HP Unveils Fall CE Lineup: iPod, Printer, Camera, Plasma and LCD TVs, Projector, and HTPCs

This morning, HP had a media event to launch its new lineup of consumer electronics offerings for the fall – and some of it looks to be really exciting. Let’s take a look.

The “Apple iPod from HP”: looks to me like they’re just rebranding and repackaging the – no close up shots, so first look is that it’s the same units, both the 20GB and 40GB model, just being directly sold/bundled by HP. And, at the same prices – just with HP warranties instead of Apple. Should ship mid-September, $299 for the 20GB, $399 for the 40GB.

The cool thing HP came up with was “Printable Tattoos”, that let you print out a ‘wrap’ for your iPod that sticks to it (though removable), personalizes it, and offers some protection from wear and tear. More to the strategy is that with HP’s reach and branding, should continue to expand the iPod dominance of the jukebox player market.

A full lineup of LCD and Plasma television sets: HP Flat-Panel Plasma and LCD TVs in 42″ EDTV and HDTV Plasma models, and the now-standard 1280x768 30″ and 26″ LCD models. The and friends should all come with Faroudja DCDi video processing for better image quality (I believe the Dell LCD TVs do as well…), DVI-D with HDCP, dual NTSC tuners, and BBE Hi-Def Audio or SRS WOW to provide a richer listening experience from built-in speakers. The 30″ LCD and 42″ EDTV are both expected in Fall 2004 with starting street prices of $2999 (which if Dell is any indication, will drop quickly to compete against the cheaper models).

The new ‘boombox’ style HP Instant Cinema Digital Projector ep9010: front projection box with built-in DVD, 2.1 speakers (20W stereo speakers facing front and rear, plus 30W subwoofer) – with every input and output imaginable – for an ‘instant cinema’ experience wherever you want it. Available September 04 for around $2499.

The new : cool new camera(s), slimline designs, brushed metal look, made for taking great pictures but not burning up your wallet to do so. Top model is 4.1 megapixel, on-board redeye removal, 3x optical and 7x digital zoom, USB2 connectivity, SD/MMC memory, and PictBridge support for direct-to-printer printing. Estimated street price of $299. Also M407 (4.1mp, 3x/6x opt/dig zoom, smaller LCD, for $199) and M307 (3.2mp, 3x/5x opt/dig zoom, smaller LCD, for $169) models, plus a new HP Photosmart M-series dock, to quickly connect/charge the units, priced around $49. These all extend the already available.

The HP Pavilion dv1000 series Entertainment Notebook PC: 14″ widescreen, hi-def LCD. Two headphone jacks up front for sharing audio. InterVideo co-designed “QuickPlay” technology allows ‘Instant On’ of consumer electronics features of the notebook from row of function buttons, such as instant CD/DVD player control without Windows. Hideaway slot on left side stores credit-card style remote. Expected to start at $1099 in October 04. Should take over versus a lot of the current .

The HP Digital Entertainment Center: a streamlined home theater PC, running XP Media Center, but in a very slick design, hideaway drive bays, protable hard-drive ‘plug in’ bay, remote control, wireless keyboard. All made for the living room, home theater, look and feel. Plus the HP Media Center Extender, for streaming WiFi media to any room of the house. All building off the current .

Also unveiled were a simply huge array of new photo and all-in-one printers to , many with built-in memory slots, LCD preview screens, even one with Bluetooth. Plus new higher quality inks, cartridges, and papers for better home and portable printing. Plus the new HP bt300 Bluetooth Wireless Printer Adapter for direct prints from PDAs and phones on any printer.

Following is the full press release of the lineup…