Tim:
Again kudos to you for your honesty! But honestly, once HP is up to speed on things (in terms of time-to market, especially) I would reckon them to be a strong force.
The problem with the Brio is there's not enough to go around. You can get the DP4N/S in numbers now, and there's no sight of competitors (yet!!!). Plus, it does look nice enough to tempt buyers in my eyes.
Re: the P233 discussion earlier. Get the PII266 - but make sure it's the error-corrected one. Most of the chipsets used on the older Pentium don't support Win98 (that's if Win98 ever comes out ;-) !!!) features. It's another trick of Wintelpaq to make people be forced to upgrade. I've attached the article below:
Subject: Win98(?)/chipset issues
> Subject: Fw: Beware: Next Windows needs newest chip sets -Reply (fwd)
> Date: Tuesday, 9 September 1997 9:41
>
>
> BY MIKE LANGBERG
> Mercury News Staff Writer
>
> IF you're buying a new personal computer this fall containing either a
> Pentium or Pentium II microprocessor, get ready to do some detective work.
>
> You need to be sure you're getting the newest ``chip set,'' a little-known
> group of chips that help out the processor, or you'll miss out on some
> useful new features coming next year.
>
> We all know, thanks to relentless advertising by Intel Corp., that the
> Santa Clara company's Pentium and Pentium II are the latest and greatest
> brains for PCs running Windows. But these brains are worthless if they
> operate in splendid isolation.
> They require a chip set, which functions as a kind of traffic cop, routing
> the flow of data in and out of the processor to memory, disk drives and
> displays.
>
> Between half and two-thirds of PCs built around Intel processors contain
> chip sets made by Intel; the remainder come from a variety of competitors.
> All these companies keep upgrading their chip sets to keep pace with the
> processor's ability to run faster and handle new kinds of tasks such as 3-D
> games and videoconferencing.
>
> On Monday, Intel will unofficially unveil a new chip set for its Pentium II
> processors called the 440LX -- giving PC makers an alternative to the older
> 440FX chip set. Intel announced a similar upgrade for the Pentium in
> February, unveiling the 430TX as a successor to the older 430VX and 430HX.
>
> If you're buying a Pentium or Pentium II system any time soon, there is an
> important reason to care whether you're getting the newest possible chip
> set. The same applies to competing Pentium-class systems with
> microprocessors from Intel rivals Advanced Micro Devices and Cyrix.
>
> Microsoft Corp. promises to start shipping Windows 98 sometime in the first
> three months of next year. By most accounts, Windows 98 will be more a
> tune-up of Windows 95 than a major overhaul. But Windows 98 does promise
> one significant new feature: ``On Now,'' a power-management option that
> will send PCs into a deep, quiet sleep where they consume little
> electricity, but can wake up within a few seconds when a user taps the
> keyboard. With ``On Now,'' we'll no longer be stuck wondering what to do
> for two minutes while our computers go through the seemingly interminable
> boot-up process.
>
> ``On Now'' will also make it much easier for computers to act as
> sophisticated telephone answering machines, because they will be able to
> instantly rouse themselves in the middle of the night to take a message.
> And ``On Now'' will make it much easier to implement ``push'' technology on
> the Internet, where your home computer would log on to the Net in the
> wee hours to scout for new information of interest to you.
>
> Here's the catch: ``On Now'' will only work in PCs equipped with the newer
> chip sets. Pentium PCs with Intel chip sets, for example, need the 430TX
> and Pentium IIs require the 440LX.
>
> More detailed images
>
> There's one additional benefit to getting a newer chip set for a Pentium
> II:Support for a new Intel initiative called the ``Accelerated Graphics
> Port,'' or AGP, that will allow more richly detailed images in games and
> other visually intensive applications.
>
> ``If you're a consumer buying a Pentium II system and you don't get AGP,
> you're going to regret it,'' says Nathan Brookwood, a chip analyst with the
> San Jose research firm Dataquest Inc. AGP also requires a video card -- the
> circuit board that connects a monitor to the PC -- that is AGP-capable.
> These cards aren't on the market yet, but should be arriving late this year
> or early next year, about the same time as the first AGP-enhanced games.
>
> If you buy a Pentium II PC with a 440LX or equivalent chip set, you'd be
> able to upgrade to AGP simply by replacing the video card -- a step that
> should cost less than $300. If your Pentium II has a 440FX chip set, you're
> out of luck. Many users will neither want nor need ``On Now'' and AGP; they
> don't have to worry about which chip set comes in their new PC.
>
> Not easy to check But if either feature sounds important to you, brace
> yourself for a bumpy ride.
>
> PC makers today are churning out systems with both the older and newer
> Pentium chip sets; several companies are expected to announce Monday that
> they will offer Pentium IIs with the newer Intel chip sets immediately,
> although they may also continue to make some PCs with the older chip set.
>
> That means the gleaming new PCs cramming store shelves this year won't all
> be equal underneath the hood. So how do you tell whether you're getting the
> newer chip set?
>
> Unfortunately, it's not easy. Even though PC makers and retailers divulge
> all kinds of technical trivia about the machines they sell, the fine print
> rarely makes mention of what chip set is included. Nor is there any
> software utility available
> that will identify the chip set. Even if you can find out the make and
> model number of the chip set, it may not be clear what features are
> supported.
>
> Stacey Breyfogle, a product manager in the Windows group at Microsoft
> headquarters in Redmond, Wash., suggested that buyers ask the following
> questions: ``Does this system have ACPI-compliant hardware?'' and ``Does
> this system have AGP?''
>
> ACPI, by the way, refers to Advanced Configuration and Power Interface --
> the technical standard underlying ``On Now.''
>
> Still, it's unclear whether most manufacturers will note ACPI compliance or
> the availability of AGP in PCs going out the door this fall.
>
> Tim Chin, senior product line manager for consumer PCs at the NEC Computer
> Systems Division of Packard Bell NEC Inc. in Mountain View, said his
> company doesn't list such information for its machines. NEC, he added, has
> a mixture of 430TX and 430VX chip sets in its Pentium systems in stores
> now. The Pentium II systems NEC is offering now have only the 440FX chip
> set, but the 440LX should be available soon. Ask manufacturer Concerned
> shoppers, Chin concluded, should be able to find out which chip set is
> inside an individual PC by calling the company's toll-free information
> line and giving the model number of the machine they want to buy.
>
> Peter Glaskowsky, senior analyst with The Microprocessor Report newsletter
> in Sunnyvale, offered one other method for distinguishing chip sets. Newer
> chip sets support a type of high-speed communication with hard disks called
> ``Ultra DMA.'' If a PC is advertised as supporting Ultra DMA, then you know
> it has the newer chip set. This chip set-identification eadache will go
> away in January when Microsoft launches a ``Designed for Windows 98'' logo
> program. Because Windows 98 requires the newer chip sets to support ``On
> Now,'' any PC carrying the ``Designed for Windows 98'' sticker is
> guaranteed to have either the 430TX or 440LX.
>
> Posted at 12:48 a.m. PDT Sunday, August 24, 1997
> ----
> [End]
Best regards
Kai
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