I have used primarily macs for the past 3-4 years, but yesterday I bought a PC. I got it mainly so I can travel with a smaller, less expensive laptop, but I was expecting to have to settle for a gutless netbook. What I found was a nice little dual-core mini notebook. Frankly, I’m amazed at what you can get for $499 these days, but maybe that’s because I am used to buying Apple laptops that cost 3 times as much. I am normally not a big fan of HP, but so far I am happy with the quality and feel of the 13″ HP dm3-1035us laptop. The brushed aluminum design and keyboard remind me somewhat of a 13″ macbook pro (although the HP doesn’t have backlit keys). It weighs just over 4 pounds and has a 5-6 hour battery. My only gripe is the track pad, which is small and a smudge magnet (I made a screen protector for it so it wouldn’t bug me). The HDMI port is also a plus. Overall it seems to be a good travel laptop that can handle just about anything you throw at it — including games.
3G Modem Easter Egg? Interestingly, while it’s not listed in the official specs, the dm3-1035 appears to have a 3G modem built in — or at least support for a 3G modem. There’s a SIM card slot hidden under the battery, and some are claiming that it works with a broadband AT&T SIM. Others claim that an additional module is needed to make it work, so this could be a manufacturing error that varies from model to model. HP hasn’t enabled the modem, but others have posted the utility that apparently makes it work. An interesting hardware Easter egg, to say the least!
Model dm3-1035us ($499 after $50 rebate at Office Depot):
Here are the specs:
- AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6 GHz dual-core processor L335
- 13.3″ LED widescreen display with BrightView and 1366 x 768 resolution
- 4GB DDR2 SDRAM (expandable up to 8GB)
- 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 rpm); Optical drive not included
- ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics; up to 1470MB graphics memory and 128MB display cache memory; AMD M780G with 64MB GDDR2 sideport memory.
- Read more…
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Hardware, Reviews, Shopping 3G modem, dm3-1035us, Easter egg, Hardware, HP laptop
From a recent Woot ad for the Flip Ultra 60 Camcorder:
GHOST
My hour is almost come,
When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames
Must… hang on, what is that?
HAMLET
A camcorder.
GHOST
Film me not, but lend thy serious hearing
To what I shall unfold.
HAMLET
Dude; I have to vlog this.
GHOST
Rather vlog of revenge, when thou shalt hear.
HAMLET
What?
GHOST
I am thy father’s spirit,
Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in- PUT THAT DAMN THING DOWN!
HAMLET
No way! I got this Flip so I could show
The world all the events that I might see
And a ghost might get me linked off Boing Boing!
Read more…
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Gadgets, Shopping
I ordered a MacBook pro a few weeks ago. The best thing about the new models is that they made the price of the older models drop like a rock. So I took advantage of a great price on Amazon plus a $150 rebate, which made brought the total price to $1550. It’s a lot of money, but a really great laptop. Somehow I justified it.
When it arrived I noticed a small cosmetic defect that eventually bugged me enough that I finally decided to do something about it. I could have sent it in for repair, but since I just bought it on Amazon.com it was easier to exchange it for a new one. Amazon doesn’t do exchanges — they just tell you to you return the item and buy it again. So I ordered the second one, copied everything over from the defective one, and send it back. Easy as pie.
When the $150 rebate check arrived for the first laptop, I figured there would be trouble. The price on the laptop had dropped $100 by the time I bought the second one, so I figured they wouldn’t let me keep the rebate. I clicked the “Call me now” link and an Amazon rep called me 10 seconds later. I spoke to someone with a U.S. accent and asked what to do with the rebate check. She said I could cash it, and was also able to reimburse me for the cost of shipping and insurance when I sent the defective laptop back.
Try doing this with any other online retailer. I dare you. This is why I buy everything on Amazon.
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Amazon, Random Thoughts, Shopping Amazon
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