So “What the hell is the HP DreamScreen 130?” I hear you ask. Well my friend this is a new device from Hewlett Packard which combines digital entertainment with wireless internet access and wraps it up in an attractive package which looks like a digital photo frame. It has the potential to be very useful depending on your own particular entertainment and web habits. Let’s take a closer look.
The HP DreamScreen 130 measures 11.3 x 17.5 x 2.8 inches and weighs around 5.4 pounds, so it is quite a hefty device. There is a smaller version, the HP DreamScreen 100. The set-up process is fairly straightforward and you don’t need a PC. Simply plug in the device and enter your wireless network password to connect to the Internet. The onscreen keyboard can be used with the small remote control and while it isn’t the most efficient way to write it works perfectly well for limited use.
Once you have accessed your network you can get to content on your PC, either wirelessly or via the Ethernet port. You can also plug in a memory card to instantly access photos or video.
HP is best known for manufacturing computers, but your average PC is a bulky device and it takes a while to power up. The DreamScreen gives you instant access to your media and various applications online. It is not a PC, so there is no Windows or Linux operating system. This means you can turn it on and access things instantly (or at least after a short delay as you navigate the menu). Application choices are limited, but you can get weather forecasts, access friend’s messages on Facebook, stream music from your Pandora account, or use HP’s online photo service Snapfish. There is also a radio service from HP and alarm clock and calendar functionality.
The screen itself offers a top resolution of 800 x 480 pixels (with upscaling to 1280 x 800 pixels) and an aspect ratio of 16:9. It has 2 GB of memory, but you can only use 1.5 GB of that, although you can always plug in a memory card or USB drive for more. There are built in stereo speakers which offer reasonable sound. The Wi-Fi is at 802.11 b or g standard.
There are 2 USB ports and a 6-in-2 memory card reader. There is also an Ethernet port and a headphone jack which can be used for external speakers. The touch controls sit around the frame and there is a small remote control which is easy to use.
It can stream music and photos, but video files have to be loaded directly from a memory card or USB drive. It does support a decent range of formats, MPEG 1, 2, 4 and H.264 for video, JPEG, BMP and PNG for photos and MP3, WMA, AAC and WAV for audio.