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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rudedog who wrote (71808)	11/13/1999 1:40:00 PM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

rudedog: Obviously DELL feels it can bring out a product that will appeal both to the commercial and consumer market. In its commercial manifestation, will the DELL machine be legacy free, too? If so, will the only difference between its commercial and consumer version be the legacy ports? BTW if adding a legacy port to the iPaq cost only an additional $50 how come such a large reduction in cost in the commercial version is attributable to the elimination of legacy ports? (I suppose building-in legacy ports requires a more complex architecture and more raw materials than adding one on). Furthermore, if the engineering of the basic commercial model can be so easily adapted for Windows 9X why do you think it would take such a long time to produce an avante garde consumer model? By now you will know I am virtually illiterate when it comes to computers. (I am seriously thinking of buying a new one because my clock is running slow - the engineers want about $150 to change the battery and warn me that if I try to do it myself I will mess it up - and these are the same engineers who charged me $350 recently for installing a new hard drive. Computer engineers have taken over from auto mechanics!). The main point of my questions is to get a better understanding of the competitive advantage the iPaq has for COMPAQ (a)in recovering market share in commercial PC's (b)in improving margins in that sector (c) in enhancing brand image by bringing out an attractive consumer model. Of course the probable success of the iPaq (and any consumer version) will not have a positive impact on 4Q revenues and might have an negative impact if it causes customers to delay purchases until the new models can be shipped in quantity in 1Q. Orders taken for iPAQ in 4Q cannot be credited to 4Q revenues, can they? As far as I can see the only advantage to the 4Q will be an improvement in book to bill.