterprise content in various formats and sources, and this trend is changing the way organisations do business.”
“The explosion in Content 2.0 blogs, wikis and discussions creates new information management challenges for organisations trying to meet an escalating set of regulations,” said Jonathan Martin, Vice President and General Manager, Information Management Solutions, HP. “HP TRIM allows customers to marry records management best practices and governance with dynamic collaboration platforms such as SharePoint.”
To help SharePoint Server customers, HP TRIM 7 provides two new modules. The first one, HP TRIM Records Management, improves business records management by providing transparent access to all the SharePoint Server content held in HP TRIM right from the SharePoint Server workspace. The second module, HP TRIM Archiving, helps customers reduce the risk of data loss when reclaiming storage and system resources from SharePoint Server. The module seamlessly archives specific list objects in SharePoint Server, or entire SharePoint Server sites, to HP TRIM. This happens behind the scenes, which allows users to take entire SharePoint Server sites offline while ensuring continued access to information.
HP Launches New Netbook Mini210
Hewlett-Packard India, has expanded its Mini notebook portfolio (netbooks) with the launch of HP Mini210.
With the broad HP Mini portfolio, including the previously introduced Mini 110 and HP Mini by Tord Boontje, customers have a choice of sleek companion PCs that let them stay connected from anywhere. The HP Mini by Studio Tord Boontje is crafted with environmentally friendly materials.
“The new HP Mini210 range has been conceptualised after extensive research to offer the best Digital experience and a variety of options to consumers. With a full breadth of color and feature options, we are inspiring, engaging and equipping the digital generation with unexpected fun and endless possibilities,” said Rajiev Grover, Director Mobility Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP India. “In todays market its about development of a continuum of devices that meet consumers’ unique needs. We are helping consumers discover the world of possibilities by infusing innovation, technology and design into our new range of HP Mini notebooks,” added Grover.
The HP Mini210 boasts of the latest Atom 450 with advanced features and power packed applications for all users’ computing needs including chicklet keyboard, touchpad with multi gesture support, stereo speakers, wireless LAN, integrated webcam, Bluetooth, Microsoft Windows 7 OS and battery life of more than 9.5 hours.
Starting at 1.22 kilos (with HDD) and measuring less than 1-inch thin, the HP Mini 210 is available in a colorful choice of stylish Black Crystal, Silver Crystal, Pacific Blue or Sonoma Red HP Imprint finishes.
With a 10.1-inch diagonal standard or optional BrightView Infinity HD LED widescreen display and an island-style keyboard that is 93 percent of a full-size QWERTY keyboard, the 210 also features a built-in WLAN, webcam, microphone, GPS-ready system and optional 3G broadband connectivity.
Users can keep their music in sync with HP QuickSync software. The software synchronizes files created or edited on the road with a home or business PC over a wireless connection when connected to the same network. HP QuickWeb allows users to access the web without booting up the notebook by simply pushing a button. HP Cloud Drive allows users to access their synchronized content including documents, photos and music from the cloud without having to store it on a local drive. With HP MediaStream users can stream multimedia content from one PC to another over the Internet, without requiring data to be downloaded.
In addition to viewing HD content on the Internet, users can experience their own personal multiplex via an optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator, which allows users to enjoy up to 1,080-pixel HD content.
The HP Mini210 costs Rs. 16,000 onwards.
Tips for Easier Printing in Windows 7
In general, printing in Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 7 is the same as it has been for the past several Windows operating systems. You still perform the same installation and user actions to execute a print job. But there are a few new enhancements that strive to eliminate common user and IT hassles:
Let’s look at a few of these new features.
Location aware printing
New with Windows 7, the OS (operating system) automatically sets and remembers your default printer based on your current network location. So now, when you go between the office and home, your default printer will change automatically, making it simple to access and use the printer you have in each location. Say farewell to manually changing printers every time you move from one place to another!
Device access and management
As with previous OSs, a device icon will show up in your Devices and Printers folder when you install a new device. But with Windows 7, you can now access helpful product information and take action on the device by simply double-clicking the device icon. This new service provides you with whatever information the printer manufacturer has made available, which can include documentation, tutorials, configuration and setup, supplies re-ordering and support access.
Driver isolation mode
This tip is mostly for IT folks, but anyone who has to administer printer drivers will also appreciate this feature. With Windows 7, print drivers can be loaded in driver isolation mode, ensuring print drivers don’t crash the print spooler (which is pretty much the most common source of failure). HP drivers can help you increase stability and reduce the support issues associated with spooler crashes. You can also avoid issues with corrupt application and file or other driver actions, especially for shared spoolers on a server. For more information on using HP drivers in driver isolation mode, read this driver isolation white paper (PDF, 312KB).
Windows 7 and HP’s Universal Print Driver
While exploring some of the new printing features in Windows 7, it is a good time to look at some of the innovative print solutions that HP delivers for LaserJet printers, AiOs (All-in-Ones) and MFPs (multifunction products).
One of those key solutions is HP’s UPD (Universal Print Driver), which is a free download that allows users to utilize a single driver to discover, connect to and print to a broad range of networked and direct-connected LaserJet devices. The UPD supports PCL5, PCL6 and PS and is now available for Windows 7, including 32-bit and 64-bit versions. It provides the same driver features as HP’s product-specific drivers and allows your users to easily achieve their desired output across the HP LaserJet product family.
Shortcuts, eco-friendly printing and security
To help make printing easier, the UPD allows users to save settings of recurring print jobs as shortcuts for easy re-use. Simply configure your settings for the intended output and click Save As on the Printing Shortcuts tab of the UPD. This will save the settings for that job type for future use. And the UPD comes standard with the Eco-print (two-sided print) shortcut, which makes two-sided printing a snap.
Additionally, if you want to enhance the security of your print job and reduce the waste of uncollected output, you can configure the UPD to print each job with a Personal Identification Number (PIN). This will enable the device to prompt you for a PIN in order to retrieve the print job. And this can be saved as a shortcut for convenient re-use.
HP EasyColor, available in the UPD, can even make smart decisions for you, so you can just hit print. When you’re printing a document that has several color elements of different types (think bar charts, company logos and photos, all in a presentation), the technology analyzes each section and automatically adjusts print output for the best results.