I noted it earlier in today's roundup, but this one deserves a closer look.

During the Home Entertainment Design Challenge, HP won Walmart over with the Pavilion dv6929 Entertainment Notebook. As a piece of technology, the $800 Walmart-exclusive will likely be a decent performer but it won't floor any hard-core gadget geeks. However, HP's approach to packaging will earn it raves, and deservedly so.

You see, gone is the box and assortment of packing materials that get relegated to the attic or garage. Instead, buyers will walk out of Walmart (or Sam's Club) with the laptop, its documentation, disks and accessories, safely tucked away in a stylish messenger bag made of 100 percent recycled fabrics.

This means less overall weight and no box to carry home. According to HP, this results in a 97 percent reduction in packaging for the customer or 65 percent if you factor in the master carton that ships to Walmart.

Either way, very healthy reductions. And overall, this translates into energy and transport costs savings, since HP can ship the laptops to Walmart (3 per box, according to that picture) using fewer materials.

It also should be noted that the dv6929 did earn an Energy Star rating and Silver registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) so the story doesn't end at the bag.

A win-win!