HP to Offer Custom Compaq Gaming PCs 253
PunkerTFC writes "Announced in the run-up to E3, Hewlett-Packard will offer custom built-to-order gaming machines under the Compaq brand, according to Reuters. The machines will be avalible in June or July and 'offer a range of options with standard, off-the-shelf components.' HP has been selling a Compaq gaming machine on a limited basis through a few select retailers already - apparently, 'Those pilot sales... convinced the company that it could compete in a market where well-known specialty manufacturers like Alienware, Voodoo and Falcon Northwest face increasing competition from mainstream players like Dell Inc'. The X Gaming machines will feature 'a standard chassis from CoolerMaster, known for its work in keeping system noise down while also decreasing heat, and red glowing lights in front and back what will make it stand out in the dark.'"
Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:5, Insightful)
Fine for the kids (Score:4, Insightful)
X, X, X!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
This country sucks!
commercials... (Score:4, Insightful)
But will they [HP] top AlienWare's commercial that airs on TechTV?
All HP has to do is throw in an AMD Athlon64 into the machine and they'll top *Dull* (err, Dell) since Dell is an Intel-only screwdriver operation, for now.
Speaking of Dell, has anyone seen the commericals to the NetFlix competitor starring the former *Dell Dude*?
..red glowing lights in front and back.. (Score:4, Insightful)
For those truly l33t gamer/night joggers. You really aren't an extreme gamer until you've hit the wall at the 30th mile at 3:00 am while fragging.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:4, Insightful)
This might be good... (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmmmm... Methinks there's no news here. (Score:5, Insightful)
OK, OK, a lot of assumptions, but what I'm trying to say is that I can't imagine that this'll be popular with real gamers.
So, if this service is not going to be used by real gamers, who will order a specialist games PC? Probably the kind of numpty who would order a PC from the likes of HP/Dell/Whatever anyway. If this is the case, then we're not talking about news of earth-shattering importance. It's just a manufacturer introducing a new range to try to grab new market share. Just like soap powder manufacturers introducing a new powder to try to grab more market share.
So...
Move along, there's nothing to see....
Nick.
Real gamers build their computers.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Then, there's the gamer dork. Gamer dork spends $2000 extra for an Alienware. He brags to his friends about how awesome it is. Then, he screws it up with spyware and it runs slow. Then, he pays Gamer Nerd $50 and a 12-pack to fix it.
Perhaps if Compaq offered a real savings over building the computer yourself, Gamer Nerd will be interested in it. However, Gamer Nerd quickly sees that $2000 of the price of the computer is for unneeded software, brand name, and unneeded support.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:5, Insightful)
At the moment, those with case mods are the people who know how to mod their machines, and actually know a little. They do it partly for the kudos, but also for the fun.
But I can just imagine your standard 1337 gamer wanting to have a console looking like that, but unable to do so. And some of them, many of them, would pay for the priveledge.
So no, although those currently who have mods, won't buy this thing, there is probably a market who will, who haven't been able to get modded machines before.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:5, Insightful)
While this is all true, it's nice once in a while to have a computer under warranty, with the components rigorously tested and certified to work well together. I'd often get add-on components and realize the power supply wasn't able to support new gaming hardware, or the new component turned out to be excessively noisy. There's a lot of gamers out there who would prefer to spend the time playing games rather than mucking about with worrying about such factors with the hardware.
Boycott HP/Compaq if you love America (Score:0, Insightful)
Re:Hmmm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like British grammar: "It's people like you what cause unrest. [jumpstation.ca]"
Re:DVD+R in HP machines (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Real gamers build their computers.. (Score:5, Insightful)
You don't know a lot of "gamer nerds" or overclockers, do you?
l33t gamers...not the market! (Score:5, Insightful)
There are a ton of once-l33t gamers now growing into adults (gasp!) with much less time to solve component-conflicts and video driver problems. We're looking for the silver bullet solution, and willing to pay extra for it. And our numbers grow with each birth.
-Laetor
Re:Fine for the kids (Score:1, Insightful)
The target market is not the _truly_ l33t gamer, who wouldn't buy a box with a mobo in it, let alone some tricked-out box with the cover screwed on. This product line is aimed straight at the flush parent/college student/damn12yearolds professional who is looking for speed with a warranty.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I could be wrong, but a few years ago I said: "I don't think anybody will buy a Chrysler PT Cruiser. The kind of person who wants something like that will make one ( e.g., like a hot-rod ) from an old panel truck."
Boy, was I wrong.
Modding no longer cool? (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't it the whole "I did it myself and it's different than a `normal' PC" the point?
Re:Well... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Build yer own (Score:4, Insightful)
Er... show me a $400 Dell that's worth upgrading only the RAM, video, and optical drive. At that price you're looking at low-end Celeron units w/ 128MB of memory and built-in video. It's probably cheaper than what I could put together from parts, but my parts will be of considerably higher quality.
As per you, to get that Dell up to speed you'll need to buy a new video card ($130), burner ($80), and memory ($250). Total cost at this point is $910.
Or you can, for $115 more, have an Athlon64 3000+, quiet HSF (Zalman), top end motherboard, an 8-in-1 reader, vastly improved sound quality, faster memory, firewire, more USB ports, no issues with integrated video, a better motherboard, and probably some other stuff I forgot.
Two weeks ago I bought, for $750 shipped, a case w/ 420W PSU, Athlon64 3000+, Zalman HSF, Chaintech ZNF3-150 MB, 1 GB DDR-400 memory, and a DVD+/-RW 8x burner. Toss in another $270 for a HD, video, monitor, keyboard, and mouse and you have a respectible gaming machine. You can quibble with the video card, but it's the same price for either machine to improve it. Except that a higher end video card will rapidly outstrip the Celeron 2400 CPU in the Dell... not so with the Ath64 3000+.
To get a roughly equivalent system from Dell, BTW, is around $2000. If you strip it down and buy the parts you suggest OEM then it still around $1500. Oh, and my case is quite a bit nicer than the one from Dell.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:4, Insightful)
RE: with the components rigorously tested and certified to work well together
We are talking about HP here..... The consumer PC lines don't test crap before then send them out....
I was one of the lead resource technicians for the HP Pavilion line for 3 years (97-2000)... and I stopped counting how many times they put out a machine that wouldn't work properly with alot of the consumer level scanners and printers out of the box....
HP's compatibility testing for consumer products is NON-EXISTANT
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:4, Insightful)
I haven't bought a completely new computer for my main box since 1999. I've been upgrading this and that here and there, and everything on the machine has as of now been swapped out (450Mhz K6II -> 800Mhz PIII -> 1800+ AMD XP). However, it's starting to get to the point where I really want a machine where all the parts are of the same computing era, and are under warranty. So I've been looking at a new system built by monarch, with a 3 year extended parts/labor warranty. It's honestly appealing. And it's not devoid entirely of nerdishness - I am going to select every part on the list...
By the way... The cause for my want to upgrade w/ warranty is the death of my 1 year old video card. Buyer beware: PNY "Lifetime Warranty" = Shelf Lifetime of product = for computer parts, rarely longer than 8 months. Plus receipt required (why? it's obviously a PNY).
Anyway, Warranties are ranking as the number 1 reason for not building it yourself, at least in my mind.
~Will
$1599? (Score:3, Insightful)
A pretty darn fantastic gaming machine can be built for aroung $800. Why can't HP use a little bit of that leverage of theirs and assemble a machine for us at this price?
Own Support (Score:3, Insightful)
I build systems for myself and often for family and friends. When my parents needed a new computer and I was at college I suggested getting a Dell. Big mistake.
According to my parents the computer worked fine for a few days but then they heard a clicking noise when the computer was turned on. Of course they called me and needed help. I could hear the noise over the phone and knew it was a defective hard drive.
After they called tech support in India five times they decided it was a bad power supply. I come home from spring break and the power supply is there waiting to be installed. I asked why they sent a power supply. Now I was stuck calling tech support and begging for a new hard drive. I could tell the people at the other end were reading a script. I finally convinced them after three calls the hard drive was bad and they sent a new part.
The moral of this long story. If you know how to troubleshoot/repair computers build your own. You may save money, you may not. At least you will have some control over the repair/replacement of parts.
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:4, Insightful)
My current rig is a HP xw8000. Same joy. The #2 HDD - a Seagate 10k 70GB cuda - died. Hardly HPs fault. Called support. Part arrived next day with return ship label.
Yes - there are plenty of crap machines with the HP or Compaq moniker. They do make good high end workstations, though, and a gamer PC is much more like a workstation than a celeron secretary special.
Good for Parents of young ones (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Is this going to be a popular serivce? (Score:3, Insightful)
I had a system that was pretty similar to yours, a 750MHz AMD Athlon Thunderbird. It was pretty fast, but didn't multitask well. So all at once, I bought parts to build a new system. With all I'd learned from my previous experiences, I was able to build one that was extremely reliable. I bought an ASUS motherboard (Very Important!) a P4 (though if I bought one now you can bet it would be an AMD64 of some variety), a gig of dual-channel DDR made by micron from the lowest bidder (pricewatch.com [pricewatch.com],a Maxtor hard drive (high performance, no reliablility problems), and then a basic run-of-the-mill video card. Got a 19" monitor, a CDRW, and moved my old hard drive over for extra space.
Now multi-tasking works fantastic, no matter what programs I'm using. I am really pleased with it. My computer performs much better than the average off-the-shelf PC, thanks to the carefully selected proc, memory, and hard drive.
And it was also a learning experience. So, in closing, I would say, don't be discouraged by past experiences - you can still beat the new PC market by building your own computer. You just need to do proper planning. Consider all your options, and put together a killer system. Good luck!