ith personal computer prices crashing, companies like Hewlett-Packard are scrambling at the high end.
These PC makers are attempting to build powerful systems, loaded with features, at a price high enough to provide a healthy profit margin. A major weapon for the companies is Intel's new Pentium III microprocessor, a chip that can command a significant premium because it is Intel's latest and fastest.
Earlier this year, of course, Intel created a different kind of stir with its Pentium III. Every Pentium III chip contains a unique serial number that can be used to track the movements of consumers on the Internet. As a result, some privacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have called for a boycott of this chip.
But does it make sense to boycott Intel's latest and greatest? Eager to find out, and curious about what it would be like to ''drive'' the world's fastest PC, I asked Hewlett-Packard to lend me its top-of-the-line home computer, the HP Pavilion 8490.
The Pavilion is an imposing machine. The system's Pentium III screams along at 500 megahertz (That's more than 100 times faster than the original IBM PC, which had a clock speed of just 4.77 megahertz).
The Pavilion 8490 comes with not one, but two optical drives. One is a CDROM-DVD drive that can play movies directly from an optical disc, using the computer's screen. You can buy DVD movies for less than $15, and there are hundreds of titles. The second optical drive is a compact disc recorder (CD-R). Blank CDs can be purchased for roughly $2 each at office and computer supply stores.
The two drives allow easy copying from one CD to another. In fact, the Pavilion comes with disc-copying software preinstalled. (Unfortunately, you can't copy DVD discs because they store data in a different format.)
This whole package costs roughly $2,500 for the basic configuration. That includes 128 megabytes of RAM, a 17.9 gigabyte hard drive, and a fax modem. Throw in another $150, and HP will install a Diamond Viper 550 video card with 16 megabytes of video RAM, high-performance 3D graphics, and a rock-solid refresh. (The Pavilion's built-in video is an ATI Rage with 8 megabytes of video memory, which flickered somewhat on my monitor.)
You'll also need a monitor. HP sells a 15-inch multimedia monitor (which means it has a set of built-in speakers) for $299 and a 17-inch monitor for $449.
So how does the whole package work together?
Quite well - as long as Microsoft's software is cooperating. I was amazed by how much faster such programs as Outlook Express and Internet Explorer ran on the 500-megahertz Pentium III. I had thought that the main factor limiting these programs was the speed of my Internet connection, which is a fairly zippy cable modem from MediaOne. But running on the Pentium III, Web pages just snapped into place.
Unfortunately, faster doesn't mean more reliable. I consistently had problems with drivers and other system software. Sometimes the computer would just freeze up, for no apparent reason. Thankfully, the computer also boots fast.
Some of the built-in software didn't work properly, either. The Pavilion comes with Symantec Fax Starter Edition, but it never worked for me. The special ''media'' buttons on the HP keyboard stopped working when I installed Internet Explorer 5.
I was also annoyed by a high-pitched chattering that accompanied certain kinds of screen operations, such as moving a window or redrawing a page of text. I believe that it happens when the power supply is called upon to provide a little extra juice for transferring images to and from the screen. HP told me I could make the noise go away by changing a jumper on the inside of the computer. I changed the jumper; the noise remained.
Beyond ultrafast speed, the Pentium III also brings a whole bunch of new instructions that software vendors can use in their products. Dragon Systems, for instance, has a version of its speech recognition software that uses the special Pentium III instructions to achieve faster recognition and shorter training times than with previous microprocessors. Dragon's product is a real reason to purchase the Pentium III, rather than the competing chips from AMD and other vendors that are nearly as fast but much cheaper.
As far as the privacy-shattering Pentium III goes, I must have visited more than 100 Web sites during my test drive. Not one of them asked to download an applet that could read the processor serial number.
And why would they? Pentium IIIs are in the vast minority on the Internet today. Why would any Web site restrict an area so that the majority of Internet users couldn't access it?
Overall, HP's Pavilion is a great system if you want to watch movies, master compact discs, or just need to have the zippiest computer on the block and are willing to pay for it.
If you do decide to get it, you're probably better off buying your own 17-inch monitor for $300 and hooking the computer up to your stereo system. You'll get better sound and save money as well.
Technology writer Simson L. Garfinkel can be reached at plugged-in@simson.net.
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