HP posts

The dust of Black Friday has settled and with limited quantities now sold out, shoppers have a second chance to score savings on Cyber Monday sales. Rather than promoting specific deals this year we are seeing broad savings across entire categories such as books, jewelry, luxury goods, laptops, HDTVs, eyewear and more.

Here are a collection of Cyber Monday deals to help you finish up your holiday shopping.

Borders Cyber Monday specials:

• Buy-one-get-one 60% off (Online and in store)
• 50% off priority shipping
• Free standard shipping on orders over $10.

Seasoned Black Friday shoppers know that the best way to save during this all-important shopping day is to plot out a course of action ahead of time. That means knowing what you want and where to get it -- at the lowest possible price, of course.

Such planning entails scouring the Black Friday ads and comparing prices and selection. To help ease the load, WalletPop has done some of the legwork for you. We've combed through the ads that have been released so far and dug up the best deals on everything from high-definition TVs and Blu-ray players to tools and sweaters.

Black Friday deals are already appealing, with plenty of Black Friday laptop deals and clothing deals and plenty more. But what would you say if you could get an extra; 5%, 10%, 20%, or even 35% off of your purchase in the form of cash back just by starting your holiday shopping on Bing.com?

For a limited time on Black Friday, November 27th, Bing will offer bigger cash-back rewards as part of their Bing Goldrush promotion. This will include cash-back amounts from 5 to 35 percent from retailers such as Macy's, Sears, The Gap, AT&T, Walmart, eBay, HP and many more.

More good news leaked out today for anyone looking for a Black Friday laptop deal. Both the Office Depot Black Friday ad and the Dell Black Friday ad have appeared online and show a selection of cheap laptops, digital cameras, monitors and other electronics.

If you are looking to stay warm and toasty on Black Friday you can hit up Dell where there are deals to be found on netbooks, notebooks and desktops as well as a few decently priced accessories.

If you were one of the thousands of shoppers who purchased a new computer since June 26 and are expecting a free upgrade to Windows 7 you may find yourself paying to get that "free" upgrade.

Mouseprint.org dug through the fine print of the free Windows 7 upgrade offers and found out that while the actual Windows 7 license is free you could pay $11-$17 in shipping, handling and other fees.

During their investigation, Mouseprint found that the following manufacturers are charging at least some of their customers for a free Windows 7 upgrade.

• Compaq - $12.99 for the first kit.
• HP - $12.99 for the first kit.
• Lenovo - $17.03
• Sony - $14.99
• Toshiba - $11.25/$12.99

We've already covered that the Back to School season is one of the best times to buy a laptop, but now thanks to HP and Bing the deals are even better.

Bing Cashback, formerly known as Live Cashback, is offering 25% back on all HP purchases which originate from the Bing.com search engine. And, students and teachers can save even more by buying through the HP Academic Purchase Program. - Update: Cashback is no longer eligible for educational discount purchases.

On top of the Bing Cashback and APP savings, shoppers are eligible for any non-coupon specials including discounts on netbooks, laptops, desktops and accessories.

Wal-Mart recently finished judging a competition amongst its suppliers to produce environmentally friendly packaging that protected the product while using consumer-attractive design. The winner was an HP laptop that is shipped and sold in a stylish carrying bag made from 100% recycled materials. This specific laptop, the HP Pavilion dv6929, not only uses 97% less packaging but also requires fewer trucks to deliver, thanks to the smaller container.

Given the fact that in 2006 6,000 people made visits to emergency rooms due to the cursed plastic coffins that many retailers keep gadgets in, I wholeheartedly applaud this move on an anger management level alone! The added benefit of reducing the usage of cardboard while providing the consumer with a carrying case is a wonderfully useful idea. Normally when I get a new gadget the first thing I have to purchase is a new carrying case which leads me to agree with Matthew from Geek.com: This kind of packaging would be a welcome change to the gadget world.

This innovative and useful packaging simply knocks this product out of the park for both Wal-Mart and HP. The price for this energy star-rated laptop is $798 including the messenger bag, which it is packaged in. Without specs I can't comment on how good of a deal it is in computing terms, but I'd expect something which would provide enough umph for the average college student. Here's to hoping my next laptop, cell phone and video game console come with a cool carrying case instead of a blister pack!

Chances are, unless your budding intellectual is heading off this fall to become a graphic designer or a mechanical engineer, you don't need to take out a second mortgage just to get them a new computer.

The Dollar Stretcher provides plenty of reasons why every student should have a computer at their disposal when they enter the hallowed halls of Academe, despite the already high price tag that comes with college. Today there are more choices than ever before when it comes to finding a computer that fits your student's needs.

And as The Dollar Stretcher also points out, forgoing a Mac and picking up discounted student software at the college bookstore will save you lots right upfront.

The article points out a cool new model of laptops called subnotebooks that are small, low-powered, low-cost laptops which are suitable for handling typical student activities such as paper writing and web surfing. If you are looking for a more traditional notebook this fall there are still plenty of deals to be had on laptops and desktops which pack a little more punch. Purchasing a refurbished laptop or PC is a great way to save and still get a decently spec'ed out machine.

Here are a few deals out there right now on good back to school machines.

Monday's New York Times had a good story about retired HP employees serving the company in a variety of ways. The work is unpaid, and that's fine by these folks -- a group ranging from still-very-vital college professors in their early '60's, right on up to guys in their '90s (some of whom retired wealthy through years of HP stock accumulation), who recall lunching with Mssrs. Hewlett and Packard themselves.

If it's not about the money, and knowing that many of these people have other (paying) things to do, what gives? Particularly when you read that the work can include Saturdays at Circuit City touting HP laptops to listless aisle crawlers.

It's about social connection. During our working lives, and I'd argue even more in retirement, we need to feel like we belong to something bigger than ourselves.