Techmamas

Techie Diva's Electronics Stimulus Plan - And One From TechMama

***********WINNERS OF VIVIENNE TAM MOUSE VIA RANDOM.ORG - TOP 2 WIN!:

List Randomizer

There were 4 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Chefdruck
2. Glennia
3. shellie
4. Leticia

Chefdruck and Glennia - you win a mouse! I will contact you for more details.
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My gadget buddy Techie Diva has an Electronics Stimulus plan that President Obama would be proud of. Take a look at here post to see what she is giving away by CLICKING HERE!!

To join in the fun, I thought it was a good time to give away TWO HP/Vivienne Tam Wireless Optical Mouses. TO ENTER, please comment on this post about my adventures with the HP Mini Vivienne Tam edition and share how you would use the netbook. On Tuesday March 3, I will choose two commenters using random.org.

****CONTEST DETAILS:

I do have to ship the mouses myself so I ask that you live or I can ship to a CALIFORNIA ADDRESS (Or I am happy to hand deliver if the winner will be at BlogHer in Chicago this summer - I will be there). COMMENT ON MY ADVENTURES WITH HP MINI VIVIENNE TAM EDITION POST by Tuesday March 3rd with what adventures you would take the HP Mini Vivienne Tam Edition on.  Two winners will each win ONE HP/Vivienne Tam Optical Wireless Mouse.

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I went to the HP/Vivienne Tam NYC Fashion Week event - which I will post about with juicy pictures in a few days - including an interview with Vivienne Tam explaining how she designed the HP Mini Vivienne Tam edition for people to feel as if they were working in the garden while using, and it has that effect on me.... More to come..

QVC is selling them, and had this handy description for more details:

"High tech gets a high-fashion makeover in this unique wireless mouse. Runway-ready with a chic peony pattern created by designer Vivienne Tam, the sleek and stylish device features precision tracking over virtually any surface.

Simply plug the tiny USB receiver into your notebook's USB port, and your wireless mouse is ready to go--without the hassle of cord or cable clutter. It's fashion and function at its finest! From HP.

• Includes wireless optical mouse, micro USB receiver, and 2 AA batteries
• High-performance 800 dpi resolution
• Advanced 2.4GHz cordless technology
• Measures approximately 3-3/4" x 1-1/8" x 2"

Mom Fashion Adventures at the Launch of the HP Mini Vivienne Tam Netbook

Of all the mom adventures I have taken the HP Mini Vivienne Tam on, last nights was the biggest adventure of all. We are in New York City and had the opportunity to go to the Vivienne Tam fashion show.  Vivienne Tam welcomed the big group of bloggers with open arms and a sincere interest in our feedback.

 

The dresses were beautiful, I am saving my allowances to buy one of myself. Mother's of three boys need their dresses!

 

Umm, yes that is the fabulous Vivienne Tam with TechMama /Beth Blecherman holding the fashionable digital clutch - HP Mini Vivienne Tam Edition. To make the night even more perfect, I am wearing a Black Vivienne Tam dress.

 

Techie Diva with Vivienne Tam

Mama Bird Diaries/ New York City Moms Blogger Kelcey with Vivienne Tam.

More pictures coming hot off the SD slot from my HP Mini which I will use to update my post tomorrow. For now, off to sleep...

UPDATE: Here is a Flickr Badge with the pictures the group took during our fabulous fashion tech adventure:

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing public items from the HP / Vivienne Tam Fashion Week Event group pool. Make your own badge here.

Disclosure: I was given a Vivienne Tam HP Netbook and accessories for review and the trip was provided to me as part of a review campaign.

TechMama Heads To NYC For HP/Vivenne Tam Fashion Tech-o-Rama

Blogging from New York City:

After heading to CES where I had a chance to see the new netbooks, I not only added a netbook category but decided that the netbook is going to be one of the premier mom gadgets.  They are light and small enough to carry in a purse, but offer enough functionality for computing on the go. To further my own obsession with netbooks, I decided to do reviews to try them out for myself. 

My first netbook review was the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition. I was happy to have received my review unit in time to use it at CES, instead of carrying around my functional but heavy laptop. To do a true mom review, I decided to take the HP Mini review unit on the road during my mom tasks.  Here is the link to my post that lists some of the recent adventures I had with my the HP Mini Vivianne Tam Edition review unit (pictures from my camera and my BlackBerry).

There are a group of bloggers that are also reviewing the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition. We were all invited to come to NYC during Fashion Week to meet with the design team and sneak in a Vivienne Tam Fashion show. This beautiful "digital clutch" is the start of an exciting trend to that brings fashion to technology. Meeting with the design team that made it happen helps me reach one of the goals I had starting Techmamas: to start a discussion with the teams that design products for families/women - which will help improve feedback mechanisms on both sides.

Here is a picture of those that arrived early enough to meet-up in the lobby. Photo credit to Judie of Gear Diary (second from right). Terri of Moblie PC World was kind enough to take the picture. I will fill in more names of those in the picture tomorrow.

Morningside Mom's (last on the right) wrote a Big Apple summary post with links to the bloggers that will be in NYC:

CES 09: Hands On with the * Soon to be Released * Dell Mini 10 Netbook

I was sitting at the CES Dell press meeting typing up a post on the Dell Mini "9" when I decided to take a look at their other netbook offerings. On display, they also had the Dell Mini 12". When I asked if there were any other size netbooks, they offered me a chance to view the soon to be released Dell 10"Inspiron Mini Netbook. I was excited to get a hands on with the Dell Mini 10. I saw that  Engadget and Laptog Mag also posted with hands on details on the Dell Inspiron Mini 10.  

Listed below are some of the details about the *soon to be released* Dell Mini 10 (Inspiron) Netbook.

Here are some preliminary specs that were discussed at CES, but final details will be released soon. I am trying to wait patiently, because this netbook is perfect for mobile computing and more:

CES 09 - Dell Offering Inspiron Mini 9 for $99 (after rebate) with AT&T Laptop Connect

UPDATED 1/10 PRESS RELEASE FROM DELL on special offer for the $99 Inspiron Mini

Updated 1/10 - Preview of the soon to be released Dell Inspiron Mini 10" will be posted on Techmamas.com later tonight. I now call the Inspiron Mini 10" the must buy for moblie computing and media playing.

I am currently at CES visiting the Dell Suites to hear their announcements for the day. Engadget is sitting next to me, they blogged about the new Adamo. I decided to take the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for a test drive, using it to blog about another exciting announcement that came out today:

Announced via press release:

Dell and AT&T "energizes on-the-go lifestyles with special select offer - Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for $99 after $350 Dell Mail-in rebate - regularly $449. Systems available only with purchase of a qualifying two-year AT&T LaptopConnect Agreement. Offer EXPIRES Jan. 31, 2009."

Dell also committed to introduce a 10-inch Mini in the near future.

Mini notebooks are not only light enough to carry in a handbag, but offers computing and entertainment on the go. The AT&T LaptopConnect (and other broadband cards) enables Internet access on the road without depending on finding Wi-Fi connections.

Here are the details for the special offer:

1. Purchase the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 by January 31, 2009 and save $100 (regularly $549 - cost of $449 with instant savings).

2. Eligible for an additional $350 mail-in rebate with 2 year activation of AT&T LaptopConnect. That offer expires: Thursday, February 19, 2009.

And to summarize it all:

 $549 Starting price for the Dell Inspiron Mini 9

-$100  Instant rebate (if purchase by Jan. 31, 2009)

 $449  Subtotal

-$350 Mail in rebate after purchasing AT&T LaptopConnect  by Thursday, February 19, 2009 (separate cost for that service which varies by device and plan).

 $99 Total cost of Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

To answer questions on the cost of the AT&T LaptopConnect that I have received, the Dell press release quoted this:

"Requires the purchase of a two-year AT&T Laptop Connect agreement for $60 per month. Additional fees apply."

CES 09 Using The HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition at CntrStg

I am here at CntrStg (CES) typing this post on my HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition series review unit. CntrStg not only has interesting seminars by day, but food, beverages and lots of good techie discussions at night.

I find having a mini notebook at conferences very useful - it does not take up too much room in my briefcase and is light to carry (2.45 pounds).  I also find that the color and design is a head turner when I bring the computer out next to a sea of black laptops. I get lots of oh's and ah's.. While some men at the conference said that they would like to get one for their wives, one man asked why he would have to give it to his wife - that he wanted one for himself. I said that the HP Mini also comes in black so he has choices.

HP Mini 1000 Vivianne Tam series operating system is Windows XP, which is easy to use. For the installation, I basically just turned the computer on and followed the instructions on the screen. The wireless functionality on the PC identified the wireless networks in the area, and accepted my USB Broadband card when I tested that by plugging it into the USB port.  The built in webcam and speakers drivers were loaded and ready to go while Intel's Atom processor enabled  enough speed for web surf/social networking on the go. The only limitation I had when trying to Twitter was that the site was over-capacity. 1GB ram is adequate for mobile blogging and the 60GB hard drive has plenty of space for moblie apps, documents and media (such as pictures, MP3 files and videos).

Fashion Meets Tech: Vivienne Tam HP Mini 1000

HP generously shipped out a Vivienne Tam HP Mini 1000 for me to review. I just opened the box last night before I got on the CES Lovesac Blogger Bus so I will be reporting back with my thoughts. It not only has pretty flowers, but has lots of functionality (including Windows XP, weight of 2.45 pounds,  built in networking and webcam/microphone). The peony-inspired design was created by award-winning designer Vivienne Tam with HP and is called a "digital clutch" (because although it is just a netbook - it is the size of a clutch bag). The cross over of a fashion designer working with a technology company is a trend I hope continues. Because the result gives a new adjective to mobile computing (fashionable).

It fits in a small handbag.