Rishi,
The COmdex is loaded with cheaper PCs and cheaper notebooks.
ESS's audio chip set (and modem chip set soon) is still among the favorites for notebook manufacturers.
Steve
DISCLAIMER: LONG ESST
*************
Comdex: loaded but cheap notebooks
By Jim Davis
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
November 17, 1998, 7:45 a.m. PT
Umax and MAG Portable Technologies both chose the Comdex trade show as the
venue to unveil notebooks with big screens and fast processors priced well under
the $2,000 mark.
Umax, which has not made much headway in the desktop PC market, is seeking to solidify
its toehold in the notebook market by offering the first notebook with the 333-MHz K6-2
processor from AMD, a 12.1-inch active matrix display, 3.2GB hard disk drive, modem, and
32MB of memory for $1,599.
The pricing of the company's notebooks has helped the company gain sales momentum--in
September, the company was the fourth largest vendor of notebooks in retail stores,
according to ZD Market Intelligence, a research firm. Umax held a 4.5 percent share,
compared to third place IBM's 8.8 percent.
Do you want to know more?
View story in The Big Picture
Get Reviews: Umax, MAG
Get Prices: Umax, MAG
Go to Message Boards
Search News.com
While Umax has placed its early bets with chips from AMD, Intel will pursue a market
segmentation strategy in the mobile market--just as it has done in the desktop market--in
order to increase its presence at the low end of the market. Intel will release 266-MHz and
300-MHz versions of its low-budget Celeron chips for notebooks in the first half of 1999.
This will result in more notebooks in the sub-$1,500 range and notebooks that approach
the $999 price point.
Meanwhile, MAG Portable Technologies, a unit of a company best known for its monitors,
is emphasizing big screens in its notebooks.
At Comdex, the company rolled out two new notebooks. At the high end, MAG is offering
the Verity 8426CDT with 266-MHz Pentium II processor, CD-ROM, and 14.1-inch active
matrix display for $2699. A system with a 300-MHz Pentium II, larger hard disk drive, and
DVD-ROM drive is priced at $3,099.
MAG is targeting its new 4000-series Verity notebooks at businesses on a budget. Among
four new models, the 4223VLT starts at $1,399 for a system with a 233-MHz Pentium MMX
processor and 12.1-inch active matrix display and goes up to $1,899 for a system with
13.3-inch active matrix display, additional memory, and a larger hard disk drive. A built-in
modem is available as an option.
The ActionBook 333T notebook computer is expected to be available in early December
1998, the company said. MAG's notebooks are currently available through selected
resellers and mail order companies. |
