DVD PCs Start Showing Up ... At a Big Screen Near You?
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DVD PCs Start Showing Up ... At a Big Screen Near You?
What does any computer industry pro do to reality check the latest technology trends? Thumb through Computer Shopper, of course.
The October 1997, 830-page issue carried less than a dozen ads from PC system integrators that offer one or several PC configurations that include DVD-ROM drives. Some of the integrators are well-known, like Gateway 2000, and some are second-tier Taiwanese direct-mail clone builders. It can take a close reading of Computer Shopper to find DVD-ROM PCs, and it is doubtful every vendor claiming to offer such configurations of PCs with DVD-ROM drives and the ever-present DVD-Video/MPEG-2 subsystems would really be able to ship them, but slowly, surely, DVD-ROM PCs are becoming available. The same ad review exercise undertaken with the November 1997 issue of Computer Shopper found four new PC makers advertising DVD-ROM systems.
Some of the mainstays of PC systems have joined in, including industry leaders like IBM, Compaq, and Toshiba. Among the 18 PC manufacturers EMedia Professional has identified as offering DVD-ROM systems, however, few big names predominate. The direct market companies seeking to gain an early edge include Comtrade, CyberMax, Digitron MicroSolution, Directwave, EDO Micro Technology, Gateway 2000, Micro X, ProGen Systems, Quantex, Racer Computer, Royal Computer, Vektron International, and Zenon Computer, Inc. Though all are taking risks with DVD's continuing title/decoder compatibility problems--not to mention the still minuscule number of DVD-ROM titles available, and mostly through bundles, at that--the bet these companies are making is likely based on the need to differentiate product lines that has become standard practice in the PC commodity market.
IBM, Toshiba, and Compaq offer the consumer impressive, but costly, DVD systems. IBM, for example, has introduced the latest entries in its popular Aptiva series, the S62 and the S6S, which feature a "DVD-ROM II drive with Movie Playback" based on STB Systems' DVD Theater DVD-Video/MPEG-2/AC-3 decoder, and are priced at $3,259 and $3,729, respectively. The S62 and S6S are currently the only systems to include second-generation DVD-ROM drives, IBM claims; the drive claims operating features that include a 20X maximum/8.6X minimum CD-ROM drive.
Compaq and Toshiba are both offering more basic packages that are less expensive than IBM's DVD-ROM systems. Compaq's Presario 4840 and 4850 MiniTower computers feature a 2X DVD-ROM drive and DVD-Video subsystem; the 4850, which includes a 300MHz Pentium II processor, is priced at $2,999. The 4840 can be bought for $2,699, and contains a 266MHz processor. Toshiba's Infinia 7231 can be purchased at the relatively bargain price of $2,699, but then, the Infinia is the only computer among the three companies' offerings that doesn't contain the Pentium II processor.
The prices drop along with the drop in top-tier name brand. ProGen's Discover MPEG-2 Intel 200MHz Pentium Processor includes a DVD drive with MPEG-2 decoder, desktop camera, video capture, motion video, and one DVD-Video title, priced at $2,079, down from $2,169 in October's Computer Shopper, while Micro-X's MXP-6300 offers "DVD EIDE CD ROM" in a Pentium II system, for $3,049, almost $200 less than the previous month's price. Digitron offers two models with a built-in DVD-ROM drive: DVD Pro Station and the DVD Theater for $2,399, and $3,249, respectively. Vektron International, on the other hand, introduced its Dream PC that includes a DVD-ROM drive and decoder and was priced at $2395 in October, but pulled the DVD out of that dream in November--instead creating a new DVD-ROM model, the SuperPower Station, for $2,495. Prices vary in large part in relation to the CPU, with what are now basic Pentium MMX configurations at the 200MHz level settling in the mid-to-low $2,000 range, while fast Pentium II systems break far into the $3,000 range.
Much of today's DVD-ROM PC possibilities come as aftermarket upgrades, even from the integrators themselves. According to Gateway 2000 senior marketing manager Chad Benson, "DVD is already happening today. We offer an upgrade on all our other product lines as an option." But, option or not, Gateway is unsure of DVD-ROM's implementation timetable. "I feel that it is difficult to predict that DVD-ROM will be replacing CD-ROM in the near future, at this point," says Benson. "There are a lot of movies coming out on DVD which will make for a natural fit on the convergence product. In terms of the desktop, it is more difficult to predict. The software will have to be more available for systems to define that market." Gateway 2000 offers a $199 DVD-ROM upgrade package, but most other companies offer "upgrade" options to DVD-ROM in the $300-$500 range, reflecting the prices of aftermarket kits themselves.
One reason for the relatively high prices of the DVD-ROM upgrade options is that the buyer gets not just the DVD-ROM drive, but also a DVD-Video playback subsystem that includes MPEG-2/AC-3 hardware decompression. To date, no DVD-ROM drive manufacturer or reseller offers just the DVD-ROM drive. Sony Electronics, Inc.'s Dirk Peters, marketing manager, Value Added Products/Computer Component & Peripherals Group, offers the typical explanation that cites user expectations that associate DVD with movies, and the concern that drive-only sales would result in high returns or costly technical support assistance to users frustrated by PCs that could not play DVD-Video.
Indeed, the connection between DVD-ROM PCs and the big screen is often quite direct. For example, DirectWave's MVP D Series Extreme DVD Home Theater System can feature either a 17-inch MAG monitor for $2,299, or a 27-inch Princeton Arcadia video monitor for $2,999, or a 31-inch Princeton Arcadia video monitor system for $3,899. For the true couch potato, Gateway offers its Destination D6-300 big-screen PC-TV for $4,699, which includes a wireless keyboard and mouse, a Harman-Kardon High Fidelity speaker system, and serves up DVD movies on a 31-inch SVGA monitor.
If Computer Shopper is any guide, the DVD-ROM PC offerings for end-of-year 1997 have to be seen as disappointingly few. But it is a start, and, indeed, the selection is growing.
--David R. Guenette
(Lynn Babiarz and Lee Hollman contributed to this news feature.) |
