HP Readies New Desktops for Enterprises

HP is launching these updated desktop models at a time when desktop sales have slowed. In the company’s latest quarterly results, which were released on Feb. 20, HP’s PC business grew 17 percent but its desktop revenue fell 1 percent, while its notebook sales increased by 40 percent.

Dell, HP’s main rival in the PC business, watched its desktop sales fall 18 percent, which affected the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results.

HP officials do believe there is still a market for desktops and that the new energy efficiency, life-cycle management and emphasis on including the latest processor technology will continue to make its PCs attractive to enterprises.

The dc7700 model will use Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor and support Intel’s latest desktop chip set, the Q965 Express chip set. The desktop will also include integrated graphics and a SATA (serial ATA) hard drive with up to 250GB of memory.

Click here to read more about how notebook revenue might overtake desktop revenue in 2007.

The high-end dc7700 will also continue to support Intel’s vPro chip platform, which Intel has said will augment manageability and security. The desktop will also include a RAID 1 option and HP backup and recovery software.

HP said that it does not plan to include Intel’s vPro in other models in its desktop line but will include mobile versions of this technology in its laptops later in 2007.

The midrange dc5700 offers Core 2 Duo processors and Intel’s Q963 Express chip set, in addition to Celeron D, Pentium 4 and Pentium D chips. The desktop also offers a SATA hard drive with up to 250GB of memory.

In keeping with offering AMD processors as an additional choice for customers, the dc5750 desktop includes a configuration option for dual-core Athlon 64 X2 chips, as well as single-core Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 processors.

The dc5750 also supports the Radeon Xpress 1150 chip set and has integrated graphics. Like the dc7700, the dc5750 desktop offers a RAID 1 option. The desktop also includes a SATA hard drive with up to 250GB of memory.

The dc7700, dc5700 and the dc5750 models also offer a number of security features, including TPMs (or Trusted Platform Module 1.2) with HP’s ProtectTools software, which helps secure passwords.

Finally, HP is offering the Compaq dx2200 desktop as a low-end alternative. This model includes Intel’s Celeron D, Pentium 4 and Pentium D processors, an integrated ATI graphics chip and a SATA hard drive with up to 250GB of memory.

The prices on these desktops vary depending on the configurations required by users.

For example, the HP Compaq dc5700 and dc7700 desktops that meet the Energy Star 4.0 specifications and come with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 80GB of hard drive memory, 1GB of RAM, a DVD/CD-RW combo drive and Microsoft Windows XP Pro operating system will be priced at $899 and $959, respectively.

The Compaq dc5750 business desktop with an AMD Athlon processor, an 80GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive, along with Windows XP Pro, will start at $609.

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