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HP Mini 1000

So, our HP Magic Giveaway winner was awesome enough to give back to the community, thus invoking a second giveaway. We’ve got an HP Mini 1000 here, along with a bunch of software as well. Specifically, here’s the prize package:

We’re going to use the same entrance criteria that we used last time, since that seemed to work so well. Here’s how to enter to win:

  1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Gear Live account
  2. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
  3. Add the Gear Live Twitter account to your follow list
  4. On Twitter, post a tweet about our contest and link to this page. In the tweet, include the phrase “#gearlive”.
  5. Once that is done, leave a comment here in this post with a direct link back to your Tweet. Be sure you are signed in to your Gear Live account before you leave the comment.

Here’s an example of an appropriate Twitter entry:
“Entering to win an HP Mini! http://059.qlnk.net/ #gearlive”

BONUS ENTRIES: Want more chances to win? Share the link to our contests on the following sites, and leave us a comment linking to those as well:

  • Facebook: Shared Link
  • Del.icio.us bookmark
  • FriendFeed: Use Post a Link
  • Your blog: Have a site? Link to our contest on it!

Remember: The bonus entries are just that - bonus. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete the core Twitter requirements.

Now, as to the actual contest dates. The contest starts today, December 5th. You have until 11:59 PM PST on December 11th to enter your comments here on this post. We will then announce our winner, chosen randomly out of all valid entrants and bonus points, on December 12th.

Aaaaaand - we’ve got our winner!



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HP Magic

Our HP Magic Giveaway came to a conclusion last night, and, wow, we are calling this one a success, as we just got inundated with entries. We first need to thank everyone involved for entering and spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook, and the like. Of course, there can only be one - but if you feel a swerve coming, read on!

First, the winner was chosen randomly out of all valid entries. The person who came out on top of Ashe, with this comment. I’ve contacted him, he replied, and things are good.

Now, about that swerve. In the original contest, we mentioned that it would be awesome if the winner were to give some of those winnings away. After all, it’s the holiday season, and who really needs 3 notebooks, a desktop, and all that stuff? So, the cool thing here is that Ashe has decided to throw some items back into the pot, and he wants us to do a second giveaway! We will get it set up today, and will run it for another week. The winner will get the following:

That is not too shabby of a prize package right there. Wanna win it? Just head on over to our Gear Live Magic Giveaway page to enter.

Again, thanks to all entrants, and a big thank you to Ashe for giving back.


Read More | Gear Live Magic Giveaway

HP Magic Giveaway

So, a few days ago we told you about our HP Magic Giveaway, and how we’d be giving away an absolutely ridiculous amount of prizes to the winner. Now, we are announcing the the contest has officially started, and we’ve got the details on how you can enter to win. First, though, a refresher on what we are giving away:

Yes, you do see four computers listed, as well as a Media Center Extender. No, you aren’t dreaming. Yes, we (and ) are awesome. You want the goods? Here’s how to enter to win - we are making this super-simple:

  1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Gear Live account
  2. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
  3. Add the Gear Live Twitter account to your follow list
  4. On Twitter, post a tweet about our contest and link to this page. In the tweet, include the phrase “#glmagic”.
  5. Once that is done, leave a comment here in this post with a direct link back to your Tweet. Be sure you are signed in to your Gear Live account before you leave the comment.

Here’s an example of an appropriate Twitter entry:
“Entering to win a ton of HP gear! http://jk9.qlnk.net/ #glmagic”

BONUS ENTRIES: Want more chances to win? Share the link to our contests on the following sites, and leave us a comment linking to those as well:

  • Facebook: Shared Link
  • Del.icio.us bookmark
  • FriendFeed: Use Post a Link
  • Your blog: Have a site? Link to our contest on it!

Remember: The bonus entries are just that - bonus. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete the core Twitter requirements.

Now, as to the actual contest dates. The contest starts today, November 28th. You have until 11:59 PM PST on December 4 to enter your comments here on this post. We will then announce our winner, chosen randomly out of all valid entrants and bonus points, on December 5th. We are also going to encourage (but not require) you to think about donating a portion of the prize package to someone else. It can be a charity, a relative, friend, a fellow contest entrant - anyone. We can even handle the shipping to that third party for you. It’s all in the spirit of giving, and we will let you play Secret Santa, if you so choose.

The contest is open to anyone in the world, which is a rarity. If you are in the US, you’ll even have your tax burden taken care of. What more could you ask for? Now, good luck to all - comments are open!

Update: We’ve announced a winner - and a new contest!



HP Magic GiveawayUPDATE: ENTER OUR HP MAGIC GIVEAWAY CONTEST!

Listen, it’s the holiday season, the economy is going to hell, prices are going up on everything but gas, and you know that no one is going to get you any super-fancy consumer electronics this year. Or, so you thought. You see, once again we are partnering with (along with 49 other sites) to bring you a mind-blowing prize package. That means that you get 50 chances to win the following:

  • HP TouchSmart IQ816
  • HP HDX18 Premium Notebook PC
  • HP Pavilion dv4 Entertainment Notebook PC
  • HP Mini 1000 (Windows XP)
  • HP MediaSmart Connect

Oh, what was that? That isn’t enough? Well, our bad, we though that five computers being given away would be enough. But hey, you pulled our arm, so I guess we’ll also throw in the following:

  • HP Photosmart C6380 Wireless All-in-One printer
  • HP 564 Photo Value Pack
  • Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 with 3 licenses
  • Microsoft WIndows Live
  • Corel VideoStudio X
  • Kung-Fu Panda on Blu-ray disc, and two DVDs

There, now are you happy? We figured as much. Go back and look over that list again - that’s a lot of stuff. In fact, the value of all that is over $6,000 USD. There’s enough there that you could win it all, and give away some of it as gifts to your family or friends - that what the holidays are all about, right? That whole better to give than to receive thing?

We’ll be announcing the contest rules soon, but in the meantime, check out the HP Magic Giveaway page for more information on the prizes, and other participating sites.

Oh, and let us know what you think of this contest in the comments!


Read More | HP Magic Giveaway

Last month, released their long-awaited and redesigned notebook, which spurred a bunch of excitement for all gadget lovers out there. The new unibody enclosure is sleek, and Apple even went out of their way to make it easy to upgrade the critical components that live inside the notebook yourself. Behind one door lies the hard drive and battery, both user-replaceable. Remove a few more screws, and you have direct access to your RAM.

Of course, these things are better explained in video than they are in text, which is why we’re here. In this episode of Bleeding Edge TV, we give you a full tutorial on what you need to do to upgrade the RAM in your new MacBook or MacBook Pro. If you are wondering why you’d want to do this, well, just compare the cost of what Apple charges you for 4GB of RAM versus the cost of buying the RAM yourself from a place like Newegg. You’ll save yourself a couple hundred bucks if you have a few minutes to spare.

Check out the tutorial, and let us know how it goes for you if you end up giving it a try.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
|Download| - MP3





We know a lot of you owners are counting down the days to November 19th, which is the day that everyone will be able to download the dashboard update. Until then, we figured we’d give you a nice, full walkthrough of the update and its interface. Our friends up in Redmond were able to send the update to one of our two Xbox 360 consoles, which in turn, allows us to bring you this exclusive first-look walkthrough.

We show you everything, from the boot-up video, the new HDTV display output options, Xbox avatars, , and a whole lot more. Our early thoughts? We love it. In fact, we love it so much, that we now hate our second Xbox 360, which still has the old, busted blade interface. We want NXE on that one as well.

One thing we mentioned in the video that we need to clarify, though. As it turns out, Netflix HD streaming should be available on other Netflix-enabled hardware devices on November 19th as well, as opposed to HD streaming being exclusive to the Xbox 360 at first.

Oh, and be sure to check our New Xbox Experience gallery if you wanna see some screenshots in addition to the video - and if you have any NXE questions about anything we didn’t cover, or didn’t delve into enough, let us know on the forum.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
|Download| - MP3





So this morning we gave you the scoop on the new Sonos 2.7 features, along with the news of the new (and free) and iPod touch, but we figured you’d be interested in seeing how all this worked. Luckily, Sonos CEO John MacFarlane was able to stop by to give us a first look at all the announcements. In this episode, John walks us through all the new hotness that Sonos announced this morning. That includes a walkthrough of the new iPhone app, which incorporates and supports all those slick new Sonos 2.7 features that we’ve been raving about so early in the morning over here. If you are a music fan, you owe it to yourself to look into Sonos, if you haven’t already.

Oh, and be sure to check our Sonos for iPhone gallery if you wanna see some screenshots of the app in high resolution.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
|Download| - MP3





A few days ago, at the , the company unveiled their newly redesigned (gallery) and (gallery) portables. We were able to get our hands on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro, and in this video, we compare each to their last generation counterpart. That’s right, we put the white MacBook up against the newer aluminum MacBook, compare the older MacBook Pro to the new one, and to top it all off, we bring in a for comparisons sake as well. Hit the video to get a look at all the aluminum and glass unibody goodness.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
|Download| - MP3





In the world of gadgets, thin is definitely in. and are both aware of this, and the companies currently ship the two thinnest notebooks available in the world. We’re talking about the and the 133. We were able to get our hands on both notebooks, and figured we’d put them side-by-side, just so that we could give you a look at the two thinnest portable computers in the world, and allow you to judge for yourself. What do we mean? Well, we think this one is a toss up, due to the shapes of both notebooks. Hit the video, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
|Download| - MP3





Alright, let’s take a break for just a moment away from the standard news fare. We know that you guys love the gadgets, gizmos, and consumer electronics just as much as we do.  These expensive and cool toys are often a marvel when you break them down to the technology that drives them. That’s what makes what we do fun, and why we love the interaction we have with our readers. However, we want to focus a bit of attention on the young ones in our country who would be happy to have a calculator for use in class, and the teachers who work for districts that can’t afford things like projectors for use in their schools.

Gear Live has joined the 2008 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, and we have chosen eight great causes that are centered around getting some basic technology and literature into classrooms located in our local area, as well as some of the hardest areas still suffering the affects of Hurricanes Ike and Katrina. We’ve chosen eight causes that we thought touched on what we believed in, and you can take a look at them and choose which one(s) you want to help. Our goal is to raise $5,000 for the children of our nation. Just know that the money you donate will go directly to that specific teacher request - not into some big pot of money that is then doled out by the organization.

Some of the most expensive purchases for schools are consumer electronics. We believe that all children need to get acquainted with the tools of the future as they learn so they when they are ready to hit the workforce, they can succeed alongside their peers. Please, help us in assisting teachers, children, and schools in low-income areas get the tools they need to help their children excel.


Read More | Gear Live Gives Back 2008

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