Compaq Evolves with Evo Thin Clients

By
iApplianceWeb
(05/22/01, 08:45:00 AM EDT)

Compaq Computer Corporation unveiled its new family of corporate computing solutions. Intermixing traditional workstation, notebook, and Internet appliance computing platforms into the same family, Compaq now markets the Evo family of computers.

The Evo family consists of Evo workstations, W6000 and W8000, the Evo notebooks, N400c and N150, and the Evo Thin Client T20.

On the high end Compaq Evo workstations use the Intel 860 chipset, supporting up to two Intel Xeon processors at speeds of 1.4GHz or 1.7GHz. Standard are Ultra 160 SCSI and Ultra ATA/100 controllers, 800 MHz ECC RDRAM memory, and a choice of a 48X Max CD-ROM or 16X DVD-ROM drive.

In the middle, the Compaq Evo notebooks, weighing 3.5 pounds and measuring less than an inch thick, include support for Compaq's MultiPort USB technology, 802.11b, and Bluetooth connectivity. At $2,299 the N400c features the low voltage Intel Pentium III 700 MHz processor, a 12.1-inch TFT XGA screen, 20 GB hard drive; 128 MB of memory, a full-size keyboard, dual battery support, and a mobile expansion unit (MEU) which provides for floppy, CD, DVD, or CD-RW support. At a lower cost of $1,449, the N150 comes with Intel Mobile Pentium III or Celeron processors, a 14.1-inch TFT display, a 10GB hard drive with built-in modem/network interfaces, and the option of either a CD, DVD, or CD-RW optical drive.

In comparison the T20, appliance terminal is designed to simplify the computing environment, allowing corporate customers to manage their enterprise computing more easily. The Compaq Evo Thin Client T20 is packaged with a choice of either Windows NTe (NT embedded) or Windows CE operating systems. Included is the Rapport Administrative IT management software.

The T20 is a legacy-free (no serial, parallel ports or PCMCIA slots) client device that connects over a network to a server, which provides the processing horsepower and storage capabilities. About the size of a paperback book and based on a National Semiconductor 300 MHz Geode processor, the T20 comes with 64MB of flash memory, up to 96MB of DRAM memory, and supports four USB ports. Included is an integrated Internet Explorer Web browser, making it the low-cost solution for Internet and intranet access requirements. Priced at $399, the Compaq Evo Thin Client T20 is expected to ship in June.