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HP described the netbook as 'designed by women for women'. In an attempt to broaden the appeal of its laptop range, this new model was designed by Hong Kong fashion designer Vivienne Tam. The as-yet unnamed laptop will have a red floral design which, it is hoped, will appeal to fashion fans. No technical specifications were available, but it should be on sale by January. The early prototype bore a striking resemblance to HP's 2133 Mini-Note .

The

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new HDX Premium laptops have either 16in or 18.4in displays - these have a 16:9 aspect ratio and a screen resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, making them ideal for Blu-ray playback. HP claims the screens on the HDX Premium series will be noticeably brighter thanks to its dual lamp technology. HP is the latest laptop manufacturer to equip some of its models with 16:9, instead of the more common 16:10, screens. This follows in the footsteps of Acer, Fujitsu Siemens and Sony.

Apart from the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, a TV tuner and a GeForce 9600M GT graphics cards, HP were unable to confirm the exact specifications of either model. The 16in HDX16 will cost around £1,000 inc VAT, while the HDX18 will cost around £1,200 inc VAT. Both models will be available in the UK from mid October 2008.

HP also announced a lightweight laptop, the 2kg HP dv3500. The dv3500's 13.3in screen has a resolution of 1,280x800 pixels and a 16:10 aspect ratio. It has 3GB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk, an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz P8400 processor and a 512MB GeForce 9300M GS graphics card. It will be available later this month for £850 inc VAT.