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

To: rupert1 who wrote (54782)	3/25/1999 5:59:00 AM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Does the CPQ share price need a "surge protector"? Read on. ____________ March 25, 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Do I Need a Surge Protector For a PC With a Pentium III? By WALTER S. MOSSBERG ----------- Q. My girlfriend bought a Compaq with the new Pentium III chip, and the salesperson said the machine required a $90 power-supply protection system because the chip requires much more juice than standard surge protectors can handle. Was she duped? Could we have bought a regular surge protector without risk to her new system? A. I think she was taken. According to a Compaq spokeswoman, "these machines use a standard PC power supply and do not require a special surge protector." An Intel spokeswoman says that "Pentium III processor-based machines don't require any sort of special surge protectors." My guess is that they sold your girlfriend something more than a surge protector -- probably a costlier uninterruptible power supply, which includes both a surge protector and a battery that can keep your PC going very briefly during power outages to give you time to save files and shut it down properly. This device, called a UPS, is a legitimate product, if you feel you need it, as is a top-of-the-line surge protector. But Pentium III machines don't require them any more than do Pentium II machines or Macintoshes. In fact, Pentium III PCs don't require anything beyond the normal, prudent, modestly priced surge protectors all PCs should have. Your girlfriend's bad experience is a direct consequence of the ridiculous complexity of PCs, which allows poorly trained or unethical sales people to easily convince otherwise smart consumers to buy products they don't need, based on what appears to be superior knowledge of the technology. I yearn for the day when nobody in a computer store will even ask what processor is inside a machine.