The arrival of Pentium 4 notebook has had quite an affect on the South African mobile market. Firstly, it has had a direct effect on the decreasing price of Pentium IIIs, thus making them more cost-effective to acquire. But simultaneously, it has contributed to a decrease in their perceived value.
So said Christopher Riley, CEO of the Notebook Company, a leading laptop and mobile accessories retailer.
"A great concern among mobile computer buyers is that of outdated or obsolete technology. If a user could become the proud owner of a state-of-the-art Pentium 4 notebook for a mere R2000 more in comparison to a Pentium III notebook, it is very likely he would not mind the price difference. The fundamental reason for this is that the user is getting more value for his money. The product he is getting is new, hot off the production line and guaranteed to give the user more usage than technology which has been available on the market for more than a year.
"But not everyone is so keen on this logic," said Riley. "I have friends and clients who still swear by their Pentium I and II notebooks. Granted, these individuals do not make use of Internet access or graphic intensive software, and their needs do not exceed that of the performance they already have. The problem one generally experiences is that software packages are becoming increasingly advanced and require more processing power, hard drive space, more RAM and better graphics display cards - thus one`s hardware cannot keep up with software progression. This cannot be more clearly illustrated than in the case of insurance and finance companies: their software packages are continuously being upgraded and the result is equipment which is seldom useful for longer than a year."
Another interesting development in the notebook market, said Riley, is that of product design. Most manufacturers are concentrating on producing notebooks which are ultra-thin and lightweight, but have not compromised on large 14" and 15" displays. The average notebook weight has dropped from 3,4kg to a mere 2.8kg - undoubtedly a pleasure for those who travel often. PDA manufacturers are launching more products with active, full colour screens (for those of us who are used to poor backlighting on mono displays, this is a blessing) and are producing "clip on" devices for PDAs to promote multi-functionality (i.e. clip-on keyboards, MP3-players and digital cameras).
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