Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : The Panda Project (PNDA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MEL64 who wrote (898)	2/19/1998 9:50:00 AM
From: Mitchell Ryan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1521

Here are some excerpts from a local Boca Raton newspaper call "The Boca News". The article is dated 2/16/98 and is written by Stacey Orozco. Sorry there is no link, but again, this is a local paper. My comments are in italics. "The company started with seven employees in May 1994 and now has 42 employees. A year and a half ago, The Panda Project opened a 50,000 square foot facility in Silicon Valley that has 25 employees. Last year the company earned $2.4 million in revenue." This doesn't mention how in 1995, the company had about 160 employees in Boca Raton. Now they only have 17. They have such a bad reputation locally that it's near impossible for them to hire qualified people. "Stanford said his new concept hasn't made competitors happy. 'They're pissed off in Silicon Valley,' he said, 'because you no longer have to throw away your computer and buy a new one.'" Stanford's been saying this for years. It's one of his favorite ways to stroke his ego. The fact that Panda has sold about 200 systems is surely no reason for Silicon Valley to be "pissed off". Stanford, there must be some other reason they aren't returning your phone calls! "Krishna, a Florida Atlantic University graduate who has been working with Panda for three years, finds his job as an engineer challenging. 'Panda breaks traditional barriers,' Krishna said, 'We never accept no for an answer and always try to find the most challenging solutions. If everybody else is doing it, we look for a better way to do it.'" And all along, I thought engineering was the discipline in which one seeks the simplest solutions to the most challenging problems. Panda is looking for more complex solutions for problems that have already been solved! A novel idea, but can they make money off of it? "Panda's newest computer, Rock City, is the world's first rock'n'roll computer, is geared for teens and college students. It has a wireless keyboard with and optional 12-inch flat panel monitor and a cube-shaped hard drive that can be hung from the ceiling. The price range will be from $995 for a 200 megahertz to $12,000 for a 700 megahertz when it goes on the market next month. The hard drive can either come in the standard black with lightning bolts, blue or transparent. There is even a rock-n-roll case to carry it in, which looks like something musicians would take on the road with them. Sometime next year, Crane said you can expect to see a laptop computer that will be lighter and more powerful than the ones currently on the market." Know of any rich college kids with $12,000 to blow on a "700 megahertz"? Enough said. Ryan

To: MEL64 who wrote (898)	2/19/1998 11:51:00 AM
From: chester lee	Respond to of 1521

<he only product i know of now that can reduce processor heat is VSPA, and it is patented by pnda>> I happen to own a pentium II at home and have quite a few at work. Those computers and CPUs work just fine. They have a nifty $5 device called a cooling fan. Chester

To: MEL64 who wrote (898)	2/19/1998 12:05:00 PM
From: Rubber Man	Respond to of 1521

The heat problem for P2's has already been looked at by Intel- please find out what they did before suggesting that Intel will licence VSPA.

To: MEL64 who wrote (898)	2/19/1998 3:54:00 PM
From: Mitchell Ryan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1521

<< Do you know the pentium II is to big and runs to hot in lap tops? The only product i know of now that can reduce processor heat is VSPA, and it is patented by pnda.>> Say for the sake of argument, that the VSPA package was superior at removing heat from a Pentium II die. All that means, is that it offers less thermal resistance from the die to the package case. The heat must still be removed from the case. In the past, this has been accomplished with heatsinks and fan/heatsink combinations. How does VSPA uniquely solve this problem? Once the heat has been removed from the package case, it must be removed from the system. How does VSPA uniquely solve this problem? Laptops typically use lower voltage parts that generate less heat in the first place, eliminating the need for active cooling devices. I expect that Intel will produce a lower voltage version of the Pentium II for laptops. Pentium II a VSPA? In your dreams! Ryan

To: MEL64 who wrote (898)	2/19/1998 9:22:00 PM
From: John Richardson	Respond to of 1521

Look you idiot, a dense connector does not change the fact that a pentium runs hot in a laptop. The problem is dissipation, plain and simple. You can use a sink for the heat. The way to get the heat down is change the process size, or lower your clock. If you said something intelligent about lead lengths, capacitance, and the need for higher current drivers, you may be more credible. Somehow, I can not believe someone from MIT will buy this bunch of crap about a stupid connector. Maybe, if PNDA came up with a way of manufacturing a dense array in volume, they may be able to compete with other connector makers. Buts its value to these products that you list is very low.