14 DAY TRIAL // During last week's CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany we had the pleasure of seeing a number of new products that will compete in the ever-growing market for low-cost, low-power portable and desktop computer systems. However, it appears that what we have seen at CeBIT is not all that you should be expecting from the netbook and nettop market, as leading PC vendor HP has one new product that tries to get your attention in a compact and low-power form factor. We are talking about the Compaq CQ2000M, a mini-Q 2020-based nettop that the company has just launched in Europe.
For those keeping track of the market, the mini Q 2020 has been launched in Taiwan last November, while the new Compaq CQ2000M is targeting the European area. It takes advantage of the processing power enabled by Intel's Atom 230 CPU and comes equipped with 1GB of DDR2 memory. Based on the famous Intel 965 Express chipset, the nettop is also featured with a 160GB SATA hard disk drive, an internal optical drive, a multi-format card reader, a single VGA port, integrated 5.1 audio support and 4 USB 2.0 ports.
According to the company, users purchasing one of these systems will also be provided with a 20-inch Compaq LCD W201 monitor and a Windows XP operating system. Price wise, the Compaq CQ2000M is expected to retail for about €349, or approximately US $441, a price that will also include the 20-inch LCD monitor. Given the overall specifications and considering the retail price, this new nettop from HP appears to be offering a rather decent price/performance ratio.
Unfortunately, there are still no details about a future availability for a similar system in the US. However, we are sure that if HP sees a great demand for its new product it will likely bring it to users in the US as well.