Who really wants a tiny desktop?
You may have seen an article in The New York Times this weekend (registration required) on the subject of a new trend in small, cheap laptops and desktops. The story deals with the pressure PC makers face to make low-end, low-margin computers after the success of the Asus Eee PC mini laptop (or "Netbook" as they're called).
We can certainly see why laptop divisions of those companies might feel nervous. Traditionally, owning a laptop meant sacrificing power for portability and we'd wager that many people still hold to that notion (advances in gaming laptops notwithstanding). If demand for ultracheap laptops rises, and the big vendors try to satisfy it in earnest, they'll most definitely feel it in their bottom line as a result of those puny low-end mark-ups.
Not bad for $249, but what if we showed you a faster midtower PC for just $50 more?
(Credit: CherryPal)The trend is different for desktops. First, cheap desktops are currently plentiful and have been for years, so it would be hard for the low margin systems to get worse. If you go to Best Buy's Web site, 22 of the 90 desktops on offer there fall in the $300 to $500 category, all of which come from Acer, Dell, or HP (HP by way of Compaq, and Acer via its own Aspire line as well as its eMachines subsidiary). None cost less than $300, but already, 25 percent of systems at the country's largest PC retailer aren't doing much for the big vendors.
Secondly, unlike laptops, whose screens contribute significantly to their price, these cheap desktops don't need to be small. Of the Best Buy 22, only the Acer Aspire X1200 falls into the small form factor category. And as eMachines shows us regularly, a cheap midtower desktop will outperform a small form factor PC for the same price every time.
That doesn't mean that desktop vendors haven't tried the cheap-and-compact route. Shuttle, who arguably started the small PC trend on the desktop side, came out with the $229, Linux-based KPC K-4500 earlier this year. The new CherryPal system, as mentioned in the Times article, and Asus's forthcoming Eee Box (whose shipping specs, we're told, have changed significantly since its June announcement) will also add to the discussion.
But for all of those efforts, we don't think Dell, HP, and others will need to go super small or worry more about thin low-end margins for desktops, at least any more than they already have. Just think of Apple's Mac Mini. While the iMac received a specs update this past April, the Mac Mini's hardware hasn't changed since last August, almost a full year. If demand was there, we suspect Apple would do a better job of keeping the Mac Mini current.
Now connect it to something.
(Credit: Asus)We also don't think demand will pick up because while the Mac Minis and Eee Boxes of the world have visual appeal by themselves, customers still have to figure out how to use them, and their aesthetic and space-saving benefits can vanish once you connect them to a display, and a mouse and keyboard.
It's true that living room PC fans tend to be the most enthusiastic about these kinds of systems, but that customer segment remains a small niche, unlike, say, the potential market for small-and-cheap laptops, whose appeal crosses over from business travelers, to students, to anyone looking for a self-contained, secondary system for basic productivity.
Rich Brown reviews desktops and various other components and peripherals for CNET. E-mail Rich.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/22/dell-unveils-tiny-bamboo-cased-eco-computer-concept/
I don't expect this one to fall into the ultra-cheap $250 to $400 category.
I would love to have a display that I could move from my counters to my island in my kitchen. or from the coffee table to a TV table in the living room. One of the problems with any desktop is how you are tied down to a single location.
I am thinking of a low power sort of internet surfing, e-mail unit that wouldn't need all the bells and whistles.
As for micro desktops: if it uses less power and resources and yet still works for what its owner needs it for...why the hell not? It has a tiny footprint and uses a fraction of the materials that a typical "classic" desktop uses in manufacturing. And it's far more transportable when the need arises, and can be locked away far easier if security is a concern. The market will ultimately prove or disprove the concept, so why whine about it now?
If all cell phone manufacturers think of it that way, we'd all be carrying around bulky, heavy cell phones.
Why even bother with TIVO or even a cable TV box?
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by Arthur Belle Dent
July 24, 2008 1:42 AM PDT
- As a geek who likes to build his own computers, do mods and kinds of crazy stuff, I want a small cheap form factor.
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(12 Comments)Small is good. Just like think is good.
Cheap is always good.
The EEE box is about the size of a paperback
We've already installed a Mac Mini and various shuttles in my brother in laws Range Rover, my westfalia camper and my buddy's Honda CRV.
If its around 299$, Ill get one for the kitchen LCD, one for the living room, USB cordless keyboards.
The 200$ range will solidify the computer as an appliance. An impulse buy.
I wanted to get a Mac Mini for the living room but couldnt justify the expense past the minister of finance because the video output from our newer laptop does the job for most of the time.
I ran this scenario by my sons. if we dont buy new Wii games for the next year and Instead use that money for a low cost computer we can hook up in the living room w/ a wireless keyboard, would you be wlling to make that sacrifice? They said yes.
I know this Sophie's Choice scenario proves nothing but as someone who has friends who have shuttles and Mac Minis, smaller, quieter, cheaper using less power can only be a better.
I love the obligatory 'if there was a market for this product Apple would have been paying more attention' angle. All hail Cupertino.
Almost as funny as the low cost netbooks are gonna fail because Apple hasnt bothered entering this new market.