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Lenovo, Asus and HP all make great laptops under $500, and depending on what kind of configuration you're looking for, they can be even cheaper. We're basing these rankings on the fact most have Intel i3 processors that will support users who don't have any super-heavy lifting to do with their machines. They'll multitask fairly well, but not at a high speed. Gamers and video editors will likely not find much here to like, but if you are on a budget or if you are looking for something...

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 - Hewlett Packard Co will merge its printer and PC businesses, combining two of its largest divisions as Chief Executive Meg Whitman tries to jumpstart growth at the technology company.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 - Hewlett Packard Co will merge its printer and PC businesses, combining two of its largest divisions as Chief Executive Meg Whitman tries to jump-start growth at the technology company.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), the No. 1 computer company, said it will merge its PC with its printers unit, amid other internal changes ordered by new CEO Meg Whitman.

Hewlett Packard Co CEO Meg Whitman plans to combine the computing giant's PC and printing divisions in a major internal overhaul intended to spur combined sales of hardware to customers, two sources familiar with the move told Reuters.

Hewlett-Packard plans to combine its imaging and printing operations with its Personal Systems Group, according to technology-news site AllThingsD.

HP showed off the Envy 14 Spectre at the CES show in January, but it's on sale now for starting at $1,400. Samsung also had debuted an updated Series 9 at CES and the 900X3B is out now with the same price as the Envy 14 but with a 13-inch screen. For these prices, we expect high-powered computing with little wiggle room. No computer design is perfect, and there are always trade-offs, so let's see who can come out on top in this laptop battle.

Despite experiencing macro-economic challenges in 2011 due to component shortage and fierce price wars among global vendors, Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer Inc successfully claimed the number one position in the desktop category in India during the year.

Top-tier technology companies including Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), among others, all buy back shares. Qualcomm and Applied Materials have just refreshed their buyback programs and hiked their dividends, too.

Shares of IBM set a new high of $201.57 after new CEO Virginia Rometty said the No. 2 computer services company was “uniquely positioned” to deliver benefits of “a gusher of data” flowing into the global economy.

Mark Twain would have been amused by the remarks of new Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook last week when he announced the post-PC era. As Twain observed after reading his obituary, The report of my death was an exaggeration.

Shares of IBM (NYSE: IBM) are above $200 for only the second time in the No. 2 computer company’s 101-year history, valuing it at $232.4 billion.

The global PC market should expand 4.4 percent in 2012, greatly exceeding 2011’s anemic 0.5 percent, gain market researcher Gartner (NYSE: IT) predicted.

It's finally here... and the new iPad, as Tim Cook referred to it (neither an iPad 3 nor a 2S) sports a stunning display and an array of spellbinding features that will silent Android competitors like Samsung and Amazon for quite some time.

Janus Capital Group cut the pay of its chief executive sharply last year and put new compensation guidelines in place after it lost a shareholder "Say on Pay" vote, the Denver asset manager said in a proxy filing on Thursday.

Dell Inc launched a new line of servers for enterprise customers, boosting its corporate business unit and shifting its focus further away from consumers, who are increasingly choosing such devices as Apple Inc's iPad.

Five months into her tenure, is new Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman really up to the job? Chances are no and the indications she gave last week are that she may never measure up.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co fell more than 7 percent Thursday, after the world's No. 1 computer maker posted a sharp decline in quarterly earnings and warned it would take several years to turn around its sprawling businesses.

Stocks ticked higher on Thursday after a labor market report indicated the economy was slowly recovering, but the data wasn't enough for the S&P 500 to significantly extend recent gains.

U.S. stocks ticked higher on Thursday after a labor market report indicated the economy was slowly recovering, but the data wasn't enough for the S&P 500 to significantly extend recent gains.

Stocks rose on Thursday after a labor market report indicated the economy was slowly recovering, but the data was not enough to push the S&P convincingly above a 10-month high.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), the world’s biggest computer company, fell as much as 7 percent Thursday after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations but issued a mediocre earnings forecast.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest computer company, will likely fall Thursday after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations but issued a mediocre earnings forecast.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.24 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.34 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.52 percent at 1000 GMT.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co were down 2 percent in premarket trading on Thursday after the world's No. 1 computer maker posted a sharp decline in quarterly earnings and warned it would take several years to turn around its sprawling businesses.

Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc are keeping a close eye on a big jump in wages for workers that assemble Apple Inc's iPhone in China, and could be forced to nudge up prices for their own products if labor costs keep rising.

Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc are keeping a close eye on a big jump in wages for workers that assemble Apple Inc's iPhone in China, and could be forced to nudge up prices for their own products if labor costs keep rising.

Hewlett-Packard Co's earnings fell nearly 44 percent and the world's No. 1 computer maker forecast a second-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as it struggles with weak sales of PCs and printers.

Hewlett-Packard Co's earnings fell nearly 44 percent and the world's No. 1 computer maker forecast a second-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as it struggles with weak sales of PCs and printers.