My gut reaction to seeing these all-in-one computers is that they might make a nice addition to a dorm room or an aging couple’s den. But then Gateway goes and says something like this:
“The powerful One ZC6800 Series is a no-compromise, high-performance configuration entirely suitable for serious gaming.” I roll my eyes and then look for the actual specs, to find…
“Our goal is not to build the most computers. It’s to build the best.”
That was Apple COO Tim Cook two days ago during Apple’s quarterly earnings call. Sure, it may sound like spin from an executive who doesn’t have a better answer as to why Apple isn’t competing in the low-end of the market, and thus, gaining market share. But it’s not.
You need look no further than numbers released today by NPD to understand Apple’s strategy. Its revenue share of the “premium” price market — that is, computers over $1,000 — is a staggering 91%. This means that 9 out of every 10 retail dollars that is spent on PCs in that price range, goes to Apple, as Betanews’ Joe Wilcox points out. That, for lack of a better word, is insane.
Analysts and journalists are often quick to point out Apple’s relatively low overall market share (less than 10%). But that completely misses the point of Apple’s Mac business. If Apple wanted to make a range of low-end computers, it absolutely could. And such machines would sell like crazy, boosting Apple’s market share. But there would have to be some trade-off in quality, and perhaps more importantly to Apple, to its high margins. And as it has proven time and time again, it has no desire to give up either.
In a move to offer inexpensive all-in-one computers to consumers, many companies are fitting Intel’s Atom processors into small form factor PCs and selling them for around $500 to $600. Averatec has adopted a similar approach with the D1133 but has instead bumped the CPU up to a dual-core 1.5GHz AMD chip along with ATI Radeon 3200 graphics and then priced the system to move at $599.
That extra CPU speed, satisfactory graphics chipset, and 2GB of RAM turn the D1133 from a netbook-on-your-desk into a decently-equipped home PC that can be used for more than just simple web surfing — all at a very nice price.
You know those “have-a-penny/need-a-penny” jars you find at 7-Eleven and whatnot? Here’s a cool way to kill a few hours: go around your town collecting pennies. Then, with said pennies, buy a whole bunch of zombie PCs, then start your own botnet. You’ll be the coolest kid in the neighborhood.
The 18.4-inch D1100 from Averatec showed up at my house recently and I thought, hey, lazy Saturday — let’s set it up. I had forgotten the specs, the price, and all the relevant details but when I had gotten everything together (a process which took less than ten minutes) I can tell you that I’m impressed by how nice the computer looks.
Especially since — surprise! — it only costs $599.
If you’ve never worked in an office where an unsuspecting co-worker gets an e-mail sent out on his or her behalf announcing that happy hour drinks are on the house, you haven’t LIVED! It’s the perfect way to teach someone that they should always, always, lock their computer whenever they head over to the break room to find that someone drank all the coffee and didn’t bother to make another pot. Those days may be about to end, though, thanks to Phoenix Freeze.
Lenovo announced two new smaller, cheaper desktop PCs today. The ThinkCentre M58e and A58 are built for the cost-conscious business consumer, with a starting price of $399. The PCs run cooler and quieter than previous ThinkCentres (as should be expected). Click on for the press release.
Yes, you could absolutely build a PC into an actual old VCR that you don’t use any more but this solution seems far easier if you’re willing to part with some of your money. I tried building a computer into an old VCR once but I gave up after figuring out how many holes I’d have to punch just to get everything to line up.
Joey Hess, a developer contributing to Debian GNU/Linux, has shoehorned a fully functional PC into a portable boombox stereo. Two USB ports are embedded in what used to be the CD eject button, and the computer’s LEDs are visible where the CD slot used to be. The tape deck has been repurposed to provide access to a 4-port USB hub. “Hit Stop/Eject to change USB keys. :-)”
Good news! You can now buy OpenTech’s website, good2beopen.com (!!!) and assets for $52,000. But if you’re sneaky, you can start bidding at about $35,000 and rock out when the bidding ends in seven days. Looks like no one decided to bite in August when they tried to sell themselves the first time.
As you know Open Tech has been up for sale on the Open Tech Site. (good2beopen.com) if you go to the Open Tech Site you will see that it says we have posted an PayPal verified Secure eBay listing. Hello, the company Open Tech is still up for sale, but know on ebay. The items included in the price are:
-Sole ownership of the Open Tech Name
-The Open Tech Website and Web servers
-Trade Secrets for the Open Tech Home & XT
-Press Contacts -Corporate documents including logos
*The only Physical items that will be sent are Corporate documents and Legal Paperwork. And a USB Flash drive that contains all company information. (Logos,Pictures,Web Server Information)
A legal contract will be sent to the purchaser of Open Tech which has been signed off by the Owner of Open tech allowing full ownership of Opentech.
Say you needed a small PC with low power requirements to install inside a car or even inside a PCs drive bay. Well, friend, you should consider $300 VIA’s Artigo Pico-ITX. This tiny thing out-minis the Mac Mini and can run fast enough to put some of your older PCs to shame.
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The Dell XPS One line of all-in-one PCs has added two new models, each with 24-inch screens (the other models have 20-inch screens) and 4GB of RAM, standard.
One starts at $1,699 and features a quad-core Intel Q8200 processor, Vista Home Premium, DVD burner, 4GB of RAM, 320GB SATA hard drive, integrated Intel GMA X4500HD graphics, and a SoundBlaster Audigy HD sound card.
The other starts at $1,999 and includes everything mentioned above except it’s got a 750GB SATA hard drive and a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT video card.
I actually found it kind of difficult to spec an HP desktop up over $999 but if you’re able to swing it, you can get $400 lopped off the top by using coupon code DT7708 at checkout. Be advised, though, that the d5000 series and the TouchSmart series aren’t eligible for the savings.
The coupon code will last until its been redeemed 900 times, so keep that in mind if you’re the type of person who tends to either dawdle, dilly-dally, or both. Not a bad deal if you’re looking to load up on a new desktop.
HP Shopping [via dealnews]
If you’re still into desktop PCs, have I got a deal for you. You can get an HP Pavilion m9400t with 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a Blu-ray drive for $649.99, which includes free shipping. Here’s what to do:
Enjoy!
HP Pavilion Elite m9400t [shopping.hp.com via dealspl.us]
The Thermaltake Xpressar RCS100 is basically a mini-fridge PC case, keeping the insides at a cool 50 to 70 degrees. How is this possible? I have no idea, except that it’s “the world’s first DC inverter-type micro refrigeration cooling system,” according to the Inquirer. Also, it looks pretty clean inside — not as many tubes and whatnot as a typical water-cooled system.
The first systems will work to cool Intel’s Core 2 Extreme chips. Thermaltake is developing support for dual CPU and even GPU cooling as well. Everything’s still being tested, so no word on price or availability yet but it should maybe fall somewhere in between water cooling and VapoChill setups.
My personal jury is still out when it comes to computers with built-in touchscreens. On laptops, sure, go for it. On desktops, eh, I don’t know. Take the Shuttle D10, for instance. It’s got a 7-inch LCD screen built into it. Okay, I guess, but the screen’s only got an 800×480 resolution according to Akihabara. You’re gonna need to hook a monitor up to it no matter what.
I could see this kind of thing being useful for, say, a car PC project or maybe, just maybe, a media center-type thing. As far as pricing and availability goes, it appears that the D10 will be available in Japan this week with configurations starting at just under $500 US. Not sure if or when it’d make it stateside, though. Most of the Shuttle stuff ends up here sooner or later, though, so we might actually see this thing.
I’m a huge KVM fan. I followed them all through high school and was really upset when the broke up. Not a lot of people could do proto-punk-reggae like those guys and even 311 don’t hold a candle to their work. That said, this is another kind of KVM. It’s essentially a USB cable that you connect to two computers. The host computer can then bring up the guest computer’s desktop and you can drag and drop files back and forth.
When would you use this thing? If you had a PC at home and wanted to connect a laptop, for example, or if you wanted to run multiple PCs at once. It is a true Keyboard-Video-Mouse switch simply because you use the host’s keyboard to control the guest.
The $129.95 device is available now and even has a midpoint USB slot for adding external storage or a printer.
Here’s a nice little weekend project. You can pick up a barebone MSI Wind system (not the netbook, the desktop version) from Newegg for $140. It’s one of the first desktop systems to use Intel’s power-sipping Atom processor (1.6GHz). You’ll need to add RAM (it uses laptop RAM) and a hard drive (or CF card) to this kit, and maybe even a little Wi-Fi card if you’re feeling adventurous.
The board itself has an internal Compact Flash slot that shares an IDE channel, so you could stick a big CF card in there instead of a hard drive. That’s a nice touch right there. Maybe build a Car PC or something. There’s also a mini-PCI slot if you wanted to add that Wi-Fi card I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Might as well, huh?
MSI Wind PC Intel 945GC 1 x 200Pin Intel GMA 950 Black Barebone [Newegg]
The Bot
iBuyPower just released three PCs dedicated to handling and upload video. The Video Bot, Pro, and Extreme each use Pinnacle Dazzle DVD Recording Software and Adobe Premier Elements and the two highest end models, the Pro at $1,799 and the Extreme at $4,299, include Blu-Ray burners.
To win one of the PCs, entrants should pop over to WinAPC and submit their favorite gaming moments. Full spec sheet follows.
The Pro
El Monte CA – August 06, 2008 – iBUYPOWER, know for it’s innovative and powerful gaming PCs, is excited to
launch its new line of Video PC’s. The Video PCs’ are built with the amateur videographer on mind – individuals
who prefer to shoot video rather than stills, and post their experiences on sites like You Tube. The iBUYPOWER
Video PC line includes the Video Bot, Video Pro, and Video Extreme, which are priced at $1,299, $1,799, and
$4,299 MSRP respectively.The Video Bot, housed in an NZXT Appollo case, features the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 CPU, nVidia 9800GT
GPU, and 4 GB of DDR-2 RAM. Customers looking for a little more power will find it in the Video Pro. iBuyPower
packed an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, ATI HD 4850 graphics card and 8 GB of DDR- 2 RAM into a
Gigabyte Poseidon case.The Video Extreme however, is built to be just that – extreme. Housed in a Thermaltake Armor case, the Video
Extreme is stocked with the best components available – an Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9770 CPU, ATI HD
4870 graphics card, 8 GB of DDR-3 1333 RAM, Blu-ray burner and a 1200W power supply.“Millions of people visit sites like YouTube to share their videos everyday, yet before now no computer
manufacturer has built a pc dedicated to the needs of this community,” said Darren Su, Vice President of
iBUYPOWER. “We decided it was time to provide these aspiring filmmakers with a professional video editing
solution.”All three of the iBUYPOWER Video PCs come with Adobe’s Premier Elements 4.0 editing software, built-in 8
channel surround sound, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition, a 12-in-1 card reader/writer and
a 3 year limited warranty.As part of the launch iBUYPOWER is giving away a Video Pro System, a $1,799 value, to the winner of the
Favorite Gaming Moments YouTube Contest. Contestants will upload videos they create of them reenacting their
favorite gaming moments. The contest will run through August with a winner being selected from a group of ten
finalists by the You Tube community in the second week of September. Visit www.iBUYPOWER.com/WinAPC
for contest details.
The Extreme
Hey, friend! Want to make perhaps about $10,000? Why not try selling bare-bones Intel PCs and claim that they can run OS X or even, dare we say it, Ubuntu. Following in the footsteps of Psystar and iOpenTech, RSOL is offering an OSless PC, called the Jive, for $628 that you can then install OS X onto. How? They won’t say. They will say:
Due to the complex configuration of the RSOL PC Multi-Platform Desktop computer, installing or reinstalling the OSx86 operating system should only be performed by users who have a thorough understanding of the open source technology necessary that allows a modified version of Mac OS X® software to run on our models. RSOL PC provides no software support for your non-Windows operating system. NOTE: RSOL PC does not recommend, endorse or participate in the unauthorized distribution or illegal use of copyrighted software.
It seems that everyone with an OEM’s telephone number and a dream are now selling these OSless chaps. Do not be fooled: you could feasibly install OS X on any old PC. These folks aren’t selling anything special. They do, however, have a horrible name: “Can I get my money back?” “YeRSOL.”
