What exactly does "doesn’t need a PC" mean? It means this printer doesn’t need a PC at all. It’s web-connected on its own. This is called the HP Photosmart Premium and yes, it has its own 4.33-inch touch screen. When I say it doesn’t need the PC at all, I meant it.

According to this article, this will be introduced in the fall and set you back $399.

To be honest, I’m left scratching my head wondering how this product could be useful to anybody. I mean, yeah, browsing the internet on the printer itself, finding what you want to print, then printing it sounds cool.. but I think this printer is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Is HP trying to say you don’t need a computer, just your printer? Well, that obviously won’t work. People aren’t going to throw out their PCs in favor of a 4.33-inch touch screen with limited capabilities.

I do not see a legitimate home use for this, but I could see this for use in public places like libraries, coffee shops, airport terminals and so on. In environments such as those, yes this printer would serve itself well. If one of these were outfitted with a small meter where you could drop coins in (say $1.00 for 5 minutes), in public service this would work great. It would be like having a super-small FedEx Kinko’s or UPS Store all in a neat little box. After all, it not only prints, but faxes, copies and scans too.

But in the home? I just can’t see anybody going for it. That is unless I’m totally missing the point of what this printer is about?

Would you buy this thing for use in the home? And if so, why? Or why not? I’ve love to know.

Recently announced: Best Buy will be carrying MSI’s offering in the itty-bitty "netbook" style laptop, called the "Wind". It will come with Windows XP Home Edition, an Intel 1.6 Atom processor, 120GB HDD, 3-cell battery and comes in black or white.

I’ve been following the netbook-style laptops for a while now and the industry has proven that there’s definitely a market for it. The reasons? Price and portability. These things are on the lower end of the price spectrum and obviously provide the best portability in a pint-sized computer.

Most people who haven’t used a small-screen unit like this would probably say "A 10-inch screen? How can anyone read anything on a screen that small?" The answer is that the native resolution accommodates for the smaller size. You’ll either get 800×400 or 1024×600 native resolution. If those numbers look "odd" to you, bear in mind netbooks are widescreen format. These smaller native numbers make for readability on a netbook screen fairly easy.

If you’re in the market for one of these, I’d recommend going at least 1024 wide on the native because most modern web sites require that when viewing them. Your only option with 800 is to deal with a horizontal scroll bar or use CTRL-Minus to size down the site in your web browser of choice. All major web browsers have this ability.

Most major manufacturers have netbook offerings. Dell has their recently announced Inspiron Mini 9, we all know about the Asus Eee PC, HP has their Mini-Note, there’s the MSI Wind listed above and more are coming. In 2009 you’re sure to see more companies getting into the biz of "smaller is better".

Things the netbook-style laptop has proven

1. More than a few people really don’t care about the optical drive.

Netbooks don’t have optical drives and this is part of the reason they are physically smaller. However it seems that people who buy these units really don’t miss them. True, you can’t burn discs or watch DVD movies on one of these things – but how often are you going to do that compared to everything else you do on a computer? Probably not that often.

The lack of an optical drive is something customers of these units are very aware of, readily accept and have – surprisingly – easily dealt with it.

To note: You could easily attach an external optical drive connected via USB to it if you wanted to if you needed to install apps that were disc-only.

2. It has escaped toy-like status.

When netbooks first appeared most people didn’t deem it to be a "real" computer and shrugged it off as more of a novelty than anything else.

That attitude has changed.

People have found that netbooks – many of which are in the sub-$500 price point – do pretty much everything one would want to do with a portable computer. And that small size is oh-so nice.

3. It "saved" Windows XP.

Vista can’t run on netbooks strictly for the reason that units that small do not have the horsepower to run it optimally.

There is no netbook that I’m aware of that even offers Vista, so for people that want Windows they are given XP Home Edition instead.

Nobody has really complained about this.

And for those that think I’m Vista-bashing, I’m not. The blunt honest truth is that Vista is too "heavy" for netbooks, plain and simple. That’s why it’s not offered on them to begin with.

4. You can easily escape the "Windows tax" by using Ubuntu instead.

On most netbook offerings, ordering one bundled with Ubuntu will shave $50.00 of the total price. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for example is $349 with Ubuntu and $399 with XP Home.

This is an excellent example of how using Linux can truly cut costs in a great way.

5. Most people don’t need a super-powerful box anymore.

Netbooks are not for gamers, videographers, graphic artists or anyone that needs computer boxes with gobs of storage, memory and speed. This accounts for the vast majority of computer users out there.

Said honestly, the netbook fits in very nicely in today’s computing world. We’ve finally got laptops that truly embrace their portable nature more than any other – and they’re cheap.

This is definitely a form of computing that’s here to stay.

If you’ve been using computers a long while you probably have an old printer lying around somewhere. And it’s most likely true the only reason you don’t use it is either because:

1. It’s too big to fit on the desk.
2. It uses an insanely thick cable with a Centronics connector to connect to your computer.
3. Your computer (especially if a laptop) doesn’t have the port where that insanely thick cable is supposed to plug into.

Assuming you can acquire a printer ribbon (if dot matrix) or replacement toner (if laser) for it, you can resurrect that printer using modern tech.

Converting Centronics to USB: Only takes a single cable to do this. And being the printer is old it’s more or less guaranteed to be recognized by your computer without the need to install any drivers whatsoever.

Connect printer directly to the router: Requires a miniature print server. This connects via Ethernet directly to the router and network-enables the printer. No connection to the computer required (but some setup does need to take place.)

Connect printer over Bluetooth wireless: Requires an (expensive) adapter. Also may require another (not-so-expensive) USB Bluetooth adapter if your PC isn’t Bluetooth-enabled. The adapter mentioned for the printer does Centronics and USB! Wireless range is stated to be 100 meters (328 feet) but in practical application you’re “safe” with about 25 meters (82 feet) at the most. Works well in most instances. The best part is that you can have the printer in a completely separate room – leaving you more desk space.

Some quick truths about older printers

Dot matrix printers while loud and have a slow PPM (page per minute) speed have two distinct advantages.

1. Tractor feed paper, if available, is dirt cheap.
2. You can easily go for an entire year without having to change the printer ribbon.

Older business-grade HP LaserJet printers also have a slow PPM but have the following advantages.

1. New toner, shockingly, is sometimes cheaper than inkjet replacement cartridges.
2. Toner lasts far longer than inkjet cartridges do.
3. Biz-grade LaserJets can be easily serviced. Chances are high that there’s a local certified HP tech close to where you live – and he does house calls.
4. Older LaserJets require no stupid proprietary drivers because support is built-in to the OS. Windows, Mac and Linux will “see” these printers with no fuss, no muss.

The current trend in laptop technologies is the sub-12-inch screen territory with super-light super-portable chassis. After the launch of the EeePC other companies started jumping on this. HP’s entry into the fray is the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (see HP press release).

Like its competitors, this unit is designed for the education market and is priced aggressively at $499.

Also like its competitors, it has no optical drive, a low mount of RAM (512MB) and a *nix operating system. HP chose to go with SuSE for the OS.

Let’s not forget the itty-bitty factor. 8.9-inch screen and overall weight under 2 pounds.

Check out more features of the 2133 at the source link below.

[Source: PC World]