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Slim
and stylish PCs are becoming popular as corporate desktops. Compaq has come out
with the iPAQ desktop series for this market. This PC is attractive with its
black and silver color combo.
The iPAQ has a sleek design with a footprint that’s 25 percent of
traditional desktop units, making it ideal for small workspaces. It comes in two
models. The regular iPAQ has all the legacy ports like serial, parallel, and
PS/2. The other model, the Legacy-Free iPAQ, doesn’t have any of these;
instead, it has five USB ports for the new wave of USB peripherals. This makes
even the keyboard and mouse that ship with the machine USB-compliant. Having USB
support makes the PC easier to manage and devices easier to install.
|
Compaq iPAQ Legacy Free desktop |
| Desktop PC. Rs 59,140 (excluding the monitor). Rs 5,800 for the additional multibay CD Rom drive Features: Compact design with five USB ports; multibay support (Also has model with legacy ports). Pros: Occupies less space; easy connectivity. Cons: No floppy drive. Source: Compaq Computer (India) Compaq Center 92, Industrial Suburb II Stage Yeshwanthpur Bangalore 560022 Tel: 80-3374785 Fax: 337460 e-mail: sai.chandrasekhar@compaq.com |
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The
machine is based on an Intel 810E motherboard, which puts the regular PC
internals, like sound and display, onboard. It also has an onboard Ethernet port
for network connectivity. The PC doesn’t have any PCI or ISA slots or bays for
further expansion. some upgrades are possible though. For example, the model we
received has 128 MB RAM, which can be expanded to 512 MB. The processor is a
PIII/733 MHz, which can be switched with a faster PIII, or even a Celeron. It
has a 10 GB hard drive, and another can be added later. Sound output is taken
care of by built-in speakers, although it has options for external speakers. The
model that we got didn’t have a floppy drive.
The iPAQ has a MultiBay on its left side, which can be used for a CD or DVD
drive, which are optional. Its front panel has two jacks for a microphone and
headphone. The machine comes preinstalled with Windows 2000 Professional, and a
Reference Library CD for help in using it. It also comes with a Restore CD to
restore the OS if it crashes.
The PC is suitable for running productivity applications in an office. This
is apparent from the high 37.3 Winmarks that it scored in Business Winstone 99,
the benchmark for testing overall performance of machines in productivity
applications. A good machine for regular productivity work. Don’t expect great
gaming, though.
Anuj Gupta at PCQ Labs