Among a slew of new, improved products across its range of PCs, notebooks, storage products, printers and scanners, Hewlett-Packard has introduced its first 1GHz processor notebook.
However, Adrian Delport, market development manager of business PCs at HP SA, says few people will require quite that much power in their portable computers. It is a hotly contested market, with 34% of PC revenue in SA being attributed to notebook computers. This represents around 15% of unit shipments.
Although it is the fastest growing notebook vendor in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, HP lags well behind competitors like Compaq, Toshiba, IBM, Dell and Acer in the overall market share stakes, claiming just 5.6%.
Delport says the release of the Omnibook 6000 with 1GHz processor a day before Intel announced the processor, shows HP`s determination to become a bigger player in this market.
The new Omnibook 500 is far more lightweight and comes with a portable docking unit when extra features are required. The same hardware modules and software image can be used across the notebook range. According to vendors of third-party hardware, HP is the first hardware manufacturer to request identical driver software for different models in its range.
The company also launched a tiny PC desktop machine in a sealed box. It has a notebook-style external power supply, and a swappable hard drive unit, but otherwise the PC is sealed and self-contained. According to Delport, the unit is 35% more reliable than traditional PCs, and its small form factor makes it ideal for large-scale corporate roll-outs. A matching plat-panel display is available for the e-PC, as it is called.
As part of its strategy to deliver information appliances, the new printers in HP`s range not only feature the customary improvement in print speed (14ppm to 24ppm, depending on the model) and resolution. Each new printer now incorporates an embedded Web server and virtual machine that turn it into an intelligent Web device. Offering benefits such as direct operation from mobile devices, Web-based maintenance consoles and the ability to run custom Java applets, the new printers are expected to be available from 1 April or earlier.
In an innovative approach to safeguarding its profitable supplies business, HP has introduced so-called "smart print supplies". In addition to the features it enables, such as e-mailing a supplier when toner is low, online supplies ordering and doing away with the need to shake up laser printer cartridges, the company`s new inkjet cartridges can detect when they`ve been refilled - a practice of which HP disapproves, and which voids the warranty on its products - and informs users of the fact and its implications.
In the storage arena, HP has launched a combination CD Writer and DVD-ROM drive. Charlotte Saayman, retail field manager at HP, says this combo product should prove popular in SA, where many machines that internationally ship standard with a DVD-ROM drive have to be modified because users prefer a CD Writer to DVD. With this product, customers can get both without sacrificing any space in their notebooks or PCs.
Also new are upgrades to its scanner range, which offer users one-button access to common scanning tasks. In the 7400 series, resolution can be as high as 2400dpi (native), with a 600dpi alternative for fast jobs or previews.
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