Archive for December, 2008

HP Compaq Mini 700 available in Europe

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

HP refreshes its netbook line with the introduction of the Compaq Mini 700.

Compaq Mini 700

While the 2133 got very positive reviews, its high price and low performance were important limitations for many users.  The specs of the Compaq Mini 700 are more comptetitive: Intel Atom N270 processor (1,6 GHz), 1 GB RAM, 60 GB HD, 10? screen at 1024×600, Windows XP Home, Bluetooth, 1 kg. Price: 329 GBP in the UK, 399 € in Spain (pricing is probably similar in other countries in the euro zone).

I cannot find anything about the model by Vivienne Tam in the UK site, but it can already be preordered in Spain to be delivered in February, so it is likely to be available soon in other european countries. The price here is 599 €.

HP Mini Vivienne Tam

Laptop reviews: Asus G71, Amilo Graphic Booster, HP Touchsmart tx2z, Toshiba Tecra R10 and others

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

Here you have the laptop reviews of the week:

Dell Studio XPS 13: almost here

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

Dell Studio XPS 13Many users are waiting for an update to the Dell XPS lline, and at least the 13″ version (Studio XPS 13) is ready to launch. According to the sources, it is going to be released at CES 2009 (January 8th to 11th) and it is already at the Dell USA web site from USD 1,406, but the link does not work, so we do not know the specs for this price. You can find some pictures of the laptop at Engadget.

Dell is also preparing an ultrathin competitor to the Macbook Air, codenamed “Adamo”.

Sources: Engadget and Xataka (Spanish).

HP coupon code (12/15/2008)

Monday, December 15th, 2008

HP has a NEW notebook coupon valid through 12/21 or for the first 1,800 uses.

$250 off web-only coupon for the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion Notebook PC configured at $899 or greater at the HP Home & Home Office Store. Coupon code: NB3234. Offer excludes HP Pavilion Special Edition Notebook PCs, HP Pavilion HDX16t, tx2z, and dv5t Notebook PCs, and HP Pavilion Mini 1000 Notebook PC.  Offer limited to the first 1,800 coupons redeemed.  1 redemption per person or address.  Not valid with other promotions. Restrictions apply. Not combinable with instant rebates. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the “Customer Service” section at www.hpshopping.com.

Laptop reviews: Dell Latitude E4300, Acer Aspire 6930G, Asus N10, Samsung X460 and others

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Laptop reviews of the week:

Other interesting reviews:

Asus N10 gaming benchmarks (Intel Atom + Nvidia GeForce 9300M). It looks like the Atom processor is an important bottleneck in most games.

Do you want to be always up-to-date in laptop reviews? Subscribe to the news section of Towards the optimal laptop.

HP coupon codes (11/08/2008)

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

HP Home has two NEW Coupons that launched Monday, Dec 8th:

$350 in instant savings for the purchase of an HP Pavilion tx2500z Notebook PC at the HP Home & Home Office Store using $150 coupon code NB9841 + $200 Instant Rebate. Offer limited to the first 1,000 coupons redeemed. 1 redemption per person or address. Not valid with other promotions. Restrictions apply.Combinable with instant rebates. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the “Customer Service” section at www.hpshopping.com.

$250 in instant savings for the purchase of an HP Pavilion dv7z Notebook PC at the HP Home & Home Office Store using $100 coupon code NB3485 + $150 Instant Rebate. Offer limited to the first 1,000 coupons redeemed. 1 redemption per person or address. Not valid with other promotions. Restrictions apply. Combinable with instant rebates. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the “Customer Service” section at www.hpshopping.com.

More about HP coupon codes

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Laptop reviews: Dell Inspiron Mini 9, HP Mini 1000, HP Compaq 6730b and others

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Here you have (with a small delay) the laptop reviews of the week:

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HP coupon codes (12/03/2008)

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

HP has 2 NEW Coupons that launch today, Save $300 off the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion tx2500z Notebook PC and Save $400 off the purchase of an HP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC, quantities are limited, so hurry!

(Expires after 1,350 uses or 12/7)

$300 off web only coupon for the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion tx2500z Notebook PC at the HP Home & Home Office Store. Coupon code: NB8452. Offer limited to the first 1,350 coupons redeemed. 1 redemption per person or address. Not valid with other promotions. Restrictions apply. Not combinable with instant rebates. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the “Customer Service” section at www.hpshopping.com.

(Expires after 1,000 uses or 12/7)

$400 web only coupon for the purchase of an HP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC at the HP Home & Home Office Store. Coupon code: NB9485. Offer limited to the first 1,000 coupons redeemed. 1 redemption per person or address. Not valid with other promotions. Restrictions apply. Not combinable with instant rebates. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the “Customer Service” section at www.hpshopping.com.

More about HP coupon codes

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PC games system requirements

Monday, December 1st, 2008

I play games PC games very seldom, but I have to admit that I’m fascinated by gaming, and I’m very interested on everything related to gaming benchmarks, because most laptop graphics cards are not upgradeable and it is very important to compare the performance offered by a laptop with the performance demanded by games. I recently found a very useful tool: the Yougamers’ Game-o-meter.

This tool, that is donwloaded and executed from the browser, makes a fast assessment of your computer based on its Virtualmark score (based on 3DMark) and compares it to the one of the minimum and recommended components according to the game’s developer. It is not as informative as benchmarks for the same card, that show you the playable settings, but it is much better that a comparison with older graphics cards: is my Radeon HD 3450 faster or slower than a GeForce 6800 GT? Humm…

PC games system requirements

It looks like my PC is borderline to run Fallout 3…

The list of games is not huge, but it does include the most popular games. In my opinion, it is very useful.

PC Games at Buy.com