X-no-Archive:yes
The problem with these ultra-low-cost machines is that they are really not
upgradable.  Yes, you can add a NIC, memory and even a disc drive, but do
not try to put in a real graphics card or a sound card or some of the other
stuff.

The cost is kept very low because all the components are built onto the
motherboard.  Since the mobos have all the required components, adding a
new one is either impossible or will lead to problems.  The first of the
really cheap machines was in fact a Compaq Presario built around the Cyrix
GX chip.  This enabled Compaq to ship out a box with integrated monitor for
less than a grand.  This was about 18 months ago.

Do not worry about the Compaq and HPs of this world, they will find a way
to compete.

Do not worry for Intel either.  They brought out the Celery processor last
year and have beefed it up some this year, so that it is now a worthwhile
processor.  Meanwhile, they are also bringing out the Xeon in Pentium III
flavor at 550MHz, and should reach the GigaHertz by 2000-2001.  These
processors are going into servers and higher end desktops and workstations.
 At first it seemed like they were going to abandon the low-end of the
market to the likes of AMD, Cyrix, Winchip and others but as I said, they
did come out with the Celery to compete at the bottom end.

What the price cut has done is enable many who would not consider buying a
computer to actually get into the computer and Internet craze and for this
these companies should be lauded (cursed?).  I would venture to say that
shortly HP, Compaq and others will be at that price point.

Within 12 months, your bank will give you a computer when you open a
checking account.

Sine note: I am a confessed laptop aficionado.  You do not want to know how
much I paid for my current 166MHz laptop, which is now 18 months old.  I am
considering upgrading it at some point, but I am holding out for
Coppermine, slated to come out at the end of the year.  Can you say 600MHz
on the laptop, for less than what I paid for this one?

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP America, Inc.
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com



-----Original Message-----
From:   Gavin Scott [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, 25 March, 1999 12:42 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: Really cheap PCs

Tom wrote:
> I am very impressed with this machine.  It is making me regret the $1600
> machine I bought a few months ago.  I could have purchased the e-machine,
> installed additional memory, a larger disk drive, and NT workstation, and
> still have come out ahead.

Also based on Gavin's recommendation, we just bought a 333k e-machine as a
replacement for my four year old 133Mhz Gateway which cost me $3000 at the
time.

The amazing thing to me is that PCs have gotten fast enough that a self-
confessed heat-seeking, early-adopter, must-have-the-latest-and-fastest,
sucker like myself can actually be happy with a system like this.  Or
maybe I'm just holding out for an IA-64 system in a couple years :-)

Of course I've already upgraded the little beast with a lan card ($69 for
two PCI lan cards, cables, and a five port hub) so that I can network it
with the old PC and my wife's laptop (multi-player games don't you know),
an extra 64MB of RAM for $100 (ouch, when did RAM get expensive again :-),
and a second hard drive (8.4GB Ultra DMA Maxtor: $149.00 - how could I
possibly pass this up :-), so the total cost *is* creeping up a bit.

There's another company which is going to start selling $299 PCs shortly
too, and the "Free PC" people are going to be renting cheap Linux-based
systems I hear.

There's an interesting report (this week's Computerworld I think) on the
relative sales of PCs in different price tiers in February versus a year
ago.  Under $600 PCs are up 670%, and over $1500 PC are down 70% or
something like that.  It sounds as though the distinction between "PCs"
and "workstations" is being reestablished.  Hardware has pulled way ahead
of software, meaning that almost everyone can be happy without the latest
(high-priced) 500MHz Pentium III type of system.  Assuming that these
makers of cheap PCs can turn a profit, it's hard to imagine the high end
of the market ever regaining the market share that it once had, and it's
also hard to believe that some of the current manufacturers of
"traditional"
PCs (IBM, Compaq, HP, Dell) aren't going to be in *serious* trouble very
soon.

G.