Compaq moves into home networks with new Presarios

By Richard Morochove

First published June 11, 1998

Earlier this week Compaq Canada launched its back to school lineup of Presario home computers. It does seem a bit early to be talking about heading back, when many students are still wrapping up their studies. However, Compaq wants to steal a match on its rivals for the all-important fall selling season.

This is Compaq's biggest home PC announcement ever, with a wide range of desktops, towers and notebooks. Highlights include built-in support for home computer networks in some models and a sexy new flat panel display.

Although Windows 98 is only days away from release, the new Presarios have Windows 95 pre-installed at the factory. They'll come with either a copy of Windows 98 or a coupon you can trade for a free copy by mail. Compaq Canada wants to wait until the bilingual French/English version of Windows 98 is available before loading it on all hard drives.

Compaq's home PCs also include a suite of Microsoft products: Works, Encarta, Money, Bookshelf and Internet Explorer 4.0.

The least expensive model is the Presario 2256 desktop, which lists for $1,539, excluding monitor. It's based on a 300 MHz AMD K6 MMX processor and comes with a 256 K level 2 cache, 46 megabytes of RAM, a 4.0 gigabyte hard drive, 32x max CD and 56 Kbps modem.

By staying out of the sub-$1,000 PC market, Compaq Canada may be cutting itself off from a growing segment of price-conscious buyers. Yet the company has improved its market share this year, opening up a growing lead on traditional rival IBM.

Compaq has changed the design of the Presarios, moving the improved JBL Pro speakers out of the system unit and attaching them to the multimedia monitor, along with a built-in microphone. Compaq provides CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors with 14, 15 and 17-inch displays and a 19-incher is due out later this summer.

The big news on the monitor front is the FP500, a 15-inch (14.1-inch viewable area) flat panel, active matrix, liquid crystal display. The sleek panel looks great, takes up less than half the desk space of a conventional CRT (cathode ray tube) and is more energy efficient. It's the first flat panel I've seen designed for a home PC.

Flat panel displays are much more expensive than CRTs. I've seen other flat panel displays of this size priced close to $3,000. By comparison, Compaq's model is a bargain. It carries a suggested list price of just $1,719 and should sell on the street for around $1,500.

Even at this price, Compaq Canada expects that less than 10 per cent of Presario buyers will select this display. Flat panel displays should continue to rapidly decline in price over the next couple of years as they move into the mainstream.

The tower models of Compaq's new Presarios include a special digital port designed for the flat panel display. Of course, they also include a conventional VGA (Video Graphics Array) port for a CRT.

All the desktop and tower models feature what Compaq calls an Easy Access Internet Keyboard. With one touch of a button you can send and receive e-mail, or search for information. The keyboard also has multimedia control buttons that, among other things, allow you to skip ahead to play your favourite CD track, adjust the speaker volume or pause the playback. I like the idea of the buttons. They're quicker and easier to use than software.

The mid-range of Compaq's new Presario offerings is the 5000 series. These are microtowers that are based on either an Intel Celeron processor or a 300 MHz. Pentium II. List prices range from $1,649 to $2,309.

The 5100 series of microtowers add a 10 Mbps Ethernet port and feature a DVD instead of a CD drive. They use faster processors, a 350 or 400 MHz Pentium II. List prices range from $2,969 to $3,505.

I suspect Compaq is a bit ahead of market demand for home networks. However, the 5100 series could appeal to many small businesses.

Compaq's top of the line home PC is the Presario 5630 which features a digital imaging centre design for editing digital video and photos. In addition to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports in the other Presarios, this model also includes the faster IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connector.

There are two lines of Presario notebooks. The 1200 series, based on a 233 MHz. Media GX processor, includes a 12.1-inch display with 32 MB of RAM, a 3.2 gigabyte hard drive and 24X Max CD. It lists for $2,665 and should sell for just under $2,500 in stores.

The 1600 series of notebooks features faster 266 MHz processors from AMD or Intel, up to 64 MB of RAM and an enhanced JBL Pro audio system with bass reflex. List prices for the three models range from $3,186 to $4,568.

The new Presarios will start arriving at Canadian retailers on June 15. Some models, such as the notebooks, won't be available until the first week of July.

After Compaq's disastrous venture into laser printers ended several years ago, I thought the company would never re-enter this competitive arena. But now it's introducing a printer made by Lexmark that Compaq designed for the home user or small office. The Compaq IJ200 is a 600 by 600 DPI (dots per inch) colour inkjet printer that lists for $233. CW