HP Announces Fall 2004 Product Lineup

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2004/040827a.html' target='_blank'>http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2004/040827a.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"HP today announced its expansion into multiple new consumer digital entertainment and digital photography categories with a range of offerings aimed at making it easier than ever for people to live digitally. The offerings include new digital cameras and photo printers, home theater projectors, plasma and LCD flat-panel TVs, entertainment-based notebooks and desktop PCs, and the Apple iPod from HP - all in time for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons."</i><br /><br />Ok, after reading this press release I'm mildly impressed by the roll-out of new gear from HP. Beyond the ink and iPod non-announcements, they do have 42" LCD TVs, and some new printers that sound solid: a light-weight portable printer, an HP Photosmart 2710 All-In-One that seems to have Bluetooth, and a photo printer (the HP Photosmart 8450) that has a 2.5" colour LCD screen for photo proofing. Not bad! And the new HP Pavilion dv1000 Series Entertainment Notebook looks saucy...more on that later.

[Suhit Gupta]

All interesting, and well and good and stuff, but I think all this is going to be overshadowed by their iPod announcement. Although, their new all-in-one printer looks sweet.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

BTW, here is a PCWorld article (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117581,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp) on the subject.

Suhit

[Crocuta]

For me it's overshadowed by their horrendous product support and dismal product reliability (thus making the support that much more important). It took me awhile to fully appreciate that this is a new HP. This is not the company whose HP LaserJet IIP I bought in 1987 and used until it finally died in 2002. Instead, this is the HP whose iPaq side grips have fallen off three times and whose screen failed about 6 months into its use. This is the HP that made the two desktop computers in our house, both of which failed in the warranty period. This is the HP that refused to give me simple technical information about a computer's chipset because I had upgraded to XP Pro. No, even without some of the truly daffy moves they've made in recent months, this is just not a company whose products I'm going to put high on my list. It's nice that they've broadened their product base, but unless they've brought in new management, I'm just not interested.

[Suhit Gupta]

There are several people here at DMT that have poited out HP's crappy service but I guess I have generally lucked out. The only evil experience I have had is recent - i.e. where HP decided no to put out Windows Mobile 2003 SR2 for their "older" devices, ones that they still continue to sell. Very odd!

Suhit

[ctmagnus]

...devices that continue to be displayed prominently on their business site (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02d/215348-64929-215381.html).

[Suhit Gupta]

...devices that continue to be displayed prominently on their business site (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02d/215348-64929-215381.html).
Yeah, very bad idea IMHO. I wonder if we could get some of the folks over at PPCT to tell us what their HP contacts are telling them with respect to this decision.

Suhit

[Crocuta]

...devices that continue to be displayed prominently on their business site (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02d/215348-64929-215381.html).
Yeah, very bad idea IMHO. I wonder if we could get some of the folks over at PPCT to tell us what their HP contacts are telling them with respect to this decision.

I don't think he has any contacts any more, since Jason refused to delete the posts of users who talked about upcoming HP products. Apparently that was the price of getting 'inside access' to HP.