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The companies wouldn't say how many notebooks are affected. The Solo 3350,HP Pavilion ZT1100 Battery, HP Omnibook XT1000 Battery, HP Omnibook XT1500 Battery which is an ultra-portable, represents a "very small portion of our overall notebook mix," Gateway spokeswoman Donna Kather said Thursday. Both the Pavilion N5000 and Omnibook XE3 are "very popular," an HP representative said.

A driver is software that allows a peripheral to communicate with the operating system on a PC. In this case, a date stamp in the programming code of the faulty driver is "delaying calls and preventing them from making connections," said Bill Wong, vice president of marketing at ESS Technology. Notebooks running Microsoft's Windows 98 Second Edition, Me, 2000 and NT operating systems are affected.

Wong said a "human error" in the code caused the problem.

Although a generic driver that fixes the problem is available on the ESS Web site, Wong recommends that the affected notebook owners wait for a qualified driver from Gateway or HP.

"Our major (manufacturers) will have their new drivers today," Wong said Thursday.

"We're working to qualify a new driver as we speak," Kather said late Thursday morning. "HP Pavilion ZT1100 Battery, A good temporary work around is to reset the date on the notebook to before Feb. 20."

Before it sends out the new driver, Gateway wants to make sure the software will work with its notebook to prevent causing more problems for customers, she said. A date for the new driver has not been set, but the company will make it available on its Web site and will also send floppy disks with the new driver to customers that request them.

HP representatives also recommended that Pavilion N5000 and Omnibook XE3 owners set their clocks back to before Feb. 20 until HP qualifies a new driver that the company will distribute online, as well as on a CD.
HP updates business, consumer notebooks
At an evening press event in New York, HP announced a much-needed new look for its business laptop line. With a silver finish, drop-hinge panel, and scooped-out keyboard, the new models look more modern than the boxy corporate HPs of yore, though they'll still blend in with traditional business environments. Inside the redesigned cases you'll find all the component options you'd expect from a business laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, DVD burners with LightScribe, and HP's ProtectTools support software. The three new models announced today include the 14.1-inch HP Compaq 6520s (price varies by region); the 15.4-inch HP Compaq 6720s (starting at $649) with a choice of antiglare or BrightView screen finishes; and the 17-inch HP Compaq 6820s (starting at $999) with ATI Mobility Radeon X1350 graphics as well as a full keyboard and 10-key number pad. All three models are currently shipping.

In other business news, HP announced that it will begin offering 64GB solid-state drives on its professional laptops and mobile workstations. HP Omnibook XT1000 Battery, Specific models to have this option include the HP Compaq 2710p, 2510p, 6910p, and 8000 series workstations.

It's not all business, though; the consumer-oriented Pavilion line will also see a few updates. Users who want always-on connectivity will have the option of adding built-in WWAN to their 14.1-inch Pavilion dv2500. New consumer laptops include the dv2500z, dv6500z, and dv9500z, which are AMD-based versions of existing Pavilion models. And the company announced a new variation on the existing 15.4-inch dv6500 model. The HP Pavilion dx6500 includes only Intel CPU and GPU options, as well as dual hard drives up to 320GB; it also lacks the fingerprint reader, HDMI support, and modem found on the dv6500 model. The Pavilion dx6500 will be available at retail outlets in October, at a starting price of $949.
At an evening press event in New York, HP announced a much-needed new look for its business laptop line. With a silver finish, drop-hinge panel, and scooped-out keyboard, the new models look more modern than the boxy corporate HPs of yore, HP Pavilion ZT1100 Battery, HP Omnibook XT1000 Battery, HP Omnibook XT1500 Batterythough they'll still blend in with traditional business environments. Inside the redesigned cases you'll find all the component options you'd expect from a business laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, DVD burners with LightScribe, and HP's ProtectTools support software.HP Omnibook XT1500 Battery The three new models announced today include the 14.1-inch HP Compaq 6520s (price varies by region); the 15.4-inch HP Compaq 6720s (starting at $649) with a choice of antiglare or BrightView screen finishes; and the 17-inch HP Compaq 6820s (starting at $999) with ATI Mobility Radeon X1350 graphics as well as a full keyboard and 10-key number pad. All three models are currently shipping.

Hewlett-Packard early next year will begin offering a new line of "Enviro" batteries for laptop users who want to upgrade to longer-lasting and more sustainably designed batteries.

HP and Boston Power have been testing the Sonata lithium-ion batteries for three years.Hp laptop battery The batteries were designed specifically for laptop use. After three years of use, the batteries will be able to keep 80 percent of their initial charge.

Laptop battery time typically starts to drop significantly after 150 or so charges, or cycles. Boston Power says that its batteries can be charged 1,000 times and get "like new" performance.

An HP representative on Tuesday said that the Sonata batteries will cost between $20 and $30 more than traditional batteries and will be available on some consumer laptop machines. There will be a three-year warranty, and no system changes are required.

The Enviro batteries are marketed as more environmentally friendly for a number of reasons, according to Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO of Boston Power.

The company chose not to use any PVC plastic or heavy metals--cadmium, arsenic, or mercury--in the manufacturing process. The batteries can also be recycled, said Lampe-Onnerud, adding that the battery has received a number of "green" certifications.

More simply, Lampe-Onnerud argued that purchasing one product that lasts for at least three years,HP OmniBook 6000 Battery HP F1739A Battery, HP Omnibook XE Battery rather than buying multiple batteries, is more environmentally sustainable and economical.

"Our tests found that 40 percent of consumers over three years have replaced laptop batteries up to five times. If each is $150,HP OmniBook 6000 Battery that's almost the cost of the whole system," she said. "I think this will change the appetite for sustainable products. Instead of purchasing something expendable, they can have something that lasts."

Boston Power is in discussions with other computer manufacturers, she added without disclosing any names.

The company also plans to release a portable lithium-ion battery for adding charge to cell phones or other gadgets and intends to enter the auto battery market, Lampe-Onnerud said.

Some HP laptops exposed to criminal hacking

On Tuesday, a security researcher disclosed to Bugtraq, a public newsgroup, details of remote execution attacks on some models of Hewlett-Packard laptops. According to the researcher, who is using the name "porkythepig," flaws in HPInfoDLL.dll, one of the ActiveX controls used within the HP Info Center, could allow remote attackers to target the laptop and also execute registry changes on the compromised machine.

As of Wednesday, HP has not offered a response.

The scenario within the disclosure suggests that an attacker could lure a victim to a specially created Web site. When viewing the Web site in Internet Explorer, the ActiveX control within the HP Info Center could be compromised. If the victim uses a browser other than Internet Explorer, HP F1739A Battery, the browser would still call Internet Explorer to handle the ActiveX component on the specially created Web site.

Once a machine is compromised, an attacker could then install malware, change registry information in preparation for a more sophisticated attack, use the machine in a denial-of-service attack on itself or another target, or steal sensitive data from documents on the compromised machine.

A list of potentially vulnerable HP laptop models can be found in the full disclosure posted on BugTraq. To see whether your particular HP laptop is vulnerable, the researcher also provided a Web site (use this link at your own risk).
Hewlett-Packard has cut prices on its notebook PCs as much as 25 percent as it makes way for new models.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) today dropped prices by as much as 25 percent on several feature-rich notebooks boasting large, 14-inch LCD screens and Pentium II processors.

The HP Omnibook 7100 received the largest price cut of 25 percent. This is a relatively hefty "desktop replacement" notebook that is now expected to sell for about $3,199. It comes with an Intel Pentium II 266-MHz processor, an 8.1GB hard drive, a 14.1 inch active-matrix LCD, and a module that combines a CD-ROM drive and a floppy drive.

HP will trim its notebook lines to three, according to Glenn Kuo,HP OmniBook 6000 Battery HP F1739A Battery, HP Omnibook XE Battery product manager for the HP mobile computing division, in a recent statement, and the 7100 will start to disappear, he said.

The slim-design, lightweight OmniBook 4150 was reduced in price by 17 percent. HP Omnibook XE Battery This will sell now for $3,399. It includes a Pentium II 300-MHz processor, a 6.4GB hard drive, 14.1-inch screen, and a CD-ROM drive.

HP recently introduced new notebooks based on the just-released 366-MHz Pentium II processor.

The company also cut prices on accessories. A DVD drive, for example, was slashed 60 percent and now sells for about $175. A port replicator was cut 44 percent and will now sell for an estimated $55. A port replicator is a type of docking device which is already connected to a company network and to devices like a mouse or monitor, thus allowing users to simply plug in their portable computers to start working.