HP’s Fourth of July Sales

HP is offering great Fourth of July deals early this year. They are now advertising their Compaq Presario CQ62Z series notebooks starting as low as $379.99. For that amazing price tag you will get Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, 320GB of hard drive, and a 2.2GHz AMD V-series processor. That’s a great deal!

They are also offering their HP Deskjet D2680 printer for merely $59.99 after instant savings. The printer prints 28 black and white pages per minute and 21 color pages per minute, and it features 600 dpi black print resolution.

If you are looking for a laptop or a printer this summer, you should definitely look further into HP’s great Fourth of July savings.

If the Compaq Presario CQ62Z isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, check out HP‘s new line of business laptops.

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Student Laptop Rentals 101

Many students know just all too well that being able to work and study while on the go can be the difference between a failing and passing grade. College is riddled with long bus rides, waiting between classes while on campus, pop quizes, cram studying, and long lectures. Put simply, students who are without a laptop are at a huge disadvantage to those who do. Many colleges utilize online interfaces such as BlackBoard to post lectures, assign homework, post grades, have discussions with those enrolled in the class via forums, and even register for classes. Students who attend colleges which emphasize online communications are often limited to only studying either at home or in a library when not in class, and must resort to copying down all notes by hand. As a student myself, I can attest to how helpful a laptop can be when attending college. In terms of being able to study whenever I want and typing up the notes by hand, a laptop is truly an educational lifesaver.

Unfortunately brand new laptops are expensive and quickly outdated within only a few semesters. Not to mention the possibility of theft while navigating around campus with thousands of other students. Luckily a Student Laptop Rental can be an inexpensive fallback for when cram season begins or a time intensive project falls on your lap in the midst of other assignments. These laptop rentals are available by the month, semester, or even year and are guaranteed to provide excellent satisfaction and aide you in your studies. Not only will you be saving money when compared to purchasing a brand new laptop which can run in the thousands of dollars, but you will also be ensuring that you have the means to study and work hard when it truly counts. All laptop rentals are booted with a fresh install and the data is completely wiped from the hard drive leaving you with a clean slate to do whatever you see fit with your laptop. Whether you decide to use your laptop for graphical design or for simply typing up papers and online research, know that a laptop rental will help you streamline your duties as a college student.

If you are interested in a student laptop rental, contact a Tech Travel Agent today at 1 800 736 8772 or follow the link for a quick and easy student laptop rental request. Or, if you happen to live in the mid west, see our Ohio Student Laptop Rental page for more information about student rentals in your area.

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi

Starbucks made a big announcement today. As of July 1st, the company will be offering free Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi will be provided by AT&T and is available for any Starbucks customer with the simple click of a button. Starbucks CEO Howard D. Schultz made the announcement today at a press conference in New York. According to The New York Times, he described it as "a way to bridge the online world and real-world coffee outlets."

Ironically, most coffee shops already offer free Wi-Fi. Starbucks is a little late to the game. Starbucks customers could buy and registered a Starbucks card that would allow them two hours of internet access. Beyond those two hours, or if you did not have the card, you had pay $3.99 per two hours.

On the other hand, the coffee shops who do have free internet access seem to be working on telling customers who use their tables as their own personal offices to get out sooner rather than later. Whether they are posting signs telling customers they must purchase something if they plan to stay or covering power outlets with tape so that people may not charge their laptops up, most less recognizable shops are doing just the opposite of what Starbucks is about to offer.

Currently, Starbucks says their customers usually use about an hour of Wi-Fi on average. They don't expect that number to change, even with the free Wi-Fi. Stephen Gillett, the chief information officer at Starbucks, as well as the general manager of Digital Ventures, a business unit created by Starbucks, will manage the network.

So, is Starbucks' move just a way to drive the economy? In January, after announcing a same-store sales increase of 4% after many months of declines, Starbucks said the improvements are due to its "role as an office for the unemployed." The company said many people use their stores as a place to work on resumes or work on freelance writing jobs.

In addition to the new free network, Starbucks is partnering with Yahoo to give customers more digital content. The Starbucks Digital Network will give customers free access to sites such as The Wall Street Journal, as well as allowing downloads from sites such as iTunes. Customers will also get content from sites such as Zagat, and Patch by AOL.

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

The New Kno Tablet

On Wednesday at D: All Things Digital another tablet made an appearance. This tablet is going to be targeted mainly at students and should be launched at the end of the year. It is being called the Kno.

The Kno is a touch-based device running on a Linux operating system. It is comprised of 14-inch dual screens with each screen featuring 1440 x 900 IPS display. It weighs about 5.5 pounds and has up to 6 to 8 hours of battery life. This amount of battery life may seem impossible for a dual screened tablet, but the CEO of Kno, Osman Rashid, said that each screen will have their own battery pack.

The Web-based operating system that the Kno will run on has been specifically designed around the use of touch. Rashid said, "We are not going to try to retrofit something, we are going to build it from scratch."

Kno is based in Santa Clara, California. It has 90 employees that have been working on the Kno tablet for about a year now.

As I said before, Rashid is targeting the Kno at students. He doesn’t feel that it will replace a laptop, but that it is a much more portable device to bring to class. He said, "We believe the laptop is becoming the new desktop," he said. "It is going to stay in your dorm or in your home. This is all you need to carry around."

Kno has not yet settled on a price for the tablet, but they are certain that they want it to cost well under $1,000. It will be interesting to see more details about the Kno as its release date draws nearer.

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Netbook or iPad: Which Do You Prefer?

CNET decided to ask its readers which they prefer: an iPad or a Netbook. According to the results, those who favorite netbooks did so for practical reasons, while those who preferred an iPad cited media-viewing capabilities and other novelties. Netbooks seemed to be the most favored. As the article points out iPads are newer and aren't exactly like traditional computers. So, whether or not the match-up is fair, is questionable.

However, most people are probably going to own either, but not both. Due to their size and ease of carrying, both are handy for travel or working on the go. And as CNET points out, neither one is exactly a laptop and neither one is exactly a smartphone. When the results were tallied, CNET posted some of the pros for each device. Here's a quick look at what all they found.

Netbooks:

Netbooks were seen as "cheap" and "simple" compared to their Apple counterparts. As one participant said, "...while the iPad is interesting, I don't see it filling a need for cheap, simple computers, which can do everything."

Netbooks were also popular because the offer full keyboards and the ability to multi-task. A more tech-savvy reader stated that "app restrictions" at Apple make the iPad less open than a Windows-loaded netbook. One musician stated that USB and more driver support makes the netbook more appealing for him, and some readers would choose the netbook just because they are PC loyalists.

iPads:

On the other side of the not-quite-a-phone, not-quite-a-computer device debate, some say the virtual keyboard works fine and that features like predictive spell-checking and 45-degree angle tilt help them type faster than they would on a regular keyboard. Some stated that maps are easier to follow on the iPad screen, and other insisted the iPad is better for travel due to its lighter weight and ease-of-use when looking for entertainment.

Many people cited various app-related pros for the Apple device and some say people just haven't given the iPad a try yet. As one reader put it, "...The iPad is different from a Netbook. Neither are appropriate for real computer work, but for using the Internet, mail, games, and/or light computing, the iPad is the better choice."

For more information on which device CNET readers prefer, check out iPad or Netbook?

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

HP Recalls Thousands of Laptops

Hewlett Packard has announced that it's recalling 54,000 laptop batteries. The lithium-ion batteries could possibly overheat and catch on fire. The batteries, which were made in China, came with laptops purchased both in stores and online from August 2007 to July 2008. Many were also sold independently.

According to HP, less than 3% of the laptops have the defective batteries and they company will replace them for free. The batteries can burn someone or catch on fire. The company released a statement saying, "HP fully stands behind the products it makes and has taken a proactive approach to this situation to ensure the safety of our customers and the integrity and quality of our products."

In May of last year the company recalled 70,000 laptop batteries, due to overheating, but the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that more batteries than originally thought were overheating. The recall spans over 31 different brands of computers. Initially, two different consumers complained but later an additional 38 complaints were filed by people injured by handling the batteries and laptops.

HP is not alone in recalling laptop batteries. Over 10 million Sony batteries were recalled between 2006 and 2008. 4 million of those were recalled by Dell, 1.8 million by Apple, 340,000 by Toshiba and 338,000 by Fujitsu. Lenovo, Acer, Sharpy and Sanyo also recalled their laptops. According to Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson, said that almost any laptop battery can overheat if charged too long or if laptops don't have good ventilation systems.

If your laptop battery has been recalled and you ned a temporary back-up, why not consider a laptop rental?

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

The Sony Dash: True Tablet or Not?

So Sony has decided to dive somewhat into the tablet industry but not completely. The Dash has a tablet-like appearance and many of the same functions, but it is not exactly as portable as tablets like the iPad.

The Sony Dash has a pretty basic structure. It features a seven-inch touchscreen, stereo speakers, a snooze bar/menu button, volume buttons, a USB port, a headphone jack, and of course the power connection cord. The case that encompasses the Dash is made of a rubber-like material that allows you to get a good, secure grip on the device.

The biggest problem that I see with the Dash is the fact that it does not have a battery. This means you can’t just carry the Dash around. You are constricted by the fact that it must be plugged into an outlet. Sony says that there next version of the Dash will have a battery, but that makes me wonder even more why they didn’t just put a battery in the version that is out right now. I feel that having a battery would definitely elevate it to complete tablet status.

So we’ve discussed the external side of the Dash, but what’s exactly inside of the device? The Dash has a 500MHz processor and 256MB of RAM. Having this type of power under the hood allows for video playback, but it isn’t exactly enough to be considered extremely fast. The touchscreen is responsive, but the OS seems to lag behind at times.

The Dash runs Chumby OS with a custom Linux build. Now not many people have heard of a Chumby OS. I know that I had never heard mention of it before, but it is simply a Flash runtime that features Chumby widgets that Sony calls Dash Apps. There are over 1,000 Dash Apps. Now, with the Linux side of things, Sony added the capabilities to utilize Bravia Internet Video Streaming that allows for apps from Netflix, Pandora, Slacker, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, and a variety of other providers.

The Sony Dash is being called “an amped up alarm clock” by reviewers at engadget, and honestly in comparison with Apple’s iPad, that’s really all it is. Every action is easier to perform on the iPad, especially since the iPad has the option of using an external keyboard. Also the fact that the iPad is portable gives it a huge up on the Dash, and the iPad’s OS doesn’t lag behind. Now, it is $300 more that the Sony Dash, so that is something to definitely consider.

So it is your decision whether or not you think the Dash meets your needs. It’s only $200, and it does perform a decent amount of satisfactory actions. It’s an interesting approach to the tablet industry by Sony, but I think that they will most definitely do better with the Dash once they install battery capabilities.

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Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.