If you’re a baseball fan and fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, then this post is just for you. Today MSI and the Los Angeles Dodgers have announced special Dodgers limited editions of the Wind Top AE2220 All-in-One PC and the Wind U135DX Netbook.

These limited edition PCs, perfect for Dodgers fans, should start hitting store shelves at select La Curacao store locations very soon. For more information, click here to visit MSI’s special Dodger page.

MSI will be giving away 3 of each limited edition PC on MSI Promotional Night on July 9th at the Dodger Stadium. July 9 through August 9, Dodger fans can also enter into a photo contest showcasing their Dodger spirit. 5 selected winners who demonstrate the most spirit will receive their own limited edition Wind Top AE2220 and Wind U135DX courtesy of MSI.

I figured with everyone (including me) scrambling to finish their taxes, or having already finished and none-to-pleased with the outcome, that it might be a good time to do something a little fun.

Many people who have purchased Windows 7 netbooks in the last few months are likely running Windows 7 Starter. What if you could instantly upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium and take advantage of features like personalizing your Windows 7 desktop with neat Windows 7 themes, or Windows Media Center? You can with Windows Anytime Upgrade. And I’m giving a handful of our readers a chance to upgrade themselves from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium, at no cost.

I’ve got 6 copies of Windows Anytime Upgrade from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium to give away this week!

To enter to win 1 of the 6 copies of Windows Anytime Upgrade I’m giving away, all you need to do is leave a comment telling about your netbook in one short paragraph. I want to know what kind of netbook it is, where you bought it, and what you primarily use it for. I’m in the market for a new netbook and want to see what everyone is using! We will leave comments open on the post through Monday April 19th. On Tuesday, April 20th, we will print off everyone’s comments and randomly draw them from a Windows 7 hat I have here in my office. We will announce the winners in a follow-up blog post on Wednesday April 21st. Must be 14 years or older and a legal US resident to enter. There can only be one entry per person.

In order for your comment to be eligible for the giveaway, it must be appropriate, on-topic, respectful, and constructive. We reserve the right to not count a comment as eligible due to being inappropriate or out of line. Click here for the official rules.

It is also important to note that in order to use this copy of Windows Anytime Upgrade I’m giving away your PC must be running Windows 7 Starter. The copy of Windows Anytime Upgrade that I’m giving away is specifically for upgrading a Windows 7 PC running Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium only.

I look forward to seeing your comment!

I also want to remind folks that if you’re out looking to buy a new PC with the money you may have gotten back from taxes, be on the on the lookout for the Windows Anytime Upgrade offer.

Dell today, is introducing the Vostro 3000 series of Windows PCs targeting specifically at the Small Business customer.

The new thin, lightweight and durable laptop computers feature powerful processors, high-end graphics and built-in security, and are designed for small businesses; helping them stretch their budget and protect their data, and come with dedicated small business services and support to keep a small businesses moving.

Vostro 3000 series consists of a 17” model (Vostro 3700), a 15” model (Vostro 3500), a 14” model (Vostro 3400), and a 13” model (Vostro 3300). And they come packing quite a “punch”.

The Vostro 3000 series will come with the latest Intel Core processors, including, the optional the quad-core Intel Core i7 processor available on the Vostro 3700. The Vostro 3300 is one of the thinnest commercial 13” laptops with an integrated optical drive. And the Vostro 3400 can offer up to a full day of productivity while “out-and-about” with up to 8 hours (based on lab testing and could vary by configuration) of battery life with an optional 9-cell battery. The Vostro 3700, 3500, and 3400 can come with an optional high-definition WLED screen and the 3700 offers up to 1GB NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics.

All of the Vostro 3000 series PCs ship with built-in microphones and webcams as well, a full range of wireless options including 802.11g/n, Bluetooth, and mobile broadband. Oh and Dell is also offering an optional fingerprint reader too!

For more information on the new Vostro 3000 Series Windows PCs, see this blog post on Direct2Dell by Alex Gruzen, Senior Vice President for Dell Consumer and SMB. More photos of the Vostro 3000 Series can be seen here on Dell’s Flickr page.

The Vostro 3000 Series of Windows PCs look to be a powerful family of business-class PCs perfect for the small business user.

Lately, folks have been talking a bit about HDMI. HDMI is a special type of connection designed to deliver digital content from one device to another audio or video device through a single connection. That content can be standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) movies or something as simple as MP3 music. HDMI is a completely digital connection, as it transmits uncompressed digital data. It is a standard that is replacing the old-style analog connections such as S-Video and VGA. A common use for HDMI today is connecting devices like a PC or an Xbox 360 to a HDTV.

As I had been seeing a lot of talk about HDMI, I realized that HDMI is very common today in Windows PCs. In looking at the PCs I currently have in my office and at home, the majority of them have HDMI. Those PCs include my Dell Studio 1555, Dell Inspiron Zino HD, Acer Aspire Revo, Toshiba Satellite E205, Acer Aspire 1420P (the “PDC laptop”), ASUS G71Gx, HP TouchSmart 600, and HP Envy 13. These PCs span a variety of form factors from small “nettops” to full-blown all-in-one PCs. Even netbooks are now shipping with HDMI (it’s smaller than the VGA connection).

All the above mentioned PCs are running Windows 7 of course. What’s great about Windows 7 and HDMI is that when I plug any of these laptops into a HDTV via HDMI, it recognizes the display and sets the screen resolution correctly. And because HDMI does not just do video but audio too, it also brings in the audio. During the holidays while visiting my parents, I connected the HP Envy 13 I was using at the time to my dad’s 52” HDTV. We rented several movies from the Zune Marketplace and watched this in full HD on his HDTV.

Of the PCs I mentioned above – the Acer Aspire Revo and Dell Inspiron Zino HD are prefect little Home Theater PCs (HTPCs) with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center. And with HDMI – a single cable connected to an HDTV is all one needs to watch movies, play music, go through family photos, watch DVDs, or even watch live TV*.

*You’ll need a TV tuner to watch live TV in Windows Media Center. Some PCs are so small they don’t support any additional hardware inside the actual system. Not to worry! You can pick up a USB TV tuner which works just fine! I’ll talk about this in a later blog post.

You can also add HDMI to existing desktop PCs (for the folks out there that like building their own desktop PCs) fairly inexpensively. Many graphics cards today are shipping with HDMI built in. Earlier this month, I blogged about 2 new affordable DirectX 11 graphics cards from AMD: the Radeon HD 5570 and Radeon HD 5450.Both these graphics cards come with HDMI.

Many Windows PCs ship with Blu-ray playback capabilities. You can use your PC to play Blu-ray movies. With HDMI, you can connect a Windows PC to an HDTV and watch Blu-ray movies on your HDTV without having to go out and buy a standalone Blu-ray player. Most of Windows PCs that ship with Blu-ray also ship with software for Blu-ray playback. I also did a blog post about Corel WinDVD Pro 2010 last December which is Compatible with Windows 7. Corel WinDVD Pro 2010 is an excellent application for Blu-ray playback in Windows 7 as well.

Today, HP has unveiled several new Windows  7 PCs targeted specifically at business customers ranging from small and medium businesses to the enterprise.

First up is their brand new multitouch enabled Tablet PC – the HP EliteBook 2740p Tablet PC.

The 2740p Tablet comes with a 12.1 LED display (at 1280x800 screen resolution) and weighs in at 3.8 pounds. It will ship with Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and support up to 8GB of total memory (DDR3). It will support standard hard drives as well as either an 80GB or 160GB SSD. Its keyboard is designed to be spill resistant with drains. The 2740p also ships with integrated HP Mobile Broadband supporting EV-DO and HSPA (a mobile carrier service will be needed of course) and also includes GPS. TPM 1.2 is also included – perfect for BitLocker user in keeping data safe and secure which is super important to businesses. HP went all out with this Tablet PC by supporting the MIL-STD 810G military standard for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude, and high temperatures. The HP EliteBook 2740p will start at $1,599 (USD) and is expected to be available next month in the U.S. For more on the specs for the 2740p, click here to read the Data Sheet (PDF) from HP.

Next up is the HP EliteBook 2540p.

The 2540p also comes with a 12.1 LED display (at 1280x800 screen resolution), Intel’s Core i5 and i7 processors, supports up to 8GB of memory (DDR3), and also supports the MIL-STD 810G military standard. It also comes with integrated HP Mobile Broadband (including GPS) just like the 2740p Tablet PC. The 2540p includes a fingerprint reader – perfect for the Windows Biometric Framework in Windows 7 – and TPM 1.2 for keeping data secure with BitLocker. In an effort to help protect natural resources – the 2540p has post-consumer recycled plastic resin in at least 12% of total plastic content on the PC. The HP EliteBook 2540p will start at $1,099 (USD) and is expected to also be available next month in the U.S. For more on the specs for the 2540p, click here to read the Data Sheet (PDF) from HP.

HP is also introducing brand new designs for their HP ProBook s-series PCs. The new design features a brushed-aluminum metal case and a matte surface which will be available in either available in “caviar” or “Bordeaux”.

The HP ProBook s-series will offer HD LED-backlit displays in the following screen sizes:

• 13.3 inch - HP ProBook 4320s | Click here for the Data Sheet
• 14 inch - HP ProBook 4420s | Click here for the Data Sheet
• 15.6 inch - HP ProBook 4520s | Click here for the Data Sheet
• 17.3 inch - HP ProBook 4720s | Click here for the Data Sheet

HP will ship their ProBook s-series PCs with Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and include a choice of Intel HD Graphics or discrete graphics option featuring AMD’s ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4350. The HP ProBook s-series will start at $719 (USD) and also should be available in the U.S. next month.

For business customers always on the go – these new Windows 7 PCs are worth looking at.

Want to avoid the mad rush to the malls this weekend? You can shop right from home this holiday season at the online Microsoft Store.

The Microsoft Store has some smoking hot deals that they will be unveiling starting this Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). However they are letting me exclusively reveal some of their deals for you today! Here are just some of the deals they will be featuring during this holiday season:

• Free Lenovo S10 netbook when you buy a Lenovo T400 or X301 notebook, or A600 All-in-one desktop PC.
• Free shipping on everything for a limited time.
• Get an amazing deal on Office Home & Student—just $79.99.  That’s a savings of $70!  Or save almost $80 on Office Small Business Edition.
• Free 3-month subscription to Xbox LIVE when you buy an Xbox Elite Console—or get 30% off selected Xbox accessories.
• Get $50 off an HP Photosmart Printer.
• Save $50 when you buy an Xbox Premium Console and Beatles Rock Band together.
• 30% off select headsets for that gamer on your list.
• Save $50 on any monitor when you buy any desktop or laptop in the store (Netbooks not included).

Click here to go to the Microsoft Store for complete details, and remember that these deals are just for a limited time.

It’s going to be a season full of bargains, so make sure you don’t miss out.