HP today introduced the updated HP Pavilion dm1, a consumer notebook PC featuring a gloss finish or HP Soft-touch Imprint design, Beats Audio and HP Premier Experience - a set of software features designed to improve on the Microsoft Windows experience.

HP lowered the laptop's price as the company shows that business continues as usual amid efforts to sell or spin off the PC unit. It is now priced starting at $399. The DM1, introduced early this year, is one of HP's best-selling laptops and was most recently priced at $449.

The HP Pavilion dm1 is an ultraportable PC, offering a battery life of up to 11.5 hours.

Building upon HP's MUSE design philosophy, the dm1 is the first notebook to feature HP Soft-touch Imprint technology, a printing process that creates a soft-to-the-touch surface by inlaying graphics into a rubber skin that covers the notebook exterior. The dm1 will be available in either a traditional charcoal gloss finish or a soft-touch ash black finish with a stylized pattern. The ash black design features a velvety finish that collects fewer fingerprints compared to gloss surfaces.

With the addition of HP Beats Audio, a technology developed by HP and Beats by Dr. Dre, the Pavilion dm1 offers high-quality entertainment for mobile users.

The dm1 features an 11.6-inch high-definition (HD) LED display, and the built-in HP TrueVision HD webcam captures high-quality images even in low-light conditions.

The machine has a range of storage options and also packs power with the latest AMD E-Series Accelerated Processing Units or Intel 2nd Generation Core processors. AMD models also include AMD Radeon HD discrete-class graphics. Thin and light, the dm1 measures less than 1-inch thick in front and weighs 3.52 pounds.

Part of the HP Premier Experience, HP Launch Box allows applications to be better organized by grouping them for quick access on the Windows 7 taskbar. A simple mouse-over and click launches an application directly from the taskbar, freeing up screen real estate on the PC's desktop.

Additionally, a simplified, organized Windows Start Menu allows users to find applications faster.

With HP Premier Experience, consumer notebooks have quicker boot-up, shutdown, sleep and resume times. The dm1 shows an approximate 29 and 25 percent improvement on shutdown and resume times, respectively. Boot times and sleep times also are improved.

Select models of HP notebooks feature some of the following HP Premier Experience features:

- HP CoolSense technology uses advanced hardware and intelligent software to automatically adjust performance and internal fan settings for a cooler PC.

- HP QuickWeb takes users directly to the web within seconds of powering on, bypassing the full operating system start-up. Users are seconds from chatting with friends on Skype, updating Facebook posts or tweets, and viewing their social calendar all in one place.

- HP ProtectSmart features a built-in accelerometer that detects when a PC is bumped or dropped, locking the hard drive into place within milliseconds to help protect important files.

- HP SimplePass provides added online security with a built-in fingerprint reader that auto-populates passwords for online accounts and websites. Account information is locked with a user?s fingerprint.

The HP Pavilion dm1 with AMD processors is expected to be available in charcoal on Sept. 21 with a starting price of $399.99. The soft-touch ash black model will be available this fall.

The HP Pavilion dm1 with Intel processors is expected to be available in charcoal on Oct. 30 with an external optical drive included and a starting price of $599.99. The soft-touch ash black model will be available this fall.