July 27, 1999 Web posted at: 9:59 a.m. EDT (1359 GMT) by Ephraim Schwartz

From...

(IDG) -- Compaq on Monday announced a complete revamping of its Armada notebook line. With it, the company continues an industry trend that de-emphasizes new technology and stresses the benefits of docking station and component compatibility across different models.

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The new models, called the Armada M300, M700, and E700, share mini-PCI modems; memory; hard drives; DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, and LS-120 drives; auto or airline adapters; and even the AC adapter, officials said.

According to one analyst, with its introduction of these models, Compaq has taken forward and backward compatibility further than any other manufacturer.

"Compaq has always had decent technology. Now they are focusing on customer service," said Phillip Redman, program manager at Yankee Group, in Boston. "If a company wants to upgrade their computers but they already have 1 million dollars worth of docking stations, they can use the old dock stations."

As Compaq's first entry into the ultraportable space, the Armada M300 is a less-than-3-pound, 0.9-inch-thick notebook with an 11.3-inch screen and an Intel Celeron 333-MHz chip, priced starting at $1,999.

The Armada M700 weighs in at 4.8 pounds and includes either a Pentium II 400-MHz or a 366-MHz chip and a 14.1-inch active matrix display. Prices start at $3,299.

Rounding out the new models is the E700, weighing in at a hefty 8.8 pounds. The unit is pitched as a desktop replacement PC and is priced starting at $4,799 with the Intel Pentium II 400-MHz chip.

The new models will be available in mid-August through Compaq's channel partners, as well as from Compaq's DirectPlus Web site.

In related news, IBM this week plans to announce the ThinkPad I series 1500, priced starting at $1,899 with an Intel 366-MHz Celeron chip.

Also stirring up the notebook market is Apple, which last week introduced its iBook, priced starting at $1,599, including a 300-MHz Motorola G3 chip.

But Yankee Group's Redman warned that the iBook and other consumer notebooks may not fare well in the marketplace. "The specs are fine [on the iBook] but the price is still out of reach of the average consumer user," Redman said.