HP Compaq 8200 Elite

Just a few days after announcing that it was planning to shut down its PC business, HP has launched an all new all-in-one desktop aimed specifically at business customers.
Branded the HP Compaq 8200 Elite, this computer comes with a 23-inch HD LED display as well as your choice of either Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Home Premium as your operating system.
While all-in-one computers like this aren't really breaking stories, this one is a bit of a surprise given HP's previously reported stance on computers. HP announced last week that it would discontinue its TouchPad tablet and basically shutter its WebOS operation.
In addition to that, HP also stated that it is looking to find a new direction for its PC business, the Personal Systems Group (PSG), as it refocuses the attention of its business around software solutions instead.
According to a statement that was recently released by HP, "HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through spin-off or other transactions."
The HP Compaq 8200 Elite is the first device from the company to use Intel's second generation Core vPro technology in order to boost performance and hard drive access. Moreover, the device comes with a one year license to HP Virtual Rooms which allows you to set up online conference centers for meetings or presentations.
The HP Compaq 8200 Elite will also come with up to 8GB of memory, the option of solid state drives and hardware-based encryption. Employees will also find an integrated webcam as well as integrated speakers with SRS premium sound.
The HP Compaq 8200 Elite all-in-one computer is available now for a starting price of $999. This price nets you an Intel Pentium dual-core G850 processor as well as all the other standard features.
Source: CNET 

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HP Releases Seven All-in-One PCs

Even though Hewlett-Packard might stop selling WebOS devices and move its PSG (Personal Systems Group) into a separate company, they haven't been stopped from unveiling seven new PC's today. They updated their Omni, TouchSmart and HP Pro lineups. These PC's all have starting prices ranging from $400 to $900. So even though they might not be keeping their PSG division around (which is responsible for desktops and laptop PCs), they are making it clear they still plan to be a leader in the PC market. HP plans on all-in-one PCs becoming a huge seller next year and even cited that they expect interest to grow from 9.9 percent to 15.7 percent in the next 12 months.

The first two PCs they are rolling out are the Omni 120 and the Omni 220. The Omni 120 has a 20-inch screen and will offer up to 750 GB of hard drive space and your choice of an AMD or Intel processor. The 21.5-inch Omni 220 will have a unique cantilever design and will have Intel's 'Sandy Bridge' core processors. The Omni 220 will be available September 11 starting at $800 dollars, followed by the Omni 120 becoming available September 21 with a starting price tag of $400.

HP also plans to release four new TouchSmart PCs around the same time. The TouchSmart 320 has a 20-inch screen and won't be in stores until October 2 with a starting price of $600. The 21.5-inch Touchsmart 420 and 23-inch Touchsmart 520 will be available September 11 with starting prices of $700 and $900. All of the PCs come with touchscreen displays and include Beats Audio technology.

The fourth TouchSmart being launched is the Touchsmart Elite 7320 Business PC. This all-in-one computer comes with a 21.5-inch HD LED back-lite display. You will be able to choose a Core i3, i5, or i7 processor and HP plans to launch this model September 21, starting at only $850.

The last all-in-one PC, which has no confirmed launch date but should hit stores sometime in October, is the HP Pro 3420. This computer features a 20-inch display, Core i3 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of hard drive space. The starting price of this PC is set to be $600.

Source: PC World 

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HDD Shortages to Spill Over into Q1 2012

Considering operations are disrupted at over a dozen hard disk drive (HDD) factories thanks to flooding in Thailand, PC manufacturers should begin preparing for significant supply shortages, according to market research firm IDC. Worldwide HDD shipments could suffer almost a 20% decline starting in the middle of this month that could extend far into the first quarter of 2012, according to the firm.

Thailand accounted for somewhere between 40% and 45% of HDD production in the entire world. As of early November, almost half of Thailand's production was directly affected by flooding. Even though production at some factories was halted as a result of flooding, the industry also faces work stoppages due to poor access and power outages. The full extent of the damage to the industry will not be known until all the floodwater recedes, even though it is already clear that there will be supply shortages into the first quarter of 2012, according to IDC.

Research Vice President at IDC John Rydning stated earlier in the month that hard drive manufacturers will favor their high-margin products used in enterprise servers and storage systems. "But the HDD vendors can't neglect their smaller customers, whose business will continue to be important once capacity is fully restored." Prices for HDDs have already started to increase rapidly in some cases, some by more than 30%.

IDC noted that the industry should be able to restore drive production quickly once the waters recede, though today's shortages will continue to constrain supply for an extended period. Hard drive prices should stabilize by next June, according to IDC, and the industry should be back to normal by the second half of 2012. According to IDC, the decline in total shipments for the fourth quarter is expected to be "less than 10%" due to the fact that a large chunk of PC shipments have already taken place for this quarter.

Worst-case scenarios put the total loss for the first quarter of 2012 at around 20% though IDC said that there are opportunities for larger PC vendors to capture enterprise accounts from smaller competitors and accelerate industry consolidation, more specifically in faster growth markets.

According to Program Vice President for IDC's Worldwide Consumer Device Trackers Loren Loverade, "The HDD shortage will affect smaller PC vendors and lower-priced products most, including mini-notebooks, emerging markets and entry-level consumer PCs. However, even the largest vendors are expected to face HDD shortages, particularly for portable PCs where the market is more consolidated. Nevertheless, the shortage will relieve some pressure on pricing and margins, and present some opportunities for strategic share gains among the larger players."
Source: Computer World - PC makers should 'brace' for drive shortages

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Windows 8 Driver

Like always, when there are new Windows, most of us want to try it even it still BETA release. I blog for drivers about 3 years now, and a lot happen after the windows 7 release. The most common problem is no support for old model use old devices.
So, i try windows 8 this week, I'm not really interested on the OS but to see what did we need a new drivers for windows 7?

Let us go to the Vista age for a while to look to the whole situation,
When Vista released, you can't use driver from windows XP, and most of the model design for Vista did not have support in their official site for windows XP. Later, many Vista User dissatisfied with the performance and want to use XP. Then the big problem is, you can install XP, but where is the driver?
Similarly when windows 7 comes, people still want to use XP or Dual-boot , so where is the driver? this is the reason i build this blog, as my journal, my reference, to gather drivers and solution for this type of problems.

Now comes windows 8,
There are no problems for newer model that design for windows 7, practically windows 8 driver are similar to those windows 7. I hope you guys don't misunderstand me, if you want to talk about direct X 12 or else, it is different from my intention. Example, after installing windows 8 you have no audio, so I'll try to find the driver so you get your audio in windows 8, but if the audio Quality is not as great as windows 7, it is a different topics.Not that i don't want to help, but i know myself, i know few things, and i don't speak something that I'm not really know about it.

I spent most of my time study the drivers and thousands of model, I'm not study the hardware specification in term of performance. The strength of window 7 is it automatically install most of your driver, and i believe this Microsoft enhance this feature,like em my desktop, after windows 8 installation, all driver installed properly.


Here i have initial opinion about the drivers:

CHIPSET/Motherboard etc:

INTEL
Inte 3,4,5 and 900 installed automatically, or by windows update. You can also use windows 7 drivers from intel website.

AMD:
South bridge Driver and Co-processor;
Windows 7 and vista drivers will do.

Nvidia:
Use windows 7  and vista drivers. For Older model, you modified inf to get it work.
XP driver may work on some model, the difficult thing is to get the right version. (laptopvideo2go is the best place to start)

GRAPHIC:
the pain is on older Intel graphic, like 82825/852GM GME and 915 graphic chipset. The method for windows 7 requires several steps to complete. Sadly in windows 8 the file in system are different and yet i still didn't found the solution. The best thing to do is look at microsoft update catalog, search for you chipset and install it manually.
For other graphic chipset, manual installation using Vista or 7 drivers normally work.

OTHERS:
card reader, bluetooth, LAN, Wireless,
You fuys don't really have to worry about this, from my experience, this driver not bring to much problems for users. Commonly these drivers installed along with windows installation.

I only tested with my desktop and not with any laptop yet.
This blog work with comments, all article and driver base on request, test and feedback, if you have something to share, I'm so grateful for that.



(p/s: again sorry for my English, as long as you understand my message)

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Site Updates on JUNE 2011

There are some broken links on major c700 model and other model that use intel 965 express graphic. So for that i have to fix many posts maybe more then 100. So who are looking for the driver Intel 965 for windows XP kindly refer here:

http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2011/06/intel-965-graphic-windows-7-driver.html

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