Bilingual family fun with an HP TouchSmart {GIVEAWAY–OH, YES!}

Photo Credit: Amish.Patel

One week before my daughter and I left on our trip to El Salvador, my husband and I realized that if I was taking the laptop with me, we’d have no way to talk via Skype video since his computer doesn’t have a camera.  We were bummed because video chatting has become the way Camila connects with her family from a distance and she had to connect with her papá, or “principe,” while away.

In a stroke of amazing luck, the next day I got an email from the HP public relations agency offering to send us an HP TouchSmart 300z to test out and review (and, sadly, send back.)  When I watched the video which explained all the features it comes loaded with, including a camera and the ability to easily install Skype, I jumped on it.  My husband is seriously convinced that I have some supernatural powers to make the things I want materialize.  We now had a way to video chat while we were gone. And we did. Lots.

Now that we´re back I got a chance to play around with our loaned TouchSmart more and I´m gripping it like crazy and thinking of all the excuses I can give HP to convince them there´s no way I can send it back.  Like Camila would say:  “¡Lo necesito!”

We found that our bedroom was the best place for the TouchSmart since we were able to eliminate so much other electronic clutter we had there and replace it with one simple stand-alone screen, a thin keyboard, a mouse, one remote control and ONE cable to hook it all up.

The TouchSmart is now where my daughter watches her DVD and Blu-ray movies every morning when she climbs into our bed;  where my husband and I can catch up on our favorite series and movies on Netflix on Demand;  where we can video chat with our family from our bed;  where our favorite CDs and Pandora stations blast out tunes; where we can watch live HD TV from and also connect online.  It also comes pre-programmed with many applications that I use daily as a blogger, such as Twitter and an RSS Reader.

My only complaint would be that it is a PC and it constantly pops up Norton anti virus warnings, sorry…I am one of those annoying loyal Mac users…but the reality is that we have not once used the PC aspect of it because the entertainment applications are so rich and useful.  I would want it for that alone.

Why should a bilingual and bicultural household want an HP TouchSmart in their house?  Why not?!  Not only is it a mega entertainment hub, it´s also a touch-screen enabled PC that´s an excellent play and learning center for any family who wants their children to gain computer and interactive skills with programs and applications that are fun for them and easy to navigate. It’s super simple to video chat with abuelitos or tíos at any time, and the touchscreen makes it easy for kids to learn how to do it themselves.  Once they get used to the swiping and tapping needed to get to and from different applications, then they can have lots of fun discovering how to play music, play games, record their own video or take their own picture.  You can upload all your favorite Spanish music playlists and teach him how to play them himself.

I´m sharing here a video that my daughter created herself when she discovered the video camera recorder and all the borders it creates with a touch of her finger.  She thought it was hilarious to dance to the Juanes song playing from Pandora on the TouchSmart, while dancing in front of the camera and being able to see herself at the same time.  Either her or I would touch the screen and change to a different border and she would react to it when she saw it appear.  Once the song was over, I just pressed the “Upload to YouTube” button, logged in to our account and uploaded her video. Super easy, fun and an unforgettable moment.  Watch the video, then scroll down because, even if I don’t get to keep the HP TouchSmart, at least I can be happy that one of our amazing readers does get to win one! Maybe it’s you?

THE GIVEAWAY!

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner:  Comment #579 by Geoff K!!!!!

We have one brand new HP TouchSmart 300z to give away to one very lucky winner.  All you have to do to enter is watch this demo video which showcases all it´s cool features and come back here to tell us which is your favorite.  One winner will be chosen at random.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to our feed via email or RSS and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with because we will check.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post and an @SpanglishBaby. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

3. Blog about this giveaway making sure to include our link, and you’ll get TWO additional entries.

4.  Subscribe to our newsletter:

This giveaway ends Sunday, October 10 at midnight EST and you must have a valid US address to enter.

Disclosure: We have not received any compensation for the review nor the giveaway.  I was sent an HP TouchSmart as a loaner for review purposes only. All opinions are totally my own.

Check out the Giveaway Rules.