With news like this, I may actually consider HP for my next PC purchase. HP has unveiled a pair of power-efficient PC’s – called the HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f. and the – HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f, respectively.

What makes them green? Both new models require less power [...]]]>

With news like this, I may actually consider HP for my next PC purchase. HP has unveiled a pair of power-efficient PC’s – called the HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f. and the – HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f, respectively.

What makes them green? Both new models require less power usage, as their AMD processors are specifically designed to use energy more efficiently – as well as power reduction features that apparently save up to 45% energy when compared to other PCs on the market.

Furthermore, the PCs are sold in recyclable packaging – something that I feel, frankly, all PCs should be sold in. Lastly, they also meet the  Silver registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), and are Energy Star Certified.

Personally, I believe this is a step in the right direction, and one that will hopefully see other PC manufacturers follow suit.

My last two laptops have both been Dell. I had always loved the fact that I could customize my laptop fairly specifically at the same time as getting a great price. At the time, other companies generally could only offer one of those options: a prepackaged bundle with a good price or customization [...]]]>

My last two laptops have both been Dell. I had always loved the fact that I could customize my laptop fairly specifically at the same time as getting a great price. At the time, other companies generally could only offer one of those options: a prepackaged bundle with a good price or customization with a premium.

During that same time, however, Dell was not without its faults. Its computers often weren’t as aesthetically pleasing (more utilitarian and clunky looking than some of its competitors more slick and glossy offerings). And the phone support system was (and still is, to a certain degree) a nightmare of touch tone loops which felt like its sole purpose was to make sure you never spoke to a human.

But those disadvantages never bothered me specifically. My laptops’ boring looks were good enough for me. And I went years at a time without ever needing tech support (though I had plenty of friends with Dells that had serious issues). Bottom line: I need a shopping model that provides me the best price on the exact configuration I specify.

This past month I decided it was time (it’s been almost three years) once again to get a new laptop. So I, of course, started at Dell’s website. But it didn’t take long before I was confused and annoyed. Any of the consumer models with a decent price also has pretty obvious limitations in their customization options (i.e., no option for a dedicated, rather than built-in, video card).

I could, of course, customize to my heart’s content if I were to select the appropriate higher-end model. But then the price seemed especially inflated when the only reason I was looking at the particular model was because it has one or two more features available when compared to a perfectly acceptable lower model.

So that’s when I began exploring alternative brands (including HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Acer). And that’s also when I discovered just how well HP has taken the Dell model and made it work better than Dell itself (all while keeping its existing model of selling through retail).

I got exactly what I wanted for a price hundreds of dollars less than the Dell equivalent. I’m sure Dell could offer me a similar competitively priced laptop. But it chose instead to gamble with my loyalty by focusing more on the upsell than on the specific customization I needed.

So for me, at least, HP is the new Dell.

I should note that I’ve kept details intentionally vague because in a matter of weeks hardware configurations will change. What I wanted to capture here is a principle that won’t go out of date as quickly as the hardware used to illustrate it.

[phpbay]HP(s), 10[/phpbay]

Two weeks ago, HP released HP Upline, a service similar to Mozy that [...]]]>

                                                    
Mozy, the online backup solution I use and have mentioned a couple times, is responding to HP’s Upline debacle in an interesting way. First, some background information:

Two weeks ago, HP released HP Upline, a service similar to Mozy that provides unlimited storage for $59/year. HP also released free accounts of the service, limited to 1GB and one year (Mozy does free too, but their version is 2GBs and has no expiration date). About a week and a half later, the Upline service went down for several days.

Soon after, I received an email from Mozy explaining how they’re trying to win some extra Mozy fans as a result of HP going down. So if you go to Mozy’s site and sign up, you can get 25% off biannual and annual signups (through April 30) with promo code UPLINE. (That’s better than the running deal for TechConsumer readers using promo code TECHCONSUMER to get 10% off an annual subscription or TECHCONSUMER2 to get 10% off a biannual subscription.)

It should be noted, however, that Mozy is getting pressure from more online backup/storage solutions (and let’s not forget the infamous rumor of Google coming out with a “GDrive”). Mozy does one thing, and one thing extremely well: backing up data.

But consumers are starting to look for more features (easy access from anywhere or sharing with friends). I, for one, haven’t played much with other options simply because Mozy does exactly what I need, and I’m not about to disrupt that. But that could change as my needs change. (So here’s hoping Mozy keeps up.)

For more info on what Mozy has to offer compared to other services, see this post.

Last week the Economist (subscription required) had an interesting article about researchers in an HP lab that have been comparing strategies for maximizing readership on Digg via the layout of the front page. They were trying to answer the following question: Should the most recent stories be on top? [...]]]>

Last week the Economist (subscription required) had an interesting article about researchers in an HP lab that have been comparing strategies for maximizing readership on Digg via the layout of the front page. They were trying to answer the following question: Should the most recent stories be on top? That’s the way Digg is now, but maybe it should be organized with the most popular on top?

The study concluded that it depends on how quickly readers tire of a new story. They developed a mathematical model to prove this and showed that if the flow of content slows beyond a certain level, then it would be better for the site to switch to an organization by popularity. Wow. You know Digg itself is popular when HP researchers spend over a year simulating Digg to figure out how the site should organize its front page.

Incidentally, the Economist has decided to get a little more social. I’m not sure when this implementation happened (though it must have been within the last few weeks), but the site now allows subscribers to comment. At the bottom of most of the articles it says, “The Economist welcomes your views.” But only the number of comments are shown on the same page as the article. You have to click through to a different section to read them.

What I found particularly ironic is that a story about Digg has only received two comments. That just goes to show that the Digg commenting crowd and the Economist reading crowd haven’t been properly introduced.

Starting within the next few weeks, Dell computers (notebooks and desktops) will be for sale in more than 900 Best Buy locations in the U.S. After this move, Dell’s products will be available in almost 10,000 stores worldwide. This seems ironic considering Dell pioneered the low cost, online, skip-the-middleman [...]]]>

Starting within the next few weeks, Dell computers (notebooks and desktops) will be for sale in more than 900 Best Buy locations in the U.S. After this move, Dell’s products will be available in almost 10,000 stores worldwide. This seems ironic considering Dell pioneered the low cost, online, skip-the-middleman model. But the company lost the “world’s largest computer maker” trophy to HP, and the retail distribution channel is one area where HP shines.

This news follows after Dell has already announced similar deals with Staples and Wal-Mart. The company is hoping to become more consumer-friendly, as the business market has slowed in comparison. And there are apparently too many consumers that like the “try before you buy” model in retail stores. Right now, Dell gets only 15% of its sales from the consumer market with most of its sales coming from the business-to-business market.

So would you buy a Dell in a Best Buy?

*Update* Here are some PR quotes from each company:

Michael Tatelman, vice president of sales and marketing for Dell’s global consumer business: “Seeing the latest fashion colors of our Inspiron and XPS notebooks or previewing the ultimate gaming experience on a high-performance system can be an important part of how people shop… In the next few weeks, people looking to upgrade to a Dell notebook or desktop in the U.S. can visit their local Best Buy to check out and purchase our award-winning line of products.”

Dave Morrish, senior vice president for Best Buy’s mobility business unit: “Dell is clearly one of the most popular and successful PC companies and their addition to our retail and online selection gives Best Buy customers unprecedented choice when buying a computer.”

Related Links:   Dell Desktops     Dell Laptops