IDG News Service
On top of two new notebooks, Hewlett-Packard Co. took the time Wednesday to announce a new line of Pavilion desktop PCs and Media Center PCs to attendees at CeBIT America in New York.
The new line of Pavilions are designed for entry-level media enthusiasts, while customers looking for more power will be steered toward the new HP Media Center PC m200 series, the Palo Alto, California, company said in a release .
The new m200 Media Center PC runs Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP Media Center Edition, and comes with a television tuner card and several different ports for audio and video output and input. A configurable model will be available on July 9 for a base price of US$999 with a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 processor from Intel Corp., 512M bytes of DDR (double data rate) SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), a 80G-byte hard drive, and a GeForce4 MX440 graphics card from Nvidia Corp.
Three fixed-configuration Media Center PCs will be released in July, HP said. The m260n will come with a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor with hyperthreading, 512M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 120G-byte hard drive, a DVD+RW/CD-RW drive, and the GeForce4 MX440 card for an estimated $1,299 in the U.S on July 13. The m270n comes with a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processor with hyperthreading, 512M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 160G-byte hard drive, a DVD+RW/CD-RW drive with a separate DVD-ROM drive, and a GeForceFX 5200 graphics card for an estimated $1,599 in the U.S. on July 20.
For the high-end customer, HP will release the m280n on July 20 with a wireless keyboard and mouse, so the PC can be controlled from the living room couch while watching television or listening to music. The m280n will come with a 3.0GHz Pentium 4 processor with hyperthreading, 512M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 200G-byte hard drive, a DVD+RW/CD-RW drive plus a separate DVD-ROM drive, and a GeForceFX 5600 graphics card for and estimated U.S. price of $1,999.
HP will use processors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) in the new Pavilion desktops, which customers will be able to buy in fixed configurations from retail stores or configurable models from HP’s Web site, the company said.
The Pavilion a200n is expected to cost $469 when it becomes available in the U.S. on July 6 with a 2.4GHz Intel Celeron processor, 256M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 40G-byte hard drive, a CD-RW drive, and integrated Intel Extreme graphics. The Pavilion a220n will be available on June 29 with an AMD Athlon XP 2600+ processor, 512M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 120G-byte hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive and a separate CD-RW drive, and a GeForce4 MX UMA graphics card from Nvidia for an estimated U.S. price of $679. The Pavilion a250n is available immediately with a 2.6GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with hyperthreading, 512M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 120G-byte hard drive, a DVD+RW/CD-RW drive with a separate CD-ROM drive, and a GeForce4 MX440 graphics card for an estimated $999.
Customers interested in building their own system on HP’s Web site can start with an a200 series PC on June 25 with a AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor, 256M bytes of DDR SDRAM, a 40G-byte hard drive, and a CD-ROM drive for $349.
HP also introduced five new monitors for use with the Pavilion desktops. After $50 mail-in rebates, the 15-inch flat-panel f1503 and the 17-inch flat-panel f1703 will cost an estimated $329 and $499, respectively. They are available immediately.
HP also introduced the 17-inch MX703 CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor, available June 29 for an estimated $159; the 15-inch VF15 LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, available June 25 for $249; and the 17-inch M703C CRT monitor available June 25 for $99. All prices reflect $50 mail-in rebates.
Earlier this week, HP announced new notebooks for business customers, and the company is planning to launch several new iPaq handhelds with Microsoft’s Pocket PC 2003 operating system on Monday.