NEC Aims Environmentally Friendly Desktop At Channel

NEC Solutions America

Called the PowerMate eco, the product is targeted at environmentally conscious corporate clients and their solution providers. NEC executives said the channel figures heavily in the company's plans for selling the new system.

The PowerMate eco features a lead-free soldered motherboard built into the base of a power-savvy 15-inch TFT LCD display, said Larry Miller, vice president and general manager of NEC's Mobile Solutions unit. The LCD panel includes no irradiated boron, a radioactive element with a half-life of 10 years, and the plastic case has no harmful chemicals and can be easily disassembled to recycle the internal components, Miller said.

The system uses a 900MHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU, which keeps maximum power use at 37.7 watts during operation and 5.2 watts while in stand-by mode. To reduce heat, the power supply is separate from the system, as in a notebook PC. The low-power processor also eliminates the need for a fan, helping to reduce total noise to about 20dB, said Miller.

"It is the only fanless desktop PC in the world," he said.

Including a CD-ROM drive, the PowerMate eco's price starts at $1,599. It can be configured without a CD-ROM drive or with an optional CD-RW/DVD drive. The product is available immediately via Tech Data, Ingram Micro and solution providers, Miller said.

Between 95 percent and 98 percent of the Mobile Solutions unit's business goes through solution providers, said Miller. Solution providers are eligible for market development funds of up to 2 percent if they reach a quarterly sales requirement, he said.

The PowerMate eco is one of the Mobile Solutions products that are available to certified NEC partners. Solution providers can become certified in services such as biometrics, security and synchronization of handhelds with servers behind firewalls in Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes with all of the company's products, including desktops, laptops and handhelds, Miller said. Once certified, solution providers are eligible for no-cost training and reduced prices for demonstration equipment, he added.