HP Toughens Security Features on New Holiday Desktop PCs

PALO ALTO, CA, Oct. 4, 2005, HP today announced a holiday lineup of consumer desktop PCs that are equipped with advanced built-in security features and improved performance for digital photography, music and video.

HP also announced enhanced DVD drives featuring the newest LightScribe technology, which allows users to burn customized labels directly to LightScribe-enabled CDs or DVDs.

In addition, HP continues to provide consumers with award-winning customer service and support that includes a one-year limited warranty with 24x7 toll-free support on all HP and Compaq PCs.

The new models include the HP Pavilion a1200n Series Desktop PC, Compaq Presario SR1600NX Series Desktop PC and HP m7200n Series Media Center PC with the option to add HP’s latest DVD Writer.

HP Pavilion a1200n Series Desktop PC

Select models of the HP Pavilion a1200n Series Desktop PCs are now available with Microsoft Windows® Media Center Edition 2005, which allows easy organization of digital photos, music, movies and much more.

Consumers have everything they need to capture, edit and share digital photos with this Pavilion series, which boasts bigger, faster hard drives that can store up to 100,000 photos.(1) Additionally, multi-taskers can more efficiently edit photos with HP Image Zone software while checking the family schedule with the added performance of AMD Athlon™ 64 x2 dual-core processors(2) or Intel® Pentium® 4 processors with Hyper-Threading Technology.(3)

Retail SKUs include: a1210n, a1220n, a1230n, a1240n and a1250n.

Compaq Presario SR1600NX Series Desktop PC

This Presario series has been optimized to give consumers peace of mind with the addition of the AMD Athlon 64 or AMD Sempron™ processor. Both processors feature AMD’s Enhanced Virus Protection, which provides built-in protection to keep PCs safe from certain types of viruses and an extra layer of security out of the box when paired with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2. In addition, Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 is now available on select models.

The Compaq Presario series includes integrated128-megabyte ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Graphics giving consumers an affordable way to realize improved graphics performance for everyday PC applications.

Retail SKUs include: SR1610NX, SR1620NX, SR1630NX and SR1650 NX.

HP m7200n Series Media Center PC

The latest HP Media Center PCs provide a powerful entertainment experience for today’s digital lifestyle, including the ability to watch, record and pause live TV right on the PC. The m7200n series PCs are available with Intel® Pentium® D dual-core processors,(2) up to 300 gigabytes (GB)(4) of hard drive storage and HP’s dual-layer DVD+-RW/CD-RW drive with LightScribe.(5) HP also will introduce Super Multi-Drives in select desktops. The new Super Multi-Drives take the confusion out of buying blank discs by supporting all popular DVD and CD formats and include LightScribe(5) technology.

The HP R-series dock spot holder makes it easy to dock an R-series digital camera for convenient, clutter-free downloading, charging and storing photos. Also, consumers can store up to 100,000 photos(1) or up to 210 hours of their favorite TV shows.(6) HP’s Personal Media Drive (sold separately) allows consumers to add even more storage and the ability to take their digital photos on the go to share with friends and family.

Retail SKUs include: m7250n and m7260n.

New DVD drives

Available in both internal and external models, the HP dvd740 DVD Writer series features LightScribe direct disc-labeling technology, which allows users to burn customized labels directly to a LightScribe-enabled CD or DVD.

Along with this innovative disc-labeling system, the 740 series stores up to 8.5 GB(4) of data, video, music and more on one double-layer disc. The series is also equipped with the Nero Software Suite, which lets users edit videos, organize photos, create slide-shows and back up music and data.

Additional highlights:

* HP also released new lineups of configure-to-order PCs. New series include the HP Pavilion a1100y, a1100e, a1110y and a1130e Series Desktop PCs and Compaq Presario SR1020Z, SR1020V and SR1030Z Desktop PCs. Configure-to-order models are available now direct from hpshopping.com.

* Now included on all HP desktop PCs, HP Image Zone software allows users to edit, enhance and fix digital photos as well as organize photo collections into favorite categories using keywords.

* To provide a more secure computing experience, all HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario consumer desktop and notebook PCs starting this fall will feature a 60-day introductory subscription to Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition. The software is pre-installed on the machines including configure-to-order PCs. In addition, configure-to-order models include an optional offer for a 15- or 24-month subscription.

* Integrated 9-in-1 media card reader makes it easy to download digital media to the HP desktop PCs.

* Dual optical drives on select Pavilion and Presario models provide more flexibility to burn media to CDs or DVDs.

* Super Multi-Drives - universal optical drives for CD and DVD needs - are also planned to be available on select configure-to-order models starting Oct. 19, 2005. The drives combine all the functions of a DVD player, DVD recorder, CD player and CD recorder into one design. It reads and records most current DVDs and features LightScribe technology as well.

* Setup is quick and easy. All HP Pavilion Desktop PCs come with color-coded connectors and step-by-step instructions to help get up and running in minutes.


HP service and support

All HP consumer desktop PCs come with a full year of support, including technical support, parts and labor as part of the HP Total Care portfolio of services. HP Total Care delivers live online chat with support agents, as fast as one-hour email response and toll-free 24x7 technical support.

Earlier this year, HP received an “excellent” rating in high tech by the Customer Respect Group, an international research and consulting firm. The award reflects HP’s overall efforts to take care of its customers from the moment they buy an HP or Compaq PC.

Customers who want added reassurance beyond the first year of ownership can purchase an extended service plan for an additional one or two years. They can also purchase HP House Call, which sends an HP technician onsite to fix select desktop issues. Information is available at http://www.hp.com/support and http://www.compaq.com/consumersupport.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $85.2 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Reflects maximum capacity; digital photo storage dependent upon resolution of image.

(2) The hyper-threading feature is new and complex technology designed to improve performance of multi-threaded software products; please contact your software provider to determine software compatibility. Not all customers or software applications will benefit from the use of hyper-threading. More information is available at http://www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading. Intel’s numbering is not a measurement of higher performance.

(3) The 64 bit microprocessor and the dual-core microprocessor are new technologies designed to improve performance of those software products designed to use this technology; please contact your software provider to determine software compatibility. Not all customers or software applications will benefit from the use of a 64 bit processor or the use of a dual-core processor. Compatible software, including compatible operating system software, may be required to obtain the full benefit of these technologies.

(4) GB = 1 billion bytes. Actual available capacity is less.

(5) LightScribe creates a grayscale image similar to a black and white photograph. LightScribe media required and sold separately.

(6) Storage capacity for TV-based recording dependent upon quality settings; fair, good, better and best.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. AMD Athlon and Sempron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2005, and other reports filed after HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2004. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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