NEC Takes Wraps Off Environmentally Friendly Desktop
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Called the PowerMate eco, the product is targeted at environmentally conscious corporate clients and 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 Division, based here. The LCD panel does not include irradiated boron, a radioactive element with a half-life of 10 years, and the plastic case contains no harmful chemicals and can be easily disassembled to recycle the internal components, Miller said.
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The PowerMate eco's 900MHz Transmeta CPU reduces power consumption.
The system uses a 900MHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU, which cuts power to 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, Miller said.
Solution providers called the new desktop interesting, but questioned whether customers consider environmental friendliness a selling point.
"That feature is certainly appealing to customers in California and to government," said James Kernan, president and CEO of Networks Plus Technology Group, a San Diego-based NEC partner. "What's funny is, with most people, what it boils down to is brand name, support and price," he said. "At least the price is not too far off [from other desktops. It's sad, but I haven't seen too many midsize accounts concerned about what happens after a system becomes obsolete."
Including a CD-ROM drive, the PowerMate eco is priced starting at $1,599. It can be configured without a CD-ROM drive or with an optional CD-RW/DVD drive.
Between 95 percent and 98 percent of NEC's Mobile Solutions unit's business is generated by solution providers, Miller said. Solution providers are eligible for market-development funds of up to 2 percent if they reach a quarterly sales threshold, he said.