HP dumps Evo notebook for tablet PC

Hewlett-Packard plans to discontinue a mini-notebook from its Compaq Evo line in favor of the company's upcoming tablet PC design for businesses.

The company will replace its lightweight Evo Notebook N200 with its upcoming Evo tablet PC,Hp laptop battery a portable computer based on Microsoft's Tablet PC software. HP plans to introduce several new Evo models over the next few months.

Tablet PCs, actively touted by Microsoft as the next wave in portable computing, are small computers that can be "written" on, just as pad of paper, with a pen-like stylus. The Evo tablet PC will be roughly the same size and weight as Evo Notebook N200,HP F2019 Battery, HP F2019A Battery, HP F2019B Battery, a notebook that weighs 2.5 pounds and sells for about $1,500.

The tablet PC, however, is expected to include a faster processor and wireless networking capabilities. It is expected to sell for under $2,000.

"We think that for the (price) premium, customers will step up to the tablet PC," a company representative said.

The Evo tablet PC, announced last June, will be able to transform into a tablet-style PC as well as a traditional notebook. In "tablet mode," the computer screen will lay on top of (and cover) the keyboard. To operate as a notebook, the screen simply swivels around to sit in its proper position.

Incorporating a 1GHz Crusoe TM5800 processor from Transmeta will also allow the upstart chip company to expand into the corporate market.

The Tablet PC is expected to make its official debut at a Nov. 7 event held by Microsoft, sources said. Other manufacturers preparing tablet-style PCs include Acer, NEC, Legend and Toshiba.

HP plows ahead

Separately, HP cut prices on several Evo notebooks this month, according to market research firm ARS. HP F2019 Battery, The company took between $100 and $300 off the price of various models in its Evo N1000, N610 and N800 notebook families.

The Evo N610 is now priced closer to Dell Computer's Latitude C640, ARS said in its report.

In addition to adjusting prices, HP also plans to in the near future introduce new Evo models,HP F2019 Battery, HP F2019A Battery, HP F2019B Battery, including a mobile workstation, sources familiar with the company's plans said

After merging with Compaq Computer, HP decided to phase out its line of business PCs

HP reorg to split handhelds, notebooks

Hewlett-Packard has given its iPaq handhelds their own business unit, announcing plans Sunday to separate the product teams for its notebooks and handhelds, including the new iPaq hw6900 series.

Dave Rothschild, formerly of Sun Microsystems, Pixo and Netscape, will lead the new business unit reporting to Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group. Before Sunday, Ted Clark had presided over the development of both notebooks and iPaqs in the Mobility Business Unit, and he will keep control of notebook development in the new organization, HP said in a press release. Four units now make up HP's Personal Systems Group: handhelds, notebooks, desktops and workstations.

HP has continued to develop the iPaqs it inherited as part of the Compaq acquisition as the market for traditional personal digital assistants has declined.HP F2019A Battery, Shipments of PDAs have been steadily dropping over the last several years, but devices such as Palm's Treo and or HP's hw6500 series iPaqs that blend voice capabilities with contacts, calendars and Internet connectivity are hot sellers.

HP is unveiling a new category of its iPaq wireless handhelds at the 3GSM World Congress conference in Barcelona on Sunday along with Microsoft's new push e-mail software.

The company also plans to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

In other business news, HP announced that it will begin offering 64GB solid-state drives on its professional laptops and mobile workstations. Specific models to have this option include the HP Compaq 2710p, 2510p, 6910p, and 8000 series workstations.

It's not all business, though; the consumer-oriented Pavilion line will also see a few updates. HP F2019 Battery, HP F2019A Battery, HP F2019B Battery,Users who want always-on connectivity will have the option of adding built-in WWAN to their 14.1-inch Pavilion dv2500. New consumer laptops include the dv2500z, dv6500z, and dv9500z, HP F2019B Battery,which are AMD-based versions of existing Pavilion models. And the company announced a new variation on the existing 15.4-inch dv6500 model. The HP Pavilion dx6500 includes only Intel CPU and GPU options, as well as dual hard drives up to 320GB; it also lacks the fingerprint reader, HDMI support, and modem found on the dv6500 model. The Pavilion dx6500 will be available at retail outlets in October, at a starting price of $949.