Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been quite awhile since we’ve seen a major recall surrounding volatile laptop batteries, but it looks as if HP is the company bringing the topic back to the forefront. Announced today, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with Hewlett-Packard, has issued a voluntary recall of about 70,000 Li-ion batteries. Reportedly, these cells can “overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers,” and so far, the firm and CPSC have received two separate reports of batteries that have overheated and ruptured, resulting in — wait for it — “flames / fire that caused minor property damage.” For a look at what units are affected, head on past the break — oh, and if you’re reading this on an HP lappie right now, go ahead and grab the fire extinguisher just in case.

Continue reading 70,000 HP laptop batteries recalled due to fire hazard

Filed under: Laptops

70,000 HP laptop batteries recalled due to fire hazard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 May 2009 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a long time coming, but the six-cell battery for HP’s Mini 1000 netbook is now finally making its way into the hands of some eager users, and jkOnTheRun has taken a minute to give folks an idea of what’s in store. As you can see above (and from another angle at the link below), the battery is amazingly even more unsightly than suggested in earlier shots, although it does expectedly deliver the goods when it comes to battery life, with jkOnTheRun managing about six hours on a charge. Of course, you’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s worth the $100+ price tag, not to mention the cost to your Mini 1000’s self-esteem.

Filed under: Laptops

HP Mini 1000 six-cell battery gets examined, frightens other batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Puny, lightweight netbooks are making their way into plenty of homes, but they must leap over a few hurdles before they become widely used in offices. First step: Convince the IT guys that the netbooks can handle the business and security needs of your company.

ZDNet polled a few Asian corporations who said they were experimenting with netbooks for their employees, and they raised a number of issues.

YCH Group, a logistics and supply company, said netbooks are suited to executive employees who are often on the road. However, the firm said it made major investments over three years to optimize business software to run well on the low-powered netbooks. Companies who haven’t done similar planning and investing will have a difficult time adopting netbooks due to performance and logistical issues, the company said.

Also, Hong Kong Jockey Club said it is only considering netbooks as an additional option for “non-business critical notebooks,” because netbooks are still aimed at consumers. Manufacturers must aim netbooks directly at business users with corresponding enterprise support and maintenance programs, the company said. Most netbooks ship with Windows XP Home, which lacks security features found in XP Pro or Vista, notes Liliputing’s Brad Linder.

At January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, many manufacturers, including HP, Sony and MSI were showcasing netbooks marketed for business use. The common hardware upgrade targeted at enterprise users was the addition of a 3G modem, which enables users to access the internet anywhere they can get a cellphone signal. Other than that, the business-oriented netbooks gained a more professional appearance than their consumer-oriented predecessors. ZDNet’s report suggests that, in order for netbooks to make it in the business world, manufacturers must address less visible areas as well — software and IT.

Netbooks making some enterprise headway in Asia [ZDNet via Liliputing]

See Also:

• Netbooks: An Accountant’s Best Friend?
• Tiny Notes Net Big Gains: The Netbook Revolution
• The Netbook Effect: How Cheap Little Laptops Hit the Big Time
• Cheap, Easy-to-Mod NetBooks Are a Hacker’s Paradise
• HP Says Its Netbook Is Business Class
• Puny, Trendy Netbooks Are Growing Up to Suit Business Users

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

It’s not a bad time to be a budget-minded shopper on the hunt for a full-size laptop — you’ve got a tons of nice options in the $600 – $1,000 range, and it sounds like HP’s recently-revised dv6t is a strong competitor. PC Mag just took the 16-inch machine for a spin and came back favorably impressed, with cheers for great keyboard and included numeric keypad, light weight, and HDMI output. Sadly, a host of bundled crapware put a significant load on the 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo and the integrated graphics were expectedly lame, but for $750 after rebate, you might want to add this one to your list. Full review at the read link.

Filed under: Laptops

HP Pavilion dv6t gets reviewed: nice for the price, but full of crapware originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yearning for more info on the HP MediaSmart LX195? Here’s some new concrete details for you to go along with the leaked images from earlier this month. As previously suggested, it’s got a a single 640GB internal SATA drive with 7200RPM, with the only option for expansion being via the four USB 2.0 ports in the back. We’re also looking at a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor, 1GB RAM, Windows Home Server software and support for Apple’s Time Machine. Mum’s the word on price, but if you’re looking to start saving early, suggested retail price is just under four Benjamins.

Filed under: Media PCs, Storage

HP MediaSmart LX195 boasts 640GB HDD, 1.6GHz Atom, $400 MSRP originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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