Hip-e All-In-One PC 413
stallard writes "Yahoo! News reports this story:
'In November, Digital Lifestyles Group Inc. plans to ship the
hip-e, a new Windows-based PC inspired by the iMac, specifically designed to cater to teenagers. It was Chairman and CEO Kent Savage's own experience after his son asked him for an iMac that led to the new all-in-one system's creation.'"
Re:Specs? (Score:5, Informative)
DVD Player/CD Burner Drive
1.5GHz Intel Pentium M Processor
High Performance Video
512MB SDRAM Memory (expandable to 2GB)
120GB Hard Drive
6 USB ports (3 in node; 3 in nodeboard)
Firewire ports
Broadband-ready with Built-In Ethernet and 802.11 Wireless
Integrated Microphone
Customizable skins
Sweepstakes LED for contests & promotions
Oh, great. So not only do I get spam, I get my computer blinking at me in the middle of the night to let me know that I have spam.
Re:Specs? (Score:5, Informative)
DVD Player/CD Burner Drive
1.5GHz Intel Pentium M Processor
High Performance Video [...]
512MB SDRAM Memory (expandable to 2GB)
120GB Hard Drive
6 USB ports (3 in node; 3 in nodeboard)
Firewire ports
Broadband-ready with Built-In Ethernet and 802.11 Wireless
Integrated Microphone
Keep reading, it gerts worse.... (Score:4, Informative)
What's worse than a woefully underpowered and overpriced PC bent on granting you a "lifestyle"? Getting your friends on board with you for all the real-life fun and excitement that comes with a MULTI-LEVEL VIRAL MARKETING PYRAMID SCHEME [hip-e.com]!
Ok, that might be a little harsh, but cash rewards for talking your friends into joining your 'squad'? Stupid -- especially when it's only ten lousy bucks on a system that's worth about $800 and sells for $1700.
They are marketing to teens... (Score:5, Informative)
Look at how the thing is built. Spec wise it's a solid product, but the way they have made it makes it look as if it was targeted towards 10 year olds and tweens.
If you are a self respecting 16 year old and if you had the option, would you get one of these or an iMac? Part of the whole point of selling high tech toys to teens is that teens who own them want to feel older, more pro, more.. well script kiddie 1337.
You make a product that takes that away and instead says to them "You will be looked upon as a kid who only does innocent things" and expect it to sell?
Re:Specs? (Score:3, Informative)
It's not extremely fast, but a 1.5 GHz Pentium M isn't that slow, either. I don't know the exact equivalent here, but I guess depending on the application and of course the overall system it should be as fast as a P4 2 GHz or even 2.5 GHz. And of course, the Pentium M has a very low power usage resulting in easy and quiet cooling. Not at all a bad choice for a nice desktop computer.
not only is it a PC, it's a MLM, too (Score:5, Informative)
For only $1700, you can get in on the ground floor, and get $10 every time your friends buy one. Plus you get to be called a "squad leader!"
Pyramid Scheme. Amway for tweens!!! (Score:3, Informative)
From their website:
1) You tell a friend.
2) Friend buys a hip-e with your squad leader number.
3) Friend's hip-e is delivered.
4) Friend enjoys hip-e for 30-days.
5) YOU GET PAID!
From the company's perspective:
1) sell a crappy overpriced PC (It won't run high end games)
2) Exploit the devastating power of tween peer pressure, desire of belonging, and naivete to sell the computer to their friends
3) Profit!
Not only inmoral, but also barelly legal
Cheers, Adolfo
Hip-e vs. iMac (Score:1, Informative)
17" 1400x900 LCD
1.5 Ghz Pentium M
512MB RAM
120GB HDD (SATA?)
DVD/CD-RW Combo (speeds not specified)
"Built-In Ethernet and 802.11 Wireless" (which 802.11 revision is not specified)
Total: $1699
iMac 1.6Ghz ($1299)
17" 1440x900 LCD
1.6Ghz PowerPC G5
512MB RAM (+$75)
160GB SATA HDD (+$100)
DVD/CD-RW Combo drive (24X/16X/24X)
Airport Extreme, 802.11G (+$79)
Total: $1553
iMac 1.8Ghz ($1499)
17" 1440x900 LCD
1.8 Ghz PowerPC G5
512MB RAM (+$75)
160GB SATA HDD (+$100)
Superdrive (4X/8X/16X/8X/24X DVD-RW/CD-RW)
Airport Extreme, 802.11G (+$79)
Total: $1753
The 1.6Ghz G5 is the most similar in specs to the Hip-e. This is also considering a 1.6Ghz, 64-bit RISC chip vs. a (admittedly faster Mhz for Mhz than a P4) 1.5Ghz 32-bit CISC chip. The total is $146 cheaper for the iMac, whose specs are quite clear vs. the Hip-e whose specs are a bit more difficult to nail down.
I included the 1.8Ghz G5 to see how much another ~$50 over the price of the Hip-e could buy in the iMac line. I won't go spec for spec, but I tried to get the specs as close as possible. In this case the processor is 300Mhz faster, and you have the benefit of a DVD-RW. There are no customization options for the Hip-e, but in most cases I would assume the addition/substitution of a DVD-RW in such a machine would run you more than $50.
I haven't, of course, seen the Hip-e in person, but have seen the iMac and it's awe-inspiring.
As far as I'm concerned, case closed.
these are the folks who created the iOpener (Score:5, Informative)
That's exactly what I first thought when I read that line.
Just to clarify for everyone, Kent Savage is the same guy behind the Netpliance iOpener [com.com]. He's one of those dot-com bubble masters who doesn't really 'get-it' but can spins some concept up that looks great on paper and board rooms. Other people who also don't 'get-it' in these meetings sucker into his pitches and invest in stupid ideas like this without recognizing the fatal flaws.
The fatal flaw with the Hip-E??? They're trying to out-mac Apple. That's like trying to out-weird Michael Jackson. No slight against Apple in this comparison. They've done a tremendous job building brand awareness, applying inspired industrial design, and conceptualizing cool products. While the Apple store is located in a shopping mall here in Austin, the Hip-e folks have one of those ridiculous kiosks in the mall like those ones selling t-shirts with your picture ironed-on that says "worlds's greatest grandpa."
I read the Yahoo article linked to above and I think it's poor journalism for the writer to have not mentioned that Digital Lifestyles is the new name of Netpliance.
Here's a little blurb about them on Engadget [engadget.com].
Re:these are the folks who created the iOpener (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Specs? (Score:2, Informative)
This page [anandtech.com] and this page [anandtech.com] of an Anandtech review (September 2003) shows two 1.5GHz Pentium M notebooks keeping up with a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 in Winstone 2003 and SYSMark 2002 [futuremark.com]. A 1.6GHz Pentium M notebook was faster than the 2.4GHz Pentium 4 in all but the Pentium 4-optimized Internet Content Creation SYSMark 2002 (Photoshop 6, Premiere 6, Dreamweaver 4, Flash 5, Windows Media Encoder 7).
However, this page [anandtech.com] shows that the Pentium M notebooks had slower hard drives (4200-5400RPM), slower graphics (ATI "Mobility" and Intel integrated), and sometimes less memory (256MB). In comparison, the hip-e has a 7200RPM hard drive, (apparently) a desktop Radeon 9700 graphics controller and 512MB of memory.