When the HP Pavilion range of notebooks was introduced to the local retail market in the course of last year, the country's technology distributors had mixed opinions of how the new 'value-focused' range of consumer notebooks would be received by the man in the street.
However, Jason McMillan, HP product manager at Tarsus Technologies, says his company has been pleasantly surprised. "The reception that the HP Pavilion brand has received and the subsequent demand retailers have had to contend with, has been nothing short of overwhelming."
McMillan admits that initially, Tarsus was unsure of what the demand in the market would be for this range of notebooks with cutting-edge hardware specifications, but a home-focused software bundle.
"Our past experience in the retail market indicated that Windows XP Professional or Vista Ultimate were more popular with retail buyers. That is clearly no longer the case," he adds.
"It seems Microsoft, HP and the other large OEMs have done an awesome job in communicating which software packages are ideal for each specific market. This has meant that users now understand that unless they need 'domain-based networking' and corporate level applications, Windows Vista Home Premium is more than suitable.
"This bundle offers excellent value for money and now includes a media-centre component," says McMillan.
The classic perception that there is always a catch involved when purchasing a value-based notebook has also been quelled, he says.
"In fact, with HP's strategy of updating the hardware within the Pavilion range so regularly, we're seeing consumer notebooks leading the pack in terms of performance and functionality.
"Whereas corporates value the stability of a notebook range's hardware image (since they have to support a potentially massive fleet of computers, therefore one common driver repository greatly reduces costs) and product longevity (as this gives them investment protection), consumers, however, are attracted by new technologies, cutting-edge performance and multimedia. With this in mind, the HP Pavilion range is the perfect solution for consumers," he says.
McMillan states that with HP's three-month refresh strategy, the Pavilion range will be one of the first brands to feature Intel's new Santa-Rosa platform, which brings performance gains, hybrid storage technologies and better wireless networking to the mix.
"We're expecting the first units to land in the retail channel by June," McMillan adds, "and the moment Blu-Ray starts to make a mainstream appearance in South Africa, users can expect the Pavilions to feature this new optical technology too."
McMillan notes that users can also expect the price points for the Pavilions to remain static as new technologies are added. "Current price points range from R6 999, R7 999 and R9 999, with a high-end price point at R16 999 for the 17-inch Powerhouse Pavilion DV9000.
"Affordability and cutting-edge technologies are now firmly within the reach of the average user. We anticipate the sentiment towards the HP Pavilion range will remain positive, and expect the same high-demand scenario to continue," he concludes.
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With more than 20 years of experience in the ICT industry, Tarsus is the leading value-added distributor in South Africa, specialising in the supply of the world's foremost PC and peripheral hardware brands to the local reseller channel.
Tarsus strives to meet the channel's needs for credit funding, stock availability and efficient logistics, ensuring that resellers are able to deliver the highest quality service to their customers, focus on support and compile the best overall solutions for their end-user customer base at the lowest possible cost.
The company prides itself on its flexibility, adaptability, knowledge, skills and successful track-record, combined with an industry-leading ability to manage large roll-outs. These are the reasons Tarsus has consistently been rated as the top distributor in the country by international vendors, resellers and the IT media alike.
With its strong commitment to the South African channel, Tarsus is able to not only make the reseller channel more efficient, but more importantly, it plays a vital role in dramatically reducing the costs of doing business in the local ICT market.
Brands represented by the Tarsus stable include industry leaders like Acer, Cisco, HP, IBM, i-mate, Lenovo, OKI, Samsung, TallyGenicom, Targus and Wyse Technology.
More information about Tarsus is available at: http://www.tarsus.co.za.
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