HP Introduces New Line of HP Pavilion PCs; Home PCs with Digital Modems Further Define Music-making Possibilities - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Jan 10, 2000

Hewlett-Packard Company Thursday announced a new line of HP Pavilion home PCs that includes the latest Intel Pentium III processors, HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drives, Nvidia TNT2 graphics and digital modems for advanced broadband connections. The announcement was made here at the Consumer Electronics Show, which runs Jan. 6 through 9.

HP Pavilion PCs continue to be one of the best solutions for customers interested in creating music CDs, as most HP Pavilion PCs include an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, MusicMatch Jukebox software and free MP3 songs from EMusic.com. The addition of digital modems provides connection to services such as DSL that greatly improve Internet connection rates and download speeds.

"The HP Pavilion PC line has the built-in technology that people are looking for today," said Rob Wait, worldwide product marketing manager for HP's Home Products Division. "Whether it's making music CDs with a CD-RW drive, navigating the Internet with the one-touch Internet keyboard or tapping into high-speed Internet services through a digital modem, the HP Pavilion PC line is in tune with what matters most to consumers."

According to IDC, HP ranked second in worldwide home-PC-desktop market share for the third calendar quarter of 1999, the most recent reporting period. HP had the highest growth rate (vs. second calendar quarter) of major PC makers at 42.4 percent(1).

The HP Pavilion PCs announced Thursday include the following:

* The HP Pavilion 9690c PC is powered by an Intel Pentium III 800MHz processor with 133MHz FSB and includes 128MB SDRAM, a 40GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, an 8x DVD drive, a 10/100Base-T networking card, a 1.5MB/s Digital Lucent WildWire DSL modem, 16MB Nvidia TNT2 Pro AGP card and HP's one-touch Internet USB keyboard. The HP Pavilion 9690c PC has an all new translucent cobalt blue chassis and is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $2,499.(2)

* The HP Pavilion 9680c PC is powered by an Intel Pentium III 650MHz processor and includes 128MB SDRAM, a 40GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, an 8x DVD drive, a 10/100Base-T networking card, a 1.5MB/s Digital Lucent WildWire DSL modem and one-touch Internet USB keyboard. The HP Pavilion 9680c PC has an all new translucent cobalt blue chassis and is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $1,899.(2)

* The HP Pavilion 8660c PC is powered by an Intel Pentium III 533MHz processor and includes 128MB SDRAM, a 20.4GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, an 8x DVD drive, a 10/100Base-T networking card, a V.90 56K modem and one-touch Internet keyboard. The HP Pavilion 8660c PC is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $1,349.(2)

* The HP Pavilion 8650c PC is powered by an Intel Celeron 533MHz processor and includes 64MB SDRAM, a 20.4GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, an 8x DVD drive, a V.90 56K modem and one-touch Internet keyboard. The HP Pavilion 8650c PC is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $999.(2)

* The HP Pavilion 6640c PC is powered by an AMD K6-2 500MHz processor and includes 64MB SDRAM, a 15GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, an HP CD-Writer Plus CD-RW drive, a V.90 56K modem and one-touch multimedia keyboard. The HP Pavilion 6640c PC is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $849.(2)

* The HP Pavilion 6630 PC is powered by an Intel Celeron 500MHz processor and includes 64MB SDRAM, a 10.2GB Ultra DMA hard-disk drive, a 40x CD-ROM drive, a V.90 56K modem and one-touch multimedia keyboard. The HP Pavilion 6630 PC is expected to sell for an estimated U.S. street price of $649.(2) *T

The new HP Pavilion PCs will be available later this month at consumer electronics, computer and office superstores nationwide, and at the HP Shopping Village (www.hpshopping.com). More information on HP Pavilion PCs is available on the Web at www.hp-at-home.com or by calling 1-800-PC-HOME-1.

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.

HP plans to launch Agilent Technologies as an independent company by mid-calendar 2000. Agilent consists of HP's test and measurement, semiconductor products, chemical analysis and healthcare solutions businesses, and has leading positions in multiple market segments.

HP has 83,200 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

(1) International Data Corporation, 1999 Third Quarter Home PC Market Share

(2) Actual prices may vary. Price does not include monitor.