Category Archives: Windows7

HP Mini 1104 tickles budgets, tackles on-the-go needs

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As Ultrabooks give us one more reason to eschew the cramped dimensions of low-powered netbooks, outfits like HP continue to churn out the little laptops that could've despite the deafening ring of that category's death knell. So, if you're a student on a crunched budget, a business-y type with low-cost computing needs or just a wee PC fetishist, this latest Mini should suit your tiny tastes just fine. Starting at $399, the 1104 runs Windows 7 Home Premium on a dual-core Intel Atom N2600 clocked at 1.6GHz, sports a 10.1-inch WSVGA display, 320GB of storage, 2GB of DDR3 SDRAM, Bluetooth 3.0 and support for WiFi a/b/g/n networks. You'll also have the option to swap out the standard battery with a six-cell Li-ion for up to nine hours of productivity. And if security's your major concern, the embedded TPM 1.2 chip along with Computrace Pro software should help you keep tabs and control over your data. Wondering if this lil' guy fits your bill? Then check out the gallery below for additional shots while you ponder the merits of subnotebooks.

Gallery: HP Mini 1104

HP Mini 1104 tickles budgets, tackles on-the-go needs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s Aspire One 722 kitted with HSPA+, sold by AT&T

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Sleek and svelte Ultrabooks and tablets might have stolen the limelight from ye old netbook, but that doesn't mean the less glamorous category is completely bereft of all signs of life. Take for example, Acer's Aspire One 722. Sure, the 1GHz AMD C-50 powered, Radeon HD 6250 wielding netbook's internals got more pizzazz in an updated Europe-only edition, but that didn't stop AT&T from taking the original and giving it a new beginning thanks to shiny new internal WWAN module. Up-to-date silicon it is not, but it could be yours for just $40 a month -- provided you sign your life away on a two-year, 3GB per month, contract. Or alternatively, the HSPA+ redux can be had for the unsubsidized price of $450. Decisions, decisions. Pull the trigger at the source link below.

Acer's Aspire One 722 kitted with HSPA+, sold by AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ViewSonic ViewPad 10pi dual-boot tablet hands-on (video)

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The ViewSonic ViewPad 10pi was announced here at CES, and according to the company, it'll be in retail stores later this month. This is a scary proposition. Sadly, our time with the tablet was filled with glitches and frustration -- as is, this dual-booter seems entirely unfit for the market. The Android 2.3 environment is nearly unusable and often freezes completely. While this could certainly be resolved with a software update, the hardware implementation is regrettably poor for Android use. Rather than capacitive navigation buttons, necessities such as home, menu and back are located along the edge of the tablet as small, physical buttons. Half the time, they didn't even work. Our fleeting moments with a usable Android environment were generally pleasant, but the system generally locked up after a few minutes. As another black eye, Android Market is nowhere to be seen, which means the Amazon Appstore will have to suffice. We're told that customers will need enable Android themselves, because out-of-the-box, the tablet will only run Windows 7. It's painfully apparent why this decision was made.

With a 1.5GHz Intel Oak Trail Z670, we had decent expectations for performance within Windows. Unfortunately, even web browsing was generally unsatisfying. Pinch-to-zoom and scrolling were both rather choppy, and -- as much as this comment pains us -- we longed to return to Android. Windows has never been friendly for touch use, and while ViewSonic has included a special environment that's designed to make applications and settings more accessible, in practice it takes a while to load and is no more useful than a set of well-appointed desktop icons. Another gripe, the included Swype keyboard would often appear at inopportune times, even when there was no option for text input. Priced at $849, we struggle to see much of a value proposition here. While the ViewPad 10pi attempts to be the jack of all trades, in reality it's just one big headache.

Gallery: ViewSonic ViewPad 10pi hands-on

Continue reading ViewSonic ViewPad 10pi dual-boot tablet hands-on (video)

ViewSonic ViewPad 10pi dual-boot tablet hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnLive launches desktop app, streams start menus to your iPad, we go hands on (video)

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Desktop sized games aren't the only thing Palo Alto's premiere streaming service is pushing to your tablet -- now OnLive is out to stream you an actual desktop, as well. Following up on an old Windows 7 demo and later promises to build a "no-compromise, media-rich enterprise experience," the outlet is now launching OnLive Desktop. It's almost exactly what it sounds like -- Windows, seamlessly streaming to your iPad.

Microsoft's OS rides the same bandwidth pipelines that host OnLive's gaming service, and offers tablet owners a streamed desktop with access to fully functional versions of Microsoft Office products like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The iPad app that is launching Thursday represents the outfit's "free" version of OnLive Desktop, and packs 2 GB of secure cloud storage in addition its limited suite of office applications. OnLive plans to expand the service with OnLive Desktop Pro, a paid variant (starting at $9.99 a month) with 50 GB of cloud storage, priority server access, additional applications and "cloud-accelerated browsing." Need something more specific? OnLive Enterprise will let firms custom tailor their cloud desktop to suit their needs -- dictating data, application and device access by user.

But how well does it work? It depends on your connection, of course. We dropped by OnLive's west coast headquarters to stream it from the source. Read on to see how it did, or simply skip the bottom if you're looking for an official press release.

Continue reading OnLive launches desktop app, streams start menus to your iPad, we go hands on (video)

OnLive launches desktop app, streams start menus to your iPad, we go hands on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gigabyte intros S1081 Windows slate and T1006M netvertible, both packing Cedar Trail

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Intel told us to expect next-gen netbooks from a throng of manufacturers, but for some reason it forgot to mention little ol' Gigabyte. Perhaps that's why the Taiwanese manufacturer is being slightly standoffish when it comes to detailing its two new 10-inch slates, which both run on unspecified variants of Cedar Trail and have equally unknown launch dates and prices. What we do know is that the T1006M is a convertible tablet that sports 1366 x 768 densely packed pixels, a USB 3.0 port and what appears to be an optional 3.5G modem -- specs that are already familiar from our recent encounter at the FCC. Next comes the S1081, which is a straightforward Windows 7 business slate like its $680 predecessor and comes with a choice of HDD or SSD storage, an optical trackpad for extra "precision," USB 3.0, VGA and HDMI outputs, plus the same optional multimedia dock. Rest assured that we'll track these newcomers down on the CES floor to fill in the blanks and judge how well they stand out, now that the quiet trail has become a highway. Until then, feel free to read on for the press release -- which also reveals that the Booktop T1132, Booktop M2432 and P2532 gaming notebook are all heading to the US market.

Continue reading Gigabyte intros S1081 Windows slate and T1006M netvertible, both packing Cedar Trail

Gigabyte intros S1081 Windows slate and T1006M netvertible, both packing Cedar Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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