We knew we'd see cheap / free subsidized netbooks eventually, and here we are: Best Buy and Sprint are offering up a Compaq-branded HP Mini 110c for just 99 cents when you sign a two-year data contract. Yeah, it looks good on paper, especially since AT&T and Verizon will ding you $199 for the same machine, but we just don't think it's worth it: at $60 a month for service, you'll be spending $1,440 for two years of pain with that 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and three-cell battery. We'd say you're way better off grabbing a 3G USB stick you can use with multiple machines, or, if you're feeling particularly baller, throwing down for a MiFi and kicking it mobile hotspot style -- it'll cost the same $60 a month from Sprint, but you'll be able to get five machines online at once. But that's just us -- any of you particularly hot for this almost-free netbook?

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Interesting piece in the New York Times today about Acer -- the company is about to ride the tidal wave of netbooks and other el-cheapo computers straight to the number two spot on the PC sales chart. That's a big deal -- no non-US company has ever made it so high -- and it's interesting that the strategies Acer took to get there are the same things Dell's been trying to do lately: it's heavy on low-cost, stylish laptops and netbooks, it keeps inventory extremely lean, and it relies on an extensive set of retail partnerships in Europe. What's more, the Aspire One has been the best-selling netbook for a while now, and we'd say Acer's way out in front of the CULV thin-and-light race with the Timeline -- in fact, we'd say the only open question here is whether the company can take all this computing success and translate it to something worthwhile in the smartphone space. Based on what we've seen so far, we've got our doubts, but we'll see what those super-secret Android sets look like before we place our bets.

Yes, that's the one and only MJ to open the podcast -- this one was recorded just shortly after the Engadget crew had learned the news. Join Josh, Paul, Nilay and special guest Chris Ziegler as they deny the Nokia N97, get angry at the HTC Hero, bargain with Windows 7, depress themselves over the fate of the netbook, and finally learn to accept the Zune HD's Tegra processor. We won't lie -- Engadget Podcast 152 was a struggle, but in the end we all learned a little something about life, love, and forgiveness.

Update: Any further tasteless MJ jokes will be met with a swift ban. Be nice!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Guest: Chris Ziegler
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Billie Jean

Hear the podcast


00:02:26 - Nokia N97 review: a tale of two bloggers
00:26:28 - HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI leaks from HTC's own website (updated, official, video)
00:30:28 - HTC Hero hands-on: Flash, keyboard and ruminations (updated!)
00:48:09 - Windows 7 official pricing announced, limited pre-orders start tomorrow
01:03:40 - HP Mini 5101 cleans up nice, shows the serious side of netbooks
01:05:15 - HP ProBook 4310s hands-on
01:10:25 - Entelligence: Netbooks, R.I.P.
01:22:50 - Zune HD has a Tegra processor, confirms official Zune podcast


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Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget

While we might gripe about the style choices of HP's consumer line, HP has done wonders for its "professional" image with the ProBook line. The new ProBook 4310s merely carries on that tradition, but it still cuts a nice figure in the flesh. While we normally like to play it safe on color choice, we have to say that the matte lid of the crimson version (pictured) really triumphs in a sea of gloss. Our only gripes are that it's a tad bit thick and heavy -- totally standard for this tier of laptop, but annoying nonetheless -- and that the sharp, square chiclet keys aren't perfect for touch typing, and are actually a little mushy in practice. We'd also much prefer some two finger scrolling to the piddling sidescrolling on offer, but we're grumpy like that.

Seems that HP got all the laptop love out of its system yesterday, as today were having a foursome of new desktops shoved down our throats. First up is the Pavilion Slimline s5000, which gets going at $289 and includes an AMD LE1600 CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, 6-in-1 media card reader and a case that should be small enough for most dorm room corners. Next, there's the all-too-similar $269 Pavilion p6000, while the $599+ Pavilion Elite e9000 offers up a larger case along with an AMD Phenom II X2 545 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB HDD, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G210 CPU and a 15-in-1 card reader. Finally, the $379 Compaq Presario CQ5000 ships with a 2.5GHz Athlon X2 7550 CPU, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE GPU and a 320GB 7200RPM HDD. Tap the read link for all the nitty-gritty details, but only if you're really, really prepared for what's to come.

Just when you thought you were safe from the netbook horde, along comes HP's new Mini 5101 to tempt you with the same basic specs once again, but this time with a slick aluminum and magnesium chassis to appeal to the "mobile professional" or anyone else with a bit of class. In a crazy twist, HP has finally moved the mouse buttons below the trackpad (because only professionals like clicking), and has included other perks like a 7200 RPM hard drive, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel webcam, and options of either a WSVGA (1024 x 600) or "HD" (1366 x 768) 10.1-inch LED screen. There are also options for 80GB or 128GB SSD drives, four-cell or six-cell batteries, with the latter rated at an improbable eight hours of runtime, and of course WWAN. There's a start price of $449, but with some of these options we could see that shooting up pretty fast -- especially if you pick the optional USB-powered external disc drive, external speakers or port replicator. It's not cheap being cheap. The Mini 5101 goes on sale in July.

We got a quick hands-on with the netbook, and were fairly impressed. The square chiclet keys are much easier to hunt down than Mini 1000-series flush keys, and the proper trackpad configuration is naturally a huge bonus. We'd much prefer multitouch scrolling to the side-scrolling action, of course, but at least it's an improvement. The overall build quality is near the top of any laptop or netbook we've played with in this price range -- it's not perfect, and there's some of that telltale keyboard flex, but it's a big improvement over its largely plastic competitors and predecessor.

It'd be difficult to term HP's new Mini 5101 netbook "exciting" but the new ProBook 4310s has promise -- or at least flexibility. Like its name suggests, the ProBook 4310s is for boring people who like to spend their days alternating between an Excel spreadsheet and Peggle, but the specs and looks hint at adventure. Basically, this 13.3-inch laptop can be whatever you'd like it to be, with a starting price of $799 and the whole gamut of options, from Celeron to Core 2 Duo, FreeDOS to Vista, DVD to Blu-ray, and integrated or discrete graphics (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 with 512MB of RAM and HyperMemory support). There's space for up to 8GB of RAM, EV-DO, ExpressCard 34, SD card, all sorts of hard drives -- if you can imagine a spec HP probably has an option for it inside this 1-inch thick, 4.34 pound shell. Even the screen is available in three different configurations -- it's nice to be reminded now and then that high design doesn't always have to kill choice. The 4310s will be available on July 20th.

Looking to make the wild and not-entirely-wondrous world of printers exciting for the first time in decades, HP has just unveiled the "world's first web-connected printer." If you're wondering how it plans on accomplishing such an impossible mission, let us just say this: the Photosmart Premium is going the way of the widget. Up on the 4.33-inch front panel is Touchsmart Web, a touchscreen interface with several bundled, online apps to accommodate usual paper-friendly tasks such as printing Google maps, tickets from Fandango, coupons, recipes, Sudoku, etc. There's even a full-on HD Apps Studio just in case downloading new apps on one's printer really becomes the new hotness. The API's being made open for the entire realm of developers, but we have to wonder what kind of interest we'll see here. Pricing is set for $399, and if you're thinking "why not just buy a cheap netbook and plug it into my current model" we hear ya, but we get the impression this is aimed squarely at another crowd. Lots more details are just past the break.

Update: We just had a chance to try the printer / Touchsmart for ourselves. First off, surprise, the screen is capacitive touch, and it works well -- but only one finger at a time. We asked a rep about multitouch and were told that while technically feasible, it's not gonna be supported at this time. The widgets are created with a combination of HTML5 and Java, and much to our surprise, video streaming has been implemented. The Monsters vs. Aliens trailer we saw was decent resolution, but really, it's not a place where we need pristine quality. More screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: HP unveils Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web hands-on

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Well, well -- what have we here? HP's newly unveiled Pavilion dv2z just so happens to have a bit of fresh silicon within, as AMD's latest Neo chips are front and center in the configuration options. The thin-and-light machine can be ordered with single- or dual-core AMD Athlon Neo and Turion Neo dual-core processors, and if you're looking for specifics, you'll find the new 1.6GHz Athlon Neo X2 L335 and 1.6GHz Turion Neo X2 L625. Other specs on the 12.1-incher include a LED-backlit WXGA panel, optional Blu-ray drive, discrete ATI Radeon graphics, up to 500GB of HDD space, a built-in webcam, WiFi, optional WWAN (Verizon, Sprint or AT&T) and a 6-cell battery. It's up for order right now starting at $599.99, but if you're looking to leave that aged Neo MV-40 behind, you'll have to pony up a bit more than that. Full release is after the break.

HP's just kicked out a slew of updates to its laptop lines, and thankfully the biggest news is that they've gotten cheaper. The HP dv2z brings the low end of the 12.1-inch AMD Neo ultraportable down to $599, while the larger Intel-based dv3t is now $649. The dv6 gets two new editions, including the pictured $949 dv6z Artist Edition 2 preloaded with a bunch of Corel art software and a $649 dv6t base model that thankfully loses the awful lid artwork. Seriously, we know HP had to use the design after it won the HP / MTV Notebook Design Contest, but we just don't think too many people want to rock the"surfing peacock" look. There are also a bunch of new eco-friendly printers if you're into that sort of thing -- hit the read link for the lowdown.

As history has proved time and time again, you can never have enough obscure display technologies of questionable use, and HP has really delivered with its new eSkins or "Electronic Skins" tech. The flexible, reflective color film can be printed with a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique on plastic substrates, and actually uses proprietary color "inks" in the printing process to infuse the seemingly monochrome display (HP doesn't specify) with a particular color in the PANTONE spectrum. The "print quality" colors are visible in direct sunlight, and can even shift to a transparent state to show whatever's behind the eSkins film. HP will be unveiling more info about the technology this coming week, and hopes to offer the tech for use in phones, cameras, netbooks and so forth -- no mention of ebooks, but that seems a likely scenario as well. Everybody reads.

We know the Mini 1101 is the more business-centric of the new HP netbooks, but unless the company has a sudden change of heart, it looks like you'll be getting the base configuration or nothing at all. Starting today, HP is enabling eager consumers to purchase one of the $329 machines, but the only "customization" options are external accessories and peripherals. Hit the read link to see if what's offered fits your bill, and if not, the Mini 110 XP and Mini 110 Mi alternatives should be popping up soon.

[Thanks, Richard]