Shows off Intel's latest dual-core microprocessor.
A Taipei trade show aimed at users opened Thursday highlighting Intel Corp.’s latest dual-core microprocessor, the Core 2 Duo, with desktop computers priced as low as NT$19,990 (US$606).
A Taipei trade show aimed at users opened Thursday highlighting Intel’s latest dual-core microprocessor, the Core 2 Duo, with desktop computers priced as low as NT$19,990 ($606).
Companies at the Taipei Computer Applications Show, which runs through Aug. 7, offered several desktop systems with the new chips, from high end PCs for gamers down to lower end systems with price tags that meet family budgets. The prices are only for attendees of the show, which is open to all.
Genuine C&C, a local company that takes orders and ships PCs within a day to users, may be selling the most and least expensive Core 2 Duo desktop PCs at the show.
The first system, priced at NT$33,900 ($1,032) and aimed at gamers, comes with the Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz processor, 1024M bytes of double data-rate, second-generation RAM running at 667MHz, a 250G-byte hard drive, a high-end Nvidia 7600GS graphics card and supermulti DVD recordable drive. It comes with the Microsoft Windows XP Home OS, but the price does not include a monitor, keyboard or mouse. The company added a handle on top so users could carry it around: The computer is about the size of a suitcase.
The company’s low-cost model, at NT$19,990, comes with the same microprocessor, OS and DVD drive, but a 160G-byte hard drive and half the amount of RAM.
Synnex Technology International Corp. came closest to beating Genuine’s low price with its NT$20,900 ($636) Lemel brand PC. The system includes a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo, 512M bytes of DDR2 RAM running at 667MHz, a 160G-byte hard drive, Windows XP Home and a supermulti DVD recordable drive.
The company also offered a higher-end model at NT$24,900 ($746) with the same microprocessor, RAM, hard drive and DVD drive, but a superior graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce 7300GS card.
HannStar Union Corp. was showing off a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo system, with 250G bytes of hard-drive space and 1024M bytes of DDR2 RAM running at 667MHz for NT$22,900 ($697).
Intel was even selling boxed versions of the 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo for NT$7,350 ($224), including tax. The company was limiting sales to one per person.
Most of Taiwan’s bigger companies, such as Acer, Asustek Computer and Micro-Star International Co. were concentrating on selling laptop models at the user show.
Acer did come with bargains on Pentium D desktops. Instead of drastically marking down the machines after Intel’s latest price cuts, it bundled its AcerPower S285 desktop PCs with 19-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. The 2.66GHz Pentium D system, which runs Windows XP, carries 512M bytes of RAM and a 160G-byte hard-drive costs NT$24,500 at the trade show.
