31 Days of the Dragon: Win our HP HDX Dragon computer package - The Rules

Yesterday, we kicked off our week-long contest, where we are giving away an HP HDX Dragon computer package, worth over $5,000 if you were to purchase each piece on your own. First, the details on what exactly we are giving away:

• HP HDX Dragon Notebook: This system ships with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate, and features a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor., 4GB RAM, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS, 500GB hard drive, and boasts a 20.1-inch 1080p display. It’s meant to be for play as much as work, and to that end, it also packs a Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD double layer burner, integrated TV tuner, webcam and microphone. If you went and bought this yourself, it would cost $4,500 USD. But we’re not done yet…
• Microsoft Office Professional 2007: That means Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and Accounting Express, all in one package. Retail value on that is $225.
• Corel PaintShop Pro X2: Retail value of $73.99
• Corel Painter Essentials Retail value of $79.99
• Corel Ulead Video Studio Plus 11.5 Retail value of $79.95
• Gears of War: retail value of $49.99
• Viva Pinata: Retail value of $37.99
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Retail value of $44.99
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X Expansion Pack: Retail value of $34.99
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Blu-ray: Retail value of $22.95

Okay, interested? We thought so. If you want to see everything in more detail, check out our HDX Giveaway contest videos. These will give you more insight as to how the contest is going to work, a look at all of the prizes that are being given away, and a detailed unboxing of the Dragon notebook.

We will be using Gear Live Points to determine a winner. However, we have custom Point values set for this contest. Points earned for this contest are as follows:

• Becoming a member: 100 points
• Upload a member photo: 50 points
• Choose or upload an avatar: 25 points
• Posting a blog comment: 1 point
• Posting a gallery comment: 1 point
• Assign a forum signature: 10 points
• Posting a forum topic: 1 point
• Posting a forum reply: 1 point
• Vote in a poll: 3 points
• Choose favorite Gear Live site in profile: 2 points

As always, if you are found abusing the Points system, by doing things like posting an excessive amount of comments or forum entries that are obviously just meant to inflate your score, you will suffer a loss of Points. This is at Gear Live’s discretion. So, seriously, contribute to the conversations.

BONUS POINTS: Want to earn bonus Points? Who doesn’t? I always enjoyed extra credit back in school, so we figured, why not rekindle those memories of yesterday? We’ve come up with a few ways that you guys can earn bonus Points in this contest.

• Subscribe to Gear Live RSS feeds: We have a bunch of sites in our network, and each one has an RSS feed. For each feed that you subscribe to, you will earn 10 points.
• Subscribe to our shows in iTunes: We have a bunch of video shows listed in iTunes. For each one you subscribe to, you will earn 15 points.
• Subscribe to Bleeding Edge TV in Zune: Subscribe to our show in Zune to earn 10 points.
• Review our shows in iTunes: In iTunes, review our shows. For each one you review, you earn 5 points.
• Follow us on Twitter: If you have a Twitter account, follow Gear Live and/or Andru Edwards. You get 5 points for each.
• Friend us on Facebook: Become a friend of Andru Edwards, and/or a fan of Gear Live on Facebook. You get 5 points for each.
• Subscribe to us on YouTube: Head on over to YouTube and subscribe to Gear Live videos to earn 10 points.

In order to get these bonus points, head on over to the HDX Bonus Points thread, and post screenshots proving you did any, or all, of the above. You only get one post in that thread, so if you plan on doing them all, make sure you put all the screenshots into one reply. So there you have it, a few ways you can add some bonus points to your score in your quest to win the HDX Dragon computer package - and each of them helps out Gear Live in some way.

For the final nitty gritty, some contest rules.

1. First, the winner is chosen at Gear Live’s discretion. If you end up with the most points, but did it by spamming our comments and forums, you will not be walking away with the prize package. Try to contribute to the conversation, and have interactions with other users. This isn’t open to bargaining. No spamming.
2. Anyone in the world can win, not just those in the US. HP and Buzz Corps, the sponsors of this contest, will make sure that you don’t have to pay any out-of-pocket taxes or duties, no matter where we are sending the prize.
3. No spamming.