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Hardware

Hip-e All-In-One PC 413

Posted by michael from the long-haired dept.
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.'"
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Hip-e All-In-One PC More

Hip-e All-In-One PC

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  • Specs? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mr.henry ( 618818 ) * on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:19PM (#10545390) Journal
    Check out the specs [hip-e.com] for this computer:

    CPU?

    Latest Intel processor: high performance, low power consumption, quiet, Intel Pentium-M System

    Memory?

    Plenty of memory capacity - up to 2GB

    The configuration page [hip-e.com] only lets you add accessories and change the "skins" for the computer.

    Vague specs and zero customability! hip-e, Fuck Yeah!

    • Re:Specs? (Score:5, Funny)

      by ultramk ( 470198 ) <ultramk@pacbel l . net> on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:22PM (#10545415)
      An insightful first post, from someone who actually read the article.

      If anybody wants me, I'll be outside watching fire rain from the sky and the seas turn to blood...

      m-

    • Re:Specs? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by FlipmodePlaya ( 719010 )
      I suppose it was necessary, but nice that they used a Pentium M to build it though, eh? Many a /.er has complained that desktops with low power usage would lighten everyone's energy load.

    • Re:Specs? (Score:5, Informative)

      by waynelorentz ( 662271 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:25PM (#10545451) Homepage
      Click on "Spec" and you get this:

      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)

      by Aero Leviathan ( 698882 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:28PM (#10545464) Journal
      It's hard to find, but click specs under 'node' on the config page:

      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 ...along with some other stuff my eyes kinda glazed over. The processor seems a bit... lacking. Guess it's not really aimed toward the tech-oriented audience.

      • Re:Specs? (Score:3, Informative)

        by moonbender ( 547943 )
        The processor seems a bit... lacking. Guess it's not really aimed toward the tech-oriented audience.

        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.

  • Wait... (Score:3, Funny)

    by aldeng ( 804728 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:19PM (#10545393)
    hip-e? Didn't that whole thing fizzle out years ago? It's not like we're still in Vietnam.

  • Little Red Wagon. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:19PM (#10545395)
    "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.'"

    Kind of like the dad who goes out to the workshop and whips something up, instead of going to the toy store.

    • Re:Little Red Wagon. (Score:5, Funny)

      by tonywong ( 96839 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:42PM (#10545558) Homepage
      Wait until his son asks him for an iPod...

      On the other hand, his son probably stopped asking for anything once the homemade 'iMac' showed up in the living room.
    • There's a good chance it's apocryphal. Every company needs some sort of "creation myth", and it matters little if it's bogus, like eBay's Pez story [augustachronicle.com]. PR flacks make up this stuff to add a human-interest element so that so-called business journalists will write about the company.

    • these are the folks who created the iOpener (Score:5, Informative)

      by SethJohnson ( 112166 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @03:22PM (#10546139) Homepage Journal


      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].
  • So let me get this right, did Apple now invent LCD all-in-one computers? You do know that they where around prior to even the original iMac (see Sun Voyager for an example)?

  • Perfect for me! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:20PM (#10545399)
    As a typical teenager, this is perfect for my X-treme, hip, on-the-go lifestyle! I can use it to listen to my rock-n-roll music which I have stored as "MP3s", or I can use it to send electronic messages to my friends when I'm hanging out at the malt shop!

    Any teenager who doesn't have one of these is a total square, if you ask me.

  • target (Score:3, Interesting)

    by sonatinas ( 308999 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:20PM (#10545400) Journal
    This computer seems to fit the Target color scheme in their stores: lime,pink, etc.

  • Must....resist... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:20PM (#10545402)
    Hip-e

    It's spelled "Hype" actually...

  • ripoff (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Coneasfast ( 690509 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:21PM (#10545406)
    take a look at the specs [hip-e.com]. at $1699, this is a ripoff. you're paying for eye candy basically.

    i can make a MUCH better computer for that price.

    • Yeah: an iMac (Score:4, Insightful)

      by j0kkk3l ( 778886 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:35PM (#10545513) Homepage
      the 17" iMac with DVD-Burning Superdrive sells for $1,499.00 If you add some RAM you are at the same price, as this vaporhardware. Buy the original instead! Get a life. Get a Mac.

    • Re:ripoff (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ttldkns ( 737309 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:35PM (#10545514) Homepage
      You can buy a MUCH better Imac for that price. $1,852 if you pick the 17" 1.8ghz and upgrade the HD and RAM to match.
    • that's the case with most computers. a person can build a computer as fast and reliable as any pc dealer for less because you don't have to pay anyone to put it together. this should be elementary and obvious to anyone. you're paying for the convenience and/or know-how of someone putting that bits together and maybe providing a warranty.

    • Re:ripoff (Score:5, Funny)

      by Dr. Evil ( 3501 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:44PM (#10545571)

      i can make a MUCH better computer for that price.

      Sure, but it won't have anywhere near as big a profit margin!

    • i can make a MUCH better computer for that price.

      Ah, but can you make it look X-TREME and/or TOTALLY HIP? [xmission.com]

    • Re:Hip-e missed the point? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Concerned Onlooker ( 473481 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:54PM (#10545627) Homepage Journal
      you're paying for eye candy basically.

      Perhaps this is the point entirely. It's possible that they looked at the Mac and thought, "hey, these guys are selling stuff based on nothing more than cool factor, so let's design something that looks hip and cash in on the market."

      If indeed that's what they were thinking--and judging from the price v. specs I'd say that was the case--they missed the whole point of the Mac, which is more than fancy hardware. It's also about all the rest of things that Mac users already know about, such as great hardware plug-and-play reliability, solid OS and software that makes the machine instantly useful even to newbies.

      His kid lost out.

      • 'Perhaps this is the point entirely. It's possible that they looked at the Mac and thought, "hey, these guys are selling stuff based on nothing more than cool factor, so let's design something that looks hip and cash in on the market."'

        Too bad they were too stupid to know about all the other POSs that came out and attempted to cash in on a) the iMac's success (hey! we'll make it cute!) or b) other themed crap. Rmember Mattel's barbie/hotwheels PCs? Or that little grey lump of shit Dell made a couple years
    • >> you're paying for eye candy basically

      No, you ain't even paying for that, because this thing looks HORRIBLE compared to iMac.

  • Penny wise... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) * on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:21PM (#10545408)
    Well, it sure was a lot cheaper to design and build the whole Hip-E than to just buy the kid an iMac!!

    I've met other Windows users that were equal in thier utterly pathetic traction to the Windows platform.
    • Well, it sure was a lot cheaper to design and build the whole Hip-E than to just buy the kid an iMac!!

      Plus, don't forget the poor kid who had to wait forever while daddy patiently built his homemade iMac-lookalike, after work, in his workshop, with recycled bits of wood and screws ("found on the trash heap. Still perfectly good, you wouldn't believe the nice things people throw away" daddy said). Now is that cruel to the kid or what...

  • Ick Ick Ick! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rueger ( 210566 ) * on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:23PM (#10545426) Homepage
    I can't put my finger on it, but the design if this thing just makes me squirm. Why not be intelligent and just rip-off Apple instead of revisiting the mistakes of the Barbie and Hot Wheels PCs [tinyurl.com]?

  • Talk about a pissed teenager (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:24PM (#10545434)
    Now here's a teenager that is really, really pissed at his dad.

    Just imagine you'd asked your dad for an imac and instead of saying yes or no he's actually going to build something similar running windows?

    Jeez, it's like wanting to have this really cool sneakers and your mom coming home with these crappy imitations that, at least to her, look just as cool and are so much cheaper. Bah.
    • They aren't any cheaper anyway!

      "Here son, you'll love the new Nikee Aerial Jordanians! Look, they even have little mermaids on the heels. And only$200 a shoe! They must be good."

      "You start high-school tomorrow, I just know they'll be perfect for your first day there".

      • Re:Yes, only... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Saeger ( 456549 )
        "Here, son, take these functional, quality shoes made by medium-income profit-sharing workers. DON'T BE A BRANDNAME-TRENDWHORE!"

        --

  • Gip-e (Score:2, Funny)

    by dotslashdot ( 694478 )
    Sounds like a gip-e.

  • Been seeing these for years (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GrandCow ( 229565 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:28PM (#10545471)
    Without looking at other companies to see if they have something similar, I can remember selling sleek all-in-ones when I worked at Gateway 4 or 5 years ago. They were called the Profile, and are still on sale now.

  • How much does an iMac cost? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rudy_wayne ( 414635 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:29PM (#10545472)
    The hip-e is supposed to sell for $1699, isn't that the same or maybe even more than an iMac? So what's the point? The CEO's son wanted an iMac, so he designs something that costs more. That's real smart.

    Once again, marketing drones fail to understand that 17 year olds are quite as stipud as you think they are, and when 40 year olds try to design for 17 year olds they often get it wrong.

    • No kidding. Why the heck didn't the guy just go and buy his son the iMac? I mean the kid wanted the iMac, not some more expensive wannabe ripoff. What these copycats fail to realize is that there's more to Apple's products than simply looks. There's quality and OS X. The hippee thing is more like taking a toyota and putting a cheap fiberglass Farari body on it. May look pretty from a distance, but up close it will look like a cheap imitation (cheapness is the hallmark of the Wintel world) that still

    • Sure, but you're not really selling to 17 year olds, you're selling to 40-something year olds with 17 year old kids.

  • Internet Hotkeys (Score:3, Funny)

    by fossa ( 212602 ) <pat7.gmx@net> on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:29PM (#10545476) Journal

    With the wireless keyboard and Internet hot keys, you can go to your favorite places on the Web from anywhere in your room.

    Whoa! Internet hotkeys! Sign me up!

    Are there any better pictures? This thing looks fairly rickety and cumbersome to set up or move around. It's not exactly elegant looking.

  • But wait! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cybrchrst ( 535172 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:29PM (#10545477) Homepage
    There's more to the offer!

    Buy your hip-e now and you get to join their hip-e squad! [hip-e.com] as a squad leader!! If your friends join your hip-e squad and buy a hip-e of their own, you get $10!!!!

    Of course, all of the money goes into a convenient MasterCard that you get from hip-e, just in time to teach those teens the value of living your life with a credit card bill!!

    Become a squad leader! All your base are belong to hip-e squad leaders!
  • a lot of Hipe to me...
    thank you Slashdot, I'll be here all week!

    Don't forget to tip your sysadmins.

  • Keep reading, it gerts worse.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Asprin ( 545477 ) <gsarnoldNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:30PM (#10545481) Homepage Journal

    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.
    • The name was humor enough, but the "Hip-E" squad?

      I can imagine the conversaions in school:

      Kid: "Hey Chuck, want to join my Hip-E squad?"

      Chuck "Time for another swirly I do believe"

      *Flsussshhhhh*

      Kid: "That's the fifth time this week! Hey Biff, want to join my Hip-E squad?""

    • You're just hard.

      This is for ... our ... children. How can we send them to school knowing that the other kids all have everything they want because they have kind, successful parents when we give them NOTHING?

      There's no way to call that anything but neglect.

      What's next, no car on their 16th birthday? Or worse, a used car? *shudder*.

    • And one can clearly conclude from the diagram [hip-e.com] that anyone who would buy/use a Hip-e has no more than 2 friends.
  • If you are going to buy that computer, then why not buy a laptop instead? Its more mobile. Granted, most laptops do not come with 17" monitor, but for 2" difference...

  • They should have called that thing the FUGL-E because it is fuckin' ugly!

  • They are marketing to teens... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Viceice ( 462967 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:35PM (#10545517)
    What on earth are they thinking? Somebody needs to go back to product design school.

    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?

    • Yeah, I almost considered it for my 11 yo daughter, until I saw the price. This should be priced at US$799, if that.

      I DO like the concept of a wireless 16:9 wallmountable display with integrated speakers and remote keyboard, though. I'd prefer it more open (perhaps runnung Linux on it wouldn't be too hard to do), cheaper (see above), and not as "kiddie-styled". Of course, there are other devices that fit that niche (and cost the same or more).

    • "...the way they have made it makes it look as if it was targeted towards 10 year olds and tweens."

      Excellent observation. That might be kinda the whole point. They might be marketing it to tweens on the premise that the 10-12 year olds "think" it's what the older, cooler kids are using. On some level, little kids look up to teens because while teens command a similar kind of respect as adults do, their way of wielding authority is completely different. This makes them cool.

      I have seen this kind of mar

  • My head is full of silly analogies (Score:4, Funny)

    by The I Shing ( 700142 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:37PM (#10545532) Journal
    I keep thinking of analogies to what this hip-e computer represents. First thing I thought of is the girl who wants a pair Calvin Klein jeans so her parents take her to Old Navy. Or the boy who really wants a 1969 Mustang so his dad buys him a 1969 Nova. Or the kid who wants Yu-Gi-Oh stuff so his parents buy him Pokemon stuff.

    Seriously, what does this computer do, transform into a bug or something? Why does it look like that? It looks like it should be hanging down into the crib of a deranged infant. Or something.

    "It's everything you want in a computer..." Huh. Yeah.

  • wow (Score:2, Funny)

    by geekoid ( 135745 )
    that pretty cool. I like the way it looks.
    2 things:
    1) I hope it's successfull
    2) when it fails, I can't wait to get one surplus!

  • This is a laptop in drag. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Wireknight ( 68033 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:38PM (#10545541)
    Check out the video card, the LCD resolution, any number of other aspects of this machine. I suspect that it integrates a large number of laptop components, rather than desktop components.

    Very odd.

  • fugly (Score:2, Troll)

    by crackshoe ( 751995 )
    So its like an imac, but ugly, garish, and runs windows? just what i needed.

  • Price breakdown (Score:3)

    by Drakino ( 10965 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:46PM (#10545582) Journal
    hip-e:
    1.5 gHz Pentium M
    17 inch LCD at 1400x900
    DVD reader/CD writer
    Mobility Radeon 9700 with 64 MB
    120 gig PATA drive 7200 RPM
    512 MB RAM
    802.11g Wireless
    TV Module and DVR software
    Wireless Keyboard
    Wireless Mouse
    8-in-1 media card reader
    Built in Spyware, err, "Sweepstakes LED"
    Windows XP (no comment on Home or Pro)
    MS Office Student edition
    AIM
    1 year warranty
    $1699

    iMac:
    1.6 gHz G5
    17 inch LCD at 1440x900
    Combo drive (DVD reader/CD writer)
    GeForce FX 5200 with 64 MB
    160 gig SATA drive 7200 RPM (subtract $100 for an 80 gig)
    512 MB RAM
    Airport Extreme (802.11g wireless)
    Bluetooth Keyboard
    Bluetooth Mouse
    Bluetooth module (comes with the keyboard and mouse when ordered with the iMac)
    Mac OS X Panther
    iLife 04 (iTunes, iDVD, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand)
    Appleworks 6
    WorldBook Encyclopedia
    Quicken 2004
    Nanosaur 2 and Marble Blast games
    1 year warranty
    $1652

    A LaCie 8-in-1 reader is $30 from Apple.com
    An Elgato Eye TV 200 Firewire TV tuner and DVR is $330.

    So feature wise on the hardware, the hip-e comes out ahead in price.

    Performance I think would go to the iMac though, and the extra software it has is nice.

  • Testimonials... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mellonhead ( 137423 ) <slashdot AT swbell DOT net> on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:46PM (#10545585) Homepage Journal
    "Hip-e is the best thing that's ever happened to me!It has everything i want and more!"

    Ben, 16

    (Ben obviously hasn't gotten laid yet).

    "hip-e is the fastest, most customizable computer on the market.It's perfect for me because I can make it fit my style."

    Sean, 16

    (Sean obviously hasn't checked out the specs of his perfect machine.)

  • With all the disadvantages that comes with and none of the advatages of a desktop PC with a premium price tag. Where do I sign up>

  • Not even for teenagers (Score:4, Insightful)

    by numbware ( 691928 ) <justin@justinjacobs.com> on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:49PM (#10545596) Homepage
    Between me and my friends (who are between 15 and 16), we would never buy this. We'd rather have an iMac G5 for the same price, or even a normal tower PC with Linux running on it. Looks don't matter, it's how it runs. I doubt this Hip-e would perform anywhere near a Mac or PC of the same price. And I can't even see the cool factor in the Hip-e, so it's pointless.
  • I'm looking at this thing, and although there's plenty of room for improvising on the ATX case design and PC design in general, to make something that will play on stupid teenagers, the very idea of making a fast PC that's small and in a proprietary format is kinda disturbing. First, lets talk about cooling and power consumption; they're talking about a big fast harddisk, DDR memory, fastest Pentium-M, an radeon 9700 w/ 64 meg of memory, a TV tuner card, a NIC, a CD-R or DVD-RW+CD-RW drive, and a built in

  • Two Comments (Score:3, Funny)

    by the pickle ( 261584 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:54PM (#10545623) Homepage
    First: I think I'm scarred for life after looking at the photo of this abomination. Warn people next time, please!

    Second: Am I the only one who read the article as

    the hip-e, a new Windows-based PC... specifically designed to
    crater

    Because "crater" is exactly what it's going to do in the market at this price. For $1700, you could buy a 1.8-GHz iMac -- unquestionably faster, even without considering the benefits of the G5 CPU -- and have $200 in change left over to spend on goodies.

    p

  • not only is it a PC, it's a MLM, too (Score:5, Informative)

    by morcheeba ( 260908 ) * on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:55PM (#10545630) Journal
    It's a multi-level marketing scheme [hip-e.com], too!
    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!"
  • Crap-E

  • 10 year old: "no thank you" (Score:3, Funny)

    by microcars ( 708223 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @01:57PM (#10545650) Homepage
    "We're targeting 13 to 19 year olds, but we've designed hip-e specifically with the 17 year old in mind -- partly because 13 and 14 year olds aspire to be 17 and have similar tastes."

    If I was 17 (sigh...) I would certainly not want be caught dead with this thing in my room.

    I showed this to my 2 grandkids: ages 9&10 (and yes those are their real names...)

    "You aren't going to get us that for Christmas are you?" they said.
    Me: "why not"
    Them: (eyes roll as they leave the room)
    10:"it is so Gay!"
    9:"Duh!"
    10: "Don't agree with me, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
    9: "no I'm gonna kick YOURS!"
    (much fakey Kung Fu ensues...)

    Well, I guess they aren't really the target audience anyways., sorry, Off-topic

  • $1700? ? (Score:2)

    by hqm ( 49964 )
    Let's see, $1700 for what is essentially a low-end PC with a 17" LCD. I could buy the same hardware for under $1000 easily.

    So, what am I paying the extra $700 for?
    Obviously the "cool" factor. Except, what is cool about buying an overpriced PC with cheeseball plastic crap on it?

  • If I really had a hankering for an all in one like this (yeah, right), a Sony VAIO [microcenter.com] would be better, for about the same price. Better specs, cleaner design, much better company longevity.
  • "The node features a 120GB internal hard drive and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive mounted vertically on its right side. Underneath the plastic lies a Pentium M processor running at 1.5GHz and an ATI M11 graphics chip" It seems like they failed at copying the iMac's performance.

    Sure, I can copy a Rembrant... You say that you want it to look like a Mona Lisa? I can do that too.

    Cheers

    Adolfo

  • Word of advice (Score:3, Funny)

    by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @02:24PM (#10545775)
    No matter how great your product idea is, never, ever, give it a name that rhymes with "clippy".

  • But actual Hippies might like it. (Score:3, Funny)

    by vhold ( 175219 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @02:26PM (#10545784)
    I can picture my 50 year old hippie step father thinking this is pretty cool.
  • Sorry, no. It looks like crap. It has a fucking touchpad mouse. Even the most moronic kid would realize this is a worthless piece of shit. This isn't targeted towards teens, it's targeted towards preteens who want to look cool.

  • Fitting Name (Score:2, Funny)

    by TehF0X ( 616757 )
    Where in the world did he get the name "Hip-e". I can just see the business meeting on this: Suit.A - "Well, it's supposed to be for young people." Suit.B - "I heard my son use the word 'hip', but I don't think it was an anatomical reference." Suit.A - "Brilliant, integrating slang into a product targeted to a teen audience increases sales tenfold! Or was that giving out free t-shirts?" Suit.B - "We still need to make it more comparable to an iMac though..." Suit.A - "Well, I guess we can throw a random v

  • This news is a week to late! (Score:5, Funny)

    by NtroP ( 649992 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @02:38PM (#10545870)
    Son-of-a-bitch!

    I just spent $1,400.00 on a 1.6 GHz G5 iMac with 512Mb RAM and bluetooth keyboard and mouse running a robust BSD-based Unix operating system for my son when I could have spent $1700 on a 1.5 GHz WinTel Box?!?

    Think of all the "Life Lessons" my son will miss out on with his Mac. He won't be exposed to all those viruses, and spy-ware programs - how will he ever learn to properly secure his computer system in the "real World"?

    He won't have the experience of paying annual subscription fees to Virus vendors to keep his virus software up to date. He won't be hit with pornographic pop-ups left and right, so how will he be prepared when he sits down at a friends computer or a computer at work and surfs on their Windows Box?

    He won't have the experience of re-installing his OS every time he needs to really clean the spy-ware and mal-ware off his box.

    He won't know how to search for and install drivers for all his peripherals. Not to mention knowing how to go through the troubleshooting process of determining which software package just overwrote that all-important .dll or how to edit a registry.

    He'll might learn the bash shell and vi and ssh and scp and how to tweak apache config file to do what he wants instead of learning DOS commands and how to use TweakUI.

    His computer will never be able to be used on a "Windows" network or on the internet because "Macs aren't networkable" (according to the "geek" at our local computer store)

    If only I'd have known about this Hip-e sooner. Well, maybe one of his friends will have pity on him and let him use theirs when he visits - anyone want a G5 iMac cheap?

  • Pyramid Scheme. Amway for tweens!!! (Score:3, Informative)

    by adolfojp ( 730818 ) on Saturday October 16, 2004 @02:42PM (#10545892)
    Pyramid Scheme. Amway and Herbalife for tweens!!!

    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
  • Hasn't Daddy CEO heard of Alienware? 'Cause this looks like an overhyped attempt to do just what Alienware et al do - put PC technology into 1337 cases. At least Alienware's parts tend to be a little faster / newer tech than the blazing 1.5 ghz in the hip-e... :-)

    The market's flooded with people building "hip" PCs in their garages. I wish this guy luck, but I don't expect they'll be around in a year without a MAJOR response or some good ol' 90s-style VC.

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