HP Refreshes PC, iPaq Lineups

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer maker announced a refreshed lineup of both consumer and commerical notebooks, displays and PDAs, signaling that it will try to keep the pressure on rivals in the notebook and smart device segment. In a series of announcements, HP said it was taking the wraps off:

* A series of new HP Compaq business notebooks, including the HP Compaq 6520s, 6720s and 6820 notebooks with widescreen displays

* HP xw4000 Series Personal Workstations based on dual-core AMD Opteron chips or Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme processors

* HP Commercial Displays at 17-, 19- and 22-inch sizes

But its most aggressive product lineup refresh was directed its iPaq handheld brand, where the company said it would begin shipping a series of the devices featuring standalone GPS functions; wide screen displays; graphics acceleration with 3D mapping; and 3G phone connectivity.

Slide Show: HP Refreshes Handheld Line With 5 New iPAQs

The iPaq, which was developed by Compaq prior to the merger with HP and which had previously enjoyed market-leading growth in the PDA segment, has taken a backseat in either mind share or market share in recent years to other devices, including, most recently, rival Apple's iPhone. But some in the channel believe HP is giving itself a chance to seize some momentum of its own.

"The key in the iPaq lineup is you have to find the specific vertical market where it makes sense," said Marc Steiger, vice president of DLP Technologies, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based solution provider who has sold the devices from HP in the past. "Even with GPS, it's not an easy sale to just any business down the street."

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Slide Show: HP Refreshes Handheld Line With 5 New iPAQs