HP Announces New Desktop PCs for Back-to-School Season

As summer vacation kicks off, computer makers look ahead to the fall, and introduce new PCs for the back-to-school market. The latest is HP, which has announced several new desktop computers.

HP says its new Pavilion Slimline s5000 (pictured here) series of desktop computers are half the size of a conventional PC tower, making them small enough to fit on a desk, or in a small office or dorm room. Enclosed in a glossy black case with silver and chrome accents, the new PCs feature a bay for a pocket media drive for portable storage and backup. Priced at $560, the basic configuration (model s5120f) employs an AMD Athlon X2 7750 dual-core processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, 500GB hard drive, NVidia UMA graphics, Lightscribe DVD burner, built-in Ethernet and six-in-one memory-card reader. The top model in the series is the s5160f, which features an Intel Core 2 Quad processor, 6GB of DDR3 memory, 750GB drive, Blu-ray/DVD optical drive, Nvidia GForce 120 graphics, 15-in-one memory-card and Wireless 802.11n USB adapter. Retail is $1,150.

HP's Pavilion p6000 series of desktops are housed in gloss black tower enclosures of conventional size, with a variety of configurations, ranging from the p6152f ($650) with AMD Phenom X3 8450 triple-core processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, 640GB hard drive, NVidia UMA graphics, DVD burner and 802.11n wireless networking DVD burner; to the p6124c-b ($900) with Intel Pentium Dual-Core 2.5GHz processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, 640GB hard drive, Blu-ray/DVD burner, integrated Intel UMA graphics and 802.11 wireless networking.

Intended for serious gaming and multimedia applications, the Pavilion Elite e9000 series starts with the Pavilion Elite e9105f ($1,020), which features an Intel Core2 Quad 8200 2.33GHz, 8GB of DDR3 memory, 1GB hard drive, Radeon HD graphics with 512MB of video memory, DVD writer and 802.11n wireless networking. The top-of-the-line Elite e9180 ($1,500) employs an Intel Core i7 920 2.66GH processor, 1GB NVideo GForce GTS 250 graphics, DVD burner and Wireless-N/Bluetooth networking.

Other new products from HP for back-to-school include 20-inch and 21.-5-inch LCD monitors for $220 and $300 respectively, and HP calculator applications for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Available through Apple's iTunes store, the calculators offer the same functionality as HP's 12c, 12c Platinum and 15c calculators. HP is also offering calculator software for PCs.

Later this summer, HP will introduce a new range of portable and desktop external hard drives. These will include portable 320GB and 500GB models, and external 1TB and 2TB drives. All models will come with preinstalled backup software. Prices will start at $160.

Article Tags:  HP, Pavilion, Slimline, s5000, s6000, e9000, e9105f, e9180f, s5120f, s5160f, p6152f, p6124, intel, amd, ati, radeon, nvideo, gforce, lightscribe, Blu-ray