Aptiva S Series: Machine for those with money to burn

Aptiva S Series: Machine for those with money to burn

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): First of all, those of you out there who have
Internet access and would like to see what web broadcasting is
all about shall have a special treat from Intel Corp three days
from now.

On Thursday, the microprocessor giant will transmit a live web
broadcast from Shanghai, China, where president and chief
operating officer Craig Barret will talk about connected PCs and
related business opportunities. The presentation will be
broadcast directly from Shanghai, starting 9 a.m. Jakarta time.

If you're interested, the Internet address to visit on
Thursday is http://www.intel.com/barret. It's a public holiday,
so most of you won't be working anyway.

New Aptivas

Now let's talk about home PCs, which many vendors believe have
a tremendous but untapped market potential. The Aptiva line is
Big Blue's successful attempt at penetrating the home multimedia
entertainment computing market. In fact, right at this moment as
I am writing this article, I have an earlier model of Aptiva next
to me. It belongs to a friend who works for the very newspaper
you're reading, and he wants me to put the contents of his hard
disk back in working order after a virus attack. No problem.
Although it is only a 75 MHz Pentium system, it is a surprisingly
fast and efficient machine. Windows 95 loads quickly.
Applications such as Microsoft Works 4.0 are also zippy. And, oh,
the speakers produce a rich, full sound capable of filling my
study with dreamy Mantovani music.

Competing toe to toe against other home multimedia center
kings, including the Toshiba Infinia, Compaq Presario and HP
Pavilion, the latest generation of Aptivas would be more aptly
called high-end toys. I saw these machines for the first time
during last year's Fall Comdex in Las Vegas, but here they have
just been introduced to the local market.

As you can see from the accompanying picture, the machine
really has an impressive look. The color is charcoal and it is
pretty. Two models are available. The lower end, the Rp 8.2
million (US$3,370) P81, boasts a 166 MHz Pentium with MMX
Technology, 16 MB RAM, 3.1 GB hard disk, 256 Level 2 cache, an
ATI Rage 3-D graphics card with 2 MB SGRAM, and a 15" multimedia
monitor. The higher-end P91, which will set you back Rp 9.8
million, comes with a 200 MHz Pentium MMX, 32 MB RAM, and a 17"
monitor.

The Split

What will immediately grab your attention is the design, which
I agree is really an innovation in PC design. The CPU can be
placed up to six feet away from where the monitor is. Hm, that's
no big deal, you'd say. However, on top of the charcoal monitor
base you'll find both the 3.5" floppy diskette drive and the
speedy 16X Max CD-ROM drive. With this split design, the CPU can
be hidden completely out of sight but you still can work with CD-
ROMs and diskettes easily. As you might have expected, even the
keyboard can be tucked underneath the monitor when not in use,
thereby saving desktop space.

So, unlike all other PCs, the media drives are not found in
the CPU casing. They are placed under the monitor, closer to the
user. Press the CD-ROM and FDD drawer down, and it will submerge
into the monitor base, which IBM refers to as the media console.
Press it one more time, and it will pop up again.

In these two models, the multidome speakers are integrated
into the monitor. Sufficient protection is also built in so that
the screen won't jitter although you pump up the volume to a very
high level. Honestly speaking, though, I still find the speakers
of the older 75 MHz Aptiva a tad better in sound reproduction.
The more expensive model comes with a 20-watt subwoofer to
enhance bass response. This boom box is optional in the less
expensive P81.

Connection ports for a external microphone, speakers, and
subwoofer are all located on the monitor, so you don't have to
reach behind the CPU casing to connect or disconnect them. The
monitor has an on-screen menu, and you can change all the
settings easily. Speaker volume can also be adjusted with a knob
on the front panel of the monitor.

Other neat features from previous Aptivas are also present,
including the wake-up-on-ring ability. You turn off the machine
before you go to bed at night, but when somebody calls and the
telephone rings a specified number of times, it will turn itself
on and the bundled answering machine software will take the
caller's message. Five or so minutes after he hangs up, the
machine goes to sleep again automatically.

The built-in 33.6 modem is also based on a digital signal
processor. But this time IBM does not use the MWave DSP like the
one we found in earlier ThinkPads and Aptivas. They promise me
that now we won't have any problem accessing Internet with
VoiceType voice commands -- something we could not do with MWave
DSP.

Among free software programs that come bundled with the system
are Microsoft Works 4.0, Lotus SmartSuite 97, some education
software from Edmark, an MMX-enabled game, and the World Book
1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia. What's so special about World Book
is that it will never go out of date. You can refresh it every
time by downloading an updated version through the Internet onto
your hard disk. I hope to be able to review this encyclopedia and
tell you about it in the near future.

In my recent review of the Compaq Presario 1000, I strongly
complimented the inclusion of a recovery CD into the box of every
new computer. Although, as my friend at The Jakarta Post can
testify, there can be problems. Inexperienced users may
unwittingly lose their data instantly. The manual says that all
you have to do is pop the CD-ROM in and reboot the computer.
Well, if you do that, the hard disk will be reformatted and an
image of the original contents is rewritten on it. That means
that all the software you installed after you had bought the PC
will have to be reinstalled. In the meantime all your expense
records are gone, and so are your document files.

My request of PC vendors is that they should add a function in
the recovery CD that will automatically look for any data -- in
My Documents subdirectory as well as in others -- that have
creation dates later than the installation date. Also give the
user an option to back them up on floppies first before
proceeding with reformatting.

Back to Aptivas. IBM last year promised that home PCs would be
able to function as the brain for an intelligent home. This year,
the promise is not quite fulfilled in Indonesia yet, although, in
the U.S., you can already buy what they call a Home Director.
Using this software and hardware package, you can control the
lighting in your house, preset the time you want your stereo to
start playing or the time you want your air conditioner to start
cooling your bedroom. IBM is now working with vendors for a local
version of connector modules, which will work on 220 volt and 50
amps. These modules will also have our type of electrical plug.

My wish list

As is the case with top-of-the-line ThinkPad 760 Series
notebooks, it's hard to find fault with this machine.
Nonetheless, forging onto my wish list is again affordability. At
this price range, it's clear that these latest Aptivas are not
for most of us. IBM admits it, and they say that the older
models, the ones that come in beige, will still be around for
those with a more limited budget.

IBM says that the charcoal gray color is loved by many PC
users. I am not one of them. Because of my limited vision, I
always prefer lighter colors for the buttons on the monitor, as
well as on the keyboard. To me, beige is more visible. So, next
on my wish list is that IBM builds two versions of Aptivas -- one
in charcoal and the other in beige.

All in all, Aptiva S Series home PCs are great machines with a
split design and a split personality. A split personality because
I believe it is simply too powerful -- and too expensive -- for a
home PC. Nonetheless, if you do have a healthy bank account and
you're looking for a rather exclusive and fancy home PC to
impress your guests, this is the one you should look at.