HP Slate – the iPad Killer? April 13, 2010
Posted by Zev Rosenbaum in : Computers, Microsoft, Tablets , comments closed
Back in January, we caught a short glimpse of the HP Slate, HP’s new tablet. Last week, Engadget uncovered some “unofficial” specs of the new tablet compared to the iPad. Later that day HP released a trailer of the Slate doing things that the iPad can’t do, including video chatting and taking pictures (that’s right, two cameras– one on the front for video chatting and one on the back for taking regular pictures), as well as:
- 8.9 inch multi-touch screen, with stylus support– While this is a drop smaller than the iPad’s bigger 9.7 inch screen, the ability to use a stylus for writing on it is very interesting, particularly for use in school.
- A USB slot– shown ironically through connecting an iPod cable to the Slate, which can run iTunes because…
- The Slate runs on Windows 7 (with some custom HP Touch software thrown in as well)
- Available with either 32 or 64 GB of storage– Like the iPad, just you can also add even more storage via an SD card slot with room to add up to a massive 128 GB! (Though don’t run for that 128 GB yet, as it probably right now costs about as much as the whole tablet, though still awesome for future use.)
- WiFi and optional 3G for $50 more– meaning that for $600 you get a 32 GB Slate with 3G, compared to $730 for a 32 GB iPad WiFi+3G (this is even cheaper than the 16 GB WiFi+3G which starts at $630). No word on what data plans for this will be like (if they’ll be like the iPads $15 for 250 MB a month and $30 for unlimited or like the usual $60 for a laptop data plan).
- Output to an HDTV through some sort of dock– so you can share your photos and videos on your big HDTV.
- A base price of $549 for 32 GB Slate and $599 for the 64 GB model (both without the optional 3G), whereas with the WiFi only 32 GB iPad starts at $600 and the 64 GB start out at $700.
Obviously, the Skype and camera features could make the HP Slate a thorn in the iPad’s side and we will see if these features will make the HP Slate more customer-friendly than the iPad (just as a note: HP hasn’t officially released a spec sheet of the Slate nor announced pricing, things– like pricing– is still very much rumor and subject to change). Check out one of the HP promo videos of the Slate, as well as the leaked iPad-Slate comparison sheet after the break.
Windows 7 Ultimate– Our Review November 24, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers, First Look/Reviews , 2comments
Windows 7 is here, and boy is it awesome
Ok, we know it’s a little late, but without further ado, here it is, our review of Windows 7.
So in a couple of words how are we liking the new Microsoft OS after using it in it’s final form for over a month? We love it, and just keeping it short—it’s a thousand times better than Vista (yes that much better).
Want some more details on why we like it so much and what things about it we don’t like? Read on.
Five Different Versions of Windows 7–Which Is Right for You October 25, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers , 1 comment so far
So let’s begin our Windows 7 coverage with trying to simplify the many different versions of the OS. Unlike with Apple’s Snow Leopard, where it’s more of a one-size fits-all approach, with Windows 7 you got a nice selection of editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Happy-Go-Lucky… Ok, fine, we just made up the happy go lucky part, but as you can see, there are a whole lot of different versions, and so let’s try to simplify that into what you should looking for when getting a Windows 7 upgrade or when looking for a new PC, and what you should be looking for specs wise to make sure whatever version of 7 you get works well.
Windows 7 Out Now! October 22, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers , add a comment
Today is October 22nd, and you know what that means: Windows 7 is out! This is the day anyone using Vista has been waiting for. Microsoft has officially made Windows 7 available for purchase. In the coming days we’ll be doing a ton of coverage of Microsoft’s awesome new OS (it is truly awesome– I’ve been using it on a couple different PC’s for a few months now, and am really loving it. It’s just so fast and easy, and not Vista) and how it relates to you.
In the meantime however, go on and check out our first thoughts that we posted a few months back, and if anyone out there already got 7 and wants to share their thoughts on the OS, or if anyone has any questions about 7, feel free to post them in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them in the coming days.
You can get Windows 7 now from your local Best Buy, Walmart, or other local computer store now, or order it online from Amazon and Microsoft‘s own sites among many other online retailers.
Live From IDF: Hands on with the Archos 9 Windows 7 Tablet September 30, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers, IDF , add a comment
The Archos 9 Windows 7 Tablet
For what seems like forever, there’s been talk of Apple making an all touchscreen tablet for the Mac. Now see, if you’re a Windows user (even though now there is talk of Microsoft making their own tablet…. but we’ll cover that another time), you can pretty much point and laugh at every Apple “fanboy” who freaks out with each Apple event and rumor hoping for said inevitable tablet—as thanks to Archos, you got a real, and really nice looking Windows tablet that’s ready to make full use of the upcoming Windows 7′s improved touch features.
Playing Hearts with your fingers!
At IDF, we made sure to stop by Archos’s booth and check out the Archos 9 for ourselves, and we came away pretty impressed. The Archos 9 tablet looks great and is insanely thin and light that taking it around wherever you go should be a breeze.
Archos did though do a couple things interesting with the tablet—for one, it doesn’t use a capacitive, more finger friendly touchscreen like those on the iPhone and iPod touch, instead going with a surprisingly very responsive resistive touchscreen (usually with resistive screens they only work well if you use a stylus or pen like object to tap the screen– but if we hadn’t known before that this was resistive we would have definitely thought it was a capacitive screen. That’s how good it is with just using your fingers! Though that lack of a capacitive screen also means no gestures like “pinch to zoom” etc). It also has a lot of the netbook type specs like 9 inch touchscreen, 1 GB RAM, 1.2 GHZ Intel Atom processor, 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth, 60-120 GB hard drive…, but all this isn’t a terrible thing, as Archos is planning to sell this at a very solid price of $499 when it launches with Windows 7 on October 22nd.
Oh, and if your worried about using an all touchscreen device like this to write long reports or take notes in school, don’t be. Archos plans to be selling a very thin wireless Bluetooth keyboard along with the Archos, which also is pretty solid and will definitely make things a whole lot easier.
For more info on the Archos 9, see Archos’s site here.
Pre-Order Windows 7– NOW June 26, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers , add a comment
As you can see from some over our previous posts (such as this first look of the new OS), we are really loving using Windows 7, and we mean REALLY lovin it. It is 1000x better than Vista (possibly more, I wanna be a little nice to Vista’s failed efforts) and is an actually usable and fast OS. It’s so good that we’re pretty certain that all or a lot of you readers out there with Windows computer (for sure ones with Vista), will probably upgrade to 7 when it comes out later this year (October 22nd as we previously wrote, is the launch date), and as we saw with Vista’s upgrade from XP, buying the new software from Microsoft is not the cheapest thing.
So that’s why we got this post for you today. Microsoft is actually charging you A LOT less if you pre-order the OS now, instead of waiting till October to upgrade. How big of a savings we talkin here? Well, the list price for Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade (the one most of you we assume will upgrade to, and just a sorta for your information, the upgrade means that it is used to install over a previous version of Windows like Vista or XP. If you want to install a full fresh copy there is also a non-upgrade version if you wanna install on a PC without a prior version of Windows, but that costs a lot more) is priced for regular retail at $119.99. Amazon, who is one of the retailers taking pre-orders now, is only charging you $49.99 (yes, $49.99 or a $70 or 58% discount off the cover price), if you pre-order it between now and July 11th. There are similar deals in place as well for the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade (a higher end version of the Home Premium with added features for business users such as being able to run XP as a free download inside 7– using similar tech that is used for running Windows and Mac side by side– something called Virtual PC. Professional is listed at retail for $199.99, but you can snag now for $99.99, or an $100 or 50% discount), and we hope this will go out to other versions like 7 Ultimate (with a couple more features than Professional such as more language support– 35 more– and better Hard Drive encryption using something call BitLocker– things you prob won’t need basically, and which currently is priced at a very expensive $219.99 for both pre-order and retail). The deal runs from now till July 11th or while supplies last, so you better hurry as a lot of people EVERYWHERE are gonna want in on this.
In my opinion, this is looking to be a steal of a deal (albeit not quite the steal Apple is charging for Snow Leopard, the next version of their very good Leopard OS. The price on that by the way is $29 when it drops in September, you can learn more on Snow Leopard in our WWDC wrap up), and we’re really hoping Microsoft just dumps the higher prices and keeps them at these discounted prices for good (as a sorta “sorry for Vista” thing).
Amazon is also not only doing this, but offering FREE release date delivery for Amazon Prime users, and free “Super Saver” shipping for those who don’t have Amazon Prime (info on Amazon Prime here). If for some reason you needed to buy Vista right now in either the Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate flavors, you could upgrade to the 7 version for only $10 when it comes out. There is though a 3 per customer limit we feel we should mention, but how many of you actually plan on buying more than 1-2 copies max?
This is an awesome deal, and you can check it all out at Amazon’s site here (where they even have some solid info on what the difference is between the versions of 7 and help for upgrading). REMEMBER: THIS DEAL ONLY RUNS TILL JULY 11TH.
Oh, and if your looking for a new computer now or sometime before 7 drops in October: like with Vista, computer makers like HP, are already beginning to roll out free upgrades to 7 with purchases, so when buying a new PC make sure to get that.
Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Release Date June 3, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers , add a comment
Can’t wait for Windows 7 to come and finally replace the troubled Vista and old XP and finally do battle with Apple’s Mac OS X?
Today is your lucky day: Microsoft finally announced when you’ll be able to get the awesome OS. Mark your calendars for October 22nd, a little under 5 months away!
Why are we so excited bout this? Check out our review of the Release Candidate (a final test version before release), and we bet you’ll very quickly be excited too!
Windows 7 – First Look May 25, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Computers, First Look/Reviews , add a comment
As promised in our Netbook vs Notebook post, here is our review of the Windows 7 Release Candidate, the final chapter of the test version for the lasted Windows software. Over the past two weeks, I must say this is what everyone wanted Vista to be: a good, fast, USABLE operating system, which is 1000x better than Vista, and probably up there with XP and Apple’s Mac OS X. Dont believe me? Keep Reading. (more…)