Compaq rethinks PC design to launch the basic $999 model
Article Abstract:
Packard Bell and Compaq have both released new PCs for the sub-$1,000 market, aimed at the over 60% of American households who do not own a computer. Packard Bell's C115 is a stripped-down Pentium-based PC with the bare necessities of personal computing. Compaq's Presario 2100, based on the Cyrix Media GX, is a more useful system, redesigned for basic computing needs. The Presario 2100 offers a 133MHZ processor, 24MB of RAM, a 2GB hard drive, and 8X CD-ROM drive; the system easily handled all routine PC tasks with a speed higher than its specifications would suggest. Compaq provides software for all core personal computing needs, including word processing systems, finance programs, and Internet connection kits. The Presario's one flaw is its lack of expansion slots for peripheral devices other than Zip drives and scanners, which use the printer port. Packard Bell's C115 offers a 120MHz processor, 16MB of RAM, a 1.2GB hard drive and a mixed bag of bundled software.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1997
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Now you can watch another new TV show, but it's no sitcom
Article Abstract:
Sony's $300 WebTV Internet Terminal set-top device, jointly developed with Philips, will soon provide access to the Web from a standard TV set. All that users will need is a TV set, a phone line and an Internet access service, which is generally priced at $19.95 per month. Sony's WebTV Internet Terminal employ's WebTV Networks Inc's Internet service, which is customized for TV use. The WebTV device is the first widely available Information Appliance, a device that provides access to the Web without the use of an expensive PC. It is as easy to hook a WebTV box to the TV as it is to connect a VCR. Viewing the Web through WebTV is a somewhat limited experience, compared with doing so with a PC. The system does compensate for screen flicker and uses large fonts to make text readable on a TV screen. Users will not be able to print anything they find on the Web until printing capabilities are added to WebTV in 1997.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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The info appliance is a good idea waiting to happen
Article Abstract:
The information appliance has a far superior chance of achieving total US market penetration than currently configured PCs, which are only operating in approximately 35% of US households. Consumer concerns regarding the price, technical difficulty and unreliability of PCs will probably inhibit further market growth for computers vendors, even with increasing Internet interest. So-called network computers are too reliant on the Internet to be of tremendous value to home users who generally must rely on slow modems for data transference. Information appliances promise to provide general consumers with a low-cost, simplified platform on which they can perform common computing features. Word processing, time management, E-mail, voice-mail and Internet access applications can all easily be handled by a $700-$900 information appliance.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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- Abstracts: Compaq agrees to acquire NetWorth in move to expand network business. Cisco Systems will acquire StrataCom, computer switch maker, for $4 billion; high premium for target spotlights fast growth of network hardware
- Abstracts: New generation of hand-held PCs inches closer to ideal. New technology serves up some aces for TV spectators of tennis matches
- Abstracts: Microsoft plans new bid for Internet control. Harm found to the image of Microsoft: survey sees decline in brand reputation