HP unveils ultra-thin laptops, stylish notebooks

HP will enter the high-end, ultra-thin consumer PC market with its latest Envy sub-brand. The Envy laptop is less than an inch thick and weighs less than 4 pounds. To lend the device a personalized touch, it will have a customized software interface.

It will give direct competition to Apple Inc’s MacBook Air and Dell Inc’s Adamo. The price range for Envy starts at $1,700, while the Air and the Adamo start at $1,500.

HP is also planning to launch a couple of more affordable PC’s keeping in view the ‘thin and light’ rage.

The other product is a latest business notebook by the company that has been named as the ProBook 5310m. It is 0.9 inches thick and is being touted as the “world’s thinnest full-performance notebook”. It is affordably priced at $699.

Another offering from the company is the HP Pavilion dm3 notebook. It has an optional CULV low-power processor from Intel Corp and starts at $549. It is less than an inch thick and has up to 10 hours of battery life.

Apart from this, the company will offer a new notebook model, called the Mini 311. It has a slightly bigger screen at 11.6 inches and Nvidia’s Ion platform, which combines Intel’s Atom chip with an Nvidia graphics processor. The price for this model has been kept at $400.

PC makers focus on the design aspect
PC makers are laying emphasis on the designing part of the PC’s as this is what helps to carve a niche in the already flooded computer market.

Keeping this in mind, a gold “digital clutch” notebook embellished with butterflies was unveiled by the company at the New York Fashion Week. It marks the company’s collaboration with designer Vivienne Tam. However, this limited edition model will not be available till next spring.

This fall, HP is planning to launch another notebook that will be designed by Dutch artist Tord Boontje. It will have an attractive floral and environmental theme carved in a three-dimensional design. This device will mainly try to attract the youth and will be available for $400.

Notebooks throng the computer market despite recession
Notebooks and low-cost PC’s have changed the face of the computer market. Consumers are rushing in to buy these devices as they are ultra-portable and make Web surfing and emailing etc very simple and fun to use.

With the much anticipated forthcoming launch of Microsoft Corp’s new Windows 7 operating system on Oct. 22, experts believe that the PC sales will shoot up from what the trend was seen last year. Recession does not seem to affect PC makers as they are coming up with more stylish and expensive models for people who can afford to buy.

HP is the world’s leading PC manufacturer and it has competently managed to keep up the computer sales when the industry is facing some serious challenges. It has grown its global market share to 20 percent which is remarkable.