Brandon’s Guide to Awesome New Windows 7 PCs

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:20:06 GMT

Many of you may be on the market for a new Windows 7 PC. Our partners are delivering new PCs we think you will love and just in time for the holidays! Below are hot and slick looking Windows 7 PCs in categories we think will be big for holiday 2009.

Please note that many of the PCs with features mentioned below are just one of many configurations these PCs come with. Many of these PCs can be configured and customized to your liking.

All-in-one PCs:

Sony VAIO L Series: Features a Quad Core processor, 24” widescreen touch display, discrete graphics, lots of memory and storage.
Dell Studio One 19: Features a Quad Core processor, lots of storage, a Blu-ray combo drive and an 18.5" multitouch HD widescreen display.
HP TouchSmart 300z Series: Features discrete graphics, an optional built-in TV tuner and a 20" multitouch widescreen display.

Ultra-thin PCs:

Acer Aspire 4810T: Offers a 14" screen, good battery life, and weighs only 2.4 lbs.
Dell Adamo 13: Features a slick looking aluminum chassis, 13.4" edge-to-edge HD display, ultra-slim .65" profile, Bluetooth and optional Mobile Broadband.
Toshiba Satellite T135: Features a 13.3" HD widescreen display, full size keyboard, 1.5" profile and weighs 4.7 lbs.

Touch PCs:

Lenovo ThinkPad T400smt: A lightweight Laptop PC with a 14.1" multitouch display, integrated webcam, and dual-channel digital microphone.
Toshiba Satellite M500: Features a lightweight, 14.1" touch screen and specializes in mobility. Note that not all M500 models feature Windows Touch however.

Netbook PCs:

HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje: Features both style and mobility with its 10.1" HD widescreen – and just 2.35 lbs.
Toshiba mini NB205: Weighs 3 lbs., has 3G Mobile Broadband and good battery life.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2: Features a multitouch pad, and a 10.1" LED backlit screen.

But wait! There’s more! Here are some other great PCs that really show off some of things customers do on their PCs everyday (yes, some people game every day):

Great Gaming PCs:

Falcon NW Fragbox: A portable desktop PC with a Quad Core processor, discrete graphics, lots memory and storage.
Alienware M17x: Features Dual GPUs, a Quad Core processor and 12GB of DDR3 memory (that’s a lot of memory!).
Asus G51Vx: A 15" gaming laptop PC featuring NVIDIA graphics with dedicated 1GB of memory, and a backlit gaming keyboard.

More Multimedia PCs:

Dell Studio XPS 16: Features premium ATI graphics, optional Intel Core i7 processor configuration, and your choice of either a 15.6" LED or 16" RGBLED seamless display.
HP Pavilion dv8t: Features an 18.4" HD widescreen, Blu-ray drive, TV tuner, and premium sound system with subwoofer and Dolby audio.
Toshiba Satellite A505: Features discrete graphics (certain configurations), a dual-core CPU, and premium surround sound speakers, and a HD 16" screen.
Lenovo IdeaPad Y650: A very stylish, thin, and light notebook at only 1 inch thick and weighing only 5.6 lbs.

All Around Great Everyday PCs:

Dell Studio XPS 13: Features a 13.3" edge-to-edge display, backlit keyboard and NVIDIA graphics.
Toshiba Satellite U500: Versatility, power and style and touch capable. A 13.3” mobile do-it-all machine.

Work from Anywhere (Mobility):

HP Pavilion dm3: Features a 13.3” ultra wide screen display and NVIDIA graphics, under 4 lbs. and 1 inch thin with great battery life.
Lenovo ThinkPad X200T: Features a lightweight form factor, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and is a Tablet PC (great for taking notes during meetings!).

Safeguard Your Work:

Lenovo ThinkPad X301: Features GPS, Bluetooth and Unified wireless capabilities.
HP ProBook 5310: Features a 13.3” HD LED display with integrated mobile broadband and a thin and lightweight design.

We are also making it easier for customers to choose which Windows PC is right for them with an updated version of Windows PC Scout (previously known as Windows Laptop Scout).

Windows PC Scout has been completely updated with new PCs and new ways of helping customers better identify the PC they want based on their needs. Essentially Windows PC Scout “Simplifies your search” for the right PC. There are a couple of ways Windows PC Scout will help you find the PC you want:

Laptop 101: Educates you on Laptop PCs.
Usage: Discover how certain Laptop PCs are used for specific needs.
Recommend: Match your needs with quality-checked Laptop PCs by Microsoft. Windows PC Scout provides clear recommendations on Windows PCs at a variety of price points.
Buy: Once you’ve found a PC, Windows PC Scout makes it easy to click through to purchase the right PC for them through major retailers, the online Microsoft Store or PC manufacturer websites.

If you’re looking for a new Windows 7 PC – give Windows PC Scout a spin!

As you can see, there is such an amazing variety of Windows 7 PCs for you to choose!

How I produce my videos with Windows Vista

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:05:00 GMT

As you probably already noticed, I've been doing quite a bit of posts that include video demos of devices and software in my posts. A few folks have asked me how I produce these videos and I'd like to outline the exact process I use in producing these videos for a blog post.

For software demos (like my recent Windows Live SkyDrive demo) I use Camtasia Studio 4 to capture my screen and I publish out to a WMV file I then upload to MSN Soapbox.

However when shooting actual footage of me demoing a device (like the Fingerprint Reader) or events coverage (like WinHEC 2007) - I have a pretty standard step-by-step process I use every time I shoot video. First off: I always shoot video in HD (1080i specifically). Secondly: in grabbing and editing video I shoot of my digital camcorder, everything I use is a feature that ships in Windows Vista. Let's take a look at my step-by-step process to see what I mean:

Step 1: I shoot the video using my Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Handycam which shoots in 1080i and 16:9 widescreen. For events, such as when I was at WinHEC, I shoot usually without a tripod. For footage such as close-up demos of hardware and devices - I have a tripod that I use with the camcorder to get steady footage. I don't want to make anyone seasick with wobbly video. The HDR-HD3 comes with a remote which allows me set up the camcorder and tripod for the best shot and quickly hit record without having to physically be behind the camera. I can focus on doing the video.

Step 2: After I shoot the video, I hook up my HDR-HDC to my Windows Vista PC via Firewire. Windows Vista automatically detects the camcorder without the need of searching for any required drivers which is absolutely wonderful.

Step 3: I open up Windows Movie Maker to import the footage off my HD-HDC. Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate come with the built-in ability to bring in raw HD footage off of a HD camcorder. I use Windows Vista Ultimate on the PC I use for producing my videos.

Step 4: Using the Import Video Wizard in Windows Movie Maker - I import my HD video shot from my camcorder into Windows Vista.

Step 5: Using Windows Movie Maker - I edit the clip I want to publish. I split the video, move video around, add transitions (I usually use "Fade") and also add custom graphics such as my Windows Vista Team Blog graphic you can see at the end of several of my videos.

Step 6: After I have the video edited to how I like it - I publish the video from Windows Movie Maker.

Step 7: Windows Movie Maker gives you several options in publishing videos. I choose to publish videos under the "Windows Media Portable Device" template which publishes videos out at 1.0Mbps, 640x480, and 30 frames per second. I've found this sitting gives me decent quality and small file sizes for publishing videos on MSN Soapbox.

Step 8: I take the video I published out from Windows Movie Maker and import it into MSN Soapbox. MSN Soapbox then lets me embed the video into a blog post.

That's how I produce videos for blog posts from shooting the footage to embedding the Soapbox player in a post.

Take note that Windows Vista natively supports bringing in HD content from a HD camcorder and lets you edit those HD videos. After importing my HD footage into Windows Vista, I can take that HD content and stream it to a HDTV using my Xbox 360. It looks wonderful. I can also burn it onto a DVD and give it to friends or family to watch too (just not in HD though). I sometimes take my HD video and put it onto my laptop to edit video while traveling too.

Because of the ease of producing videos with Windows Vista, you can continue to expect to see more videos here moving forward.

Windows Experience Blog : Multimedia

Brandon’s Guide to Awesome New Windows 7 PCs

How I produce my videos with Windows Vista