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As part of its massive product announcement on Tuesday, HP is introducing the semirugged EliteBook 6930p, a 14.1-inch laptop that's built to MIL-STD-810F specifications for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude, and temperature. That means the EliteBook's brushed anodized aluminum casing and magnesium-alloy chassis can withstand temperatures ranging from -20° F up to 140° F, humidity up to 95 percent, and altitudes up to 15,000 feet, among other feats.

Like most 14.1-inch laptops, the EliteBook 5930p will include a full-size spill-resistant keyboard that's as useful around the office as it is in extreme conditions. The keyboard deck includes a fingerprint reader and a row of touch-sensitive media controls. Buyers can opt for a backlit-LED display; every model includes a 2-megapixel Webcam in the display bezel.

Inside the case, you'll find Intel's Centrino 2 platform, with Penryn-class Intel Core 2 Duo 9000 and 8000 series CPUs, the Intel Mobile 45 chipset (with optional vPro support), and a choice of integrated Intel or discrete ATI graphics. Based on Intel's delayed release dates for the Centrino 2 components, we expect the ATI-based EliteBook to ship in July, with the integrated-graphics version to follow in August.

Pricing starts at $1,179; a full list of specs is after the jump.

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At its Connecting the World event in Berlin, Germany, HP unveiled the first DreamColor monitor from its partnership with DreamWorks. The DreamColor LP2480xz is a 24-inch LCD that will set you or your design shop back $3,500. For the money, you get 30-bit color for over 1 billion color possibilities (standard LCDs are 24-bit for 16.7 million color options). HP says you will see deeper reds, blues, and greens when standing next to a run-of-the-mill consumer LCD, while blacks will appear four times darker and whites are adjustable.

The DreamColor LP2480xz features a 1920x1200 native resolution, LED backlighting, … Read more

Businesses weren't left out of HP's massive product launch on Tuesday. A full-line refresh of HP Compaq business notebooks now gives corporate buyers not only a choice of Intel or AMD processors, but also a choice of case finish and security features.

The HP Compaq "b" series includes a silver finish and magnesium alloy support structure, as well as a new coating on the case that HP claims is more scratch-resistant than previous laptops. In this series, the Intel-based 6530b and AMD-based 6535b feature 14.1-inch screens and a 5.3-pound starting weight; the Intel-based 6730b … Read more

The consumer side of HP's massive product rollout on Tuesday included a refresh (and welcome name simplification) of the Pavilion line of laptops, as well as three new Compaq Presario models.

First up: Pavilions. The three models in the company's flagship laptop line have received some small enhancements, including a new metallic HP Imprint finish, a "frameless" display option that the company is calling BrightView Infinity, and a hard drive accelerometer to protect data if the laptop is bumped or dropped. All the new Pavilion models also include an HDMI port and the option for a … Read more

We've previously taken notice of Voodoo founder (and current chief technology officer of HP's Global Gaming Business) Rahul Sood's playful birthday video, where he cut a cake with a MacBook Air and said, "Well, I wouldn't be needing this notebook for long anyways." Now we know exactly what he was talking about, with the new announcement of the Voodoo Envy 133.

We actually got to take a peek at one of these in person a few weeks ago, and we were impressed with the slim, attractive design. At around 3.4 pounds, it falls … Read more

Compared with last year's clunky TouchSmart IQ770, HP's new TouchSmart design is a major leap forward. The new TouchSmart IG504 and IQ506 models now follow a more typical all-in-one design philosophy, featuring a screen and the computing innards housed in the same casing, propped up by an adjustable foot in the back. As the name implies, the TouchSmart is still touch-sensitive, and based on the specification sheets for each model, it also looks like HP has addressed the value issues we had with the previous model.

The first improvement is the screen, now a 22-incher, up from last … Read more

We're excited about Epson's newest multifunction printer, the Stylus NX400. The all-in-one printer, copier, and scanner is outfitted in a glossy black finish and uses Epson's DURABrite Ultra ink to produce photos that can reportedly last up to six times longer than the average printer using plain paper.

Under the hood, you'll find Epson's MicroPiezo DX3 print nozzle head that uses variable ink droplet sizes from 4 picoliters and up, which translates to finer detail in the quality of your photos. The printer also has a 2.5 inch tilt LCD screen, memory card slots, … Read more

Hewlett-Packard announced Sunday that it has settled its patent-infringement lawsuits against rival PC maker Acer.

The confidential settlement agreement resolves three federal court lawsuits, as well as two U.S. International Trade Commission investigations between the parties.

HP sued Taiwan-based Acer in October 2007, alleging seven patent violations. The suits covered patents regarding technologies such as read/write optical drives, power management in notebooks, digital bus arrangement, thermal management and video control.

The suits sought to stop Taiwan-based Acer from exporting its PCs to the U.S. and selling them there. As a result of the settlement agreement, each action … Read more

From the "perhaps trying a bit too hard" department--visitors to the Voodoo PC Web site were greeted today by an image of the upscale custom-PC builder's page engulfed in flames, with animated fire and smoke billowing upward. Needless to say, you can't currently order a system from the site.

Of course, now that Voodoo is owned by computer giant HP, this may signal a shift in the integration between the Voodoo and HP brands. It may even have something to do with the cryptic cake-cutting message from Rahul Sood, the Voodoo founder who is currently the … Read more