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HP Seals the Deal, Buys EDS For $14B
netbuzz writes "Following yesterday's spate of heated rumors, the announcement comes this morning that HP has completed a deal to buy EDS for just under $14 billion. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies, according to HP. EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer has issued an e-mail to his employees promising that the company brand will continue and, "We are — and will remain — EDS."
I wonder if Digital's and Compaq's CEO's sent out a similar e-mail when they got bought out by HP :)
Look at the bright point, guys... at least you didn't get bought out by IBM. They would have completely turned the business on it's head in a manner of months!
Yay! An alternative to IBM Global Services from the maker of some really good servers. Too bad it's EDS, well at least it's not Accenture!
Go Ross Perot!
EDS is an IT services company, what else would it be?
simon
NMCI, just finished (or is real damn close to finishing)
About freaking time. NMCI is to technology what Iraq is to foreign policy. A bloody, never-ending contractor boondoggle that cost the taxpayers billions while providing no long term value. You could bury NMCI and SPAWAR in the same hole and the world would be a better place.
NMCI aside I think this is a positive development for both companies. It will provide an alternative to Dell Consulting and a big project support source that isn't married to MS. It's a real foot in the door for HP on a lot of big projects. Nicely done.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
It used to be that Dell sold decent computers for decent prices. They grew because they were cheaper than HP or IBM and used more commodity parts than Compaq. These days parts are getting cheaper and cheaper, and the desktop isn't as profitable due to really low margins. IBM foresaw that and sold off their PC business. That coupled with the fact that most PCs built in the last 5 years are good enough for most consumers who are not gaming so people don't need to replace their PCs anytime soon. Also, Dell has, for better or worse, tied their success to Windows. Vista now constitutes a significant amount of the cost of new PC as hardware prices drop. Even though Dell offers XP on new machines, they've already paid for the more expensive Vista (which includes downgrade rights).
It's ironic that Dell and Apple have switched places from 10 years ago where Apple was in trouble and Dell was riding high. Apple computers are price competitive if you compare them feature for feature; it's that Apple, for most part, focuses their efforts on higher end models and laptops which have better margins and avoided the pricing wars on the low end.
For Dell to remain, they have take some risks. I won't suggest that they sell off all the assets and give the money back to the shareholders that Dell suggested to Apple ten years ago.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Reminds me of what I said to my boss - don't give me that pay rise; get a cappuccino machine and free coffee and I'll be happy. He couldn't believe it - the fact I was happy to give up a pay rise for that. As I said to him, if I get free coffee at work, I don't have to pay for it, which means I come back better off in the end :D
Better check again. EDS isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's getting an even bigger slice of the NMCI pie to fuck up. I always thought we'd just be better off letting AOL run the NMCI network, and stick advertisements all over everything. I'm pretty happy with my Dell workstations, though... I guess this will mean we'll be using HP's at the next tech refresh.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
First of all, the 2.4 GHz 17" macbook pro is not available, 2.5 is the current model at the same price, so comparing a 2.4 dell to the $2799 Macbook, of course it's going to be comperable or cheaper in price.
OK, compare this instead:
Apple 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo 17" system:
- 2.5GHz core 2 duo w/ 6MB L2 cache, 800MHz front side bus
- 2GB 677MHz DDR2 Ram (support 4GB)
- 250GB 5400RPM drive standard ($50 more for a 200GB 7200 which would be prefered by me and is included in below price point)
- 1680x1050 display (or for $100 a 1900X1280 LED backlit display, included in below price point)
- DVI and VGA (with "included" adapter) external display support
- nVidia GeForece 8600M GT 512MB GDDR3 graphics
- gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and 802.11n wireless
- iSight web cam integrated (2MP resolution?)
- integrated high def audio, including microphone, and both optical and traditional outputs
- 3 USB, and both firewire (400/800) inputs, plus ExpressCard/34 expansion
- 4.5 hour battery life while using wireless! (assumes LED screen)
- backlit keyboard
- near-professional grade DVD authoring and video editing software
- Mag safe, light weight modular power adapter
- other random software (garage band etc we really don't care about unless we're in that industry)
As built, with the better HDD and display, less than $2900 from MacMall
Closest comperable Dell system:
Dell XPS M1730. The ONLY Dell offering a Core 2 Duo, dedicated graphics, and 17" w/ 2GB or more of Ram and a 200GB or larger HDD.
- Same exact processor, 2.5 w/ 6MB 800 front side
- XP Pro OS standard, vista is actually $40 more, FUCK that! - win for Apple OS X
- 2GB 677MHz DDR2 (also upgradebale to 4GB) - same specs
- CD/DVD burner (note it's NOT dual layer) - Win for Apple MacBook pro
- wireless 802.11n (They claim Bluetooth is an OPTION, but I couldn't figure out how to add it except an EXTERNAL USB adapter...) - Win for Macbook pro
- 85watthr battery 9 cells. (estimated life, less than 2 hours, Dell suggest a 2nd one for $189 more) - Win for MacBook pro
- Adobe elements and Pinacle Studio added (to compete with iLife) - Win could go either way, user preference, i prefer iLife 08... (I use Pinacle and adobe on a PC, so I HAVE compared them directly)
- 1900x1280 WUXGA screen standard, but not LED based... - Win for Macbook pro
- 5.1 digital audio out - same standard
- 200GB 7200RPM drive (a 320 4200 was standard, that's crap slow...) - 200GB drives are same
- DVI out (adapters for other connections not included, but available) - win for Apple, they included the adapter for free
- 2MP web cam and microphone included - basically same specs
- 4USB and 1 400mhz firewire, but no 800 firewire, did have expresscard though - Apple wins if you actually have an 800MHz firewire device, 99% of us do not so we'll call it a tie here
- Gigabit ethernet - same spec
- had to upgrade to 8700M nvidia graphics as 512MB 8600 wasn't available, - slight win in Dells' favor
- 1 year warranty - Dell claims "on site" but in 14 years in IT I have NEVER ONCE seen Dell actually FIX a notebook onsite, they allways take it away for repairs. Apple machines can be repaired at apple stores - Win for Apple
As built, $2838 from Dell
In the end, the Dell has "slightly" better video card (about 1 FPS, if that, better), but the other core specs (RAM, HDD, Proc) are the same. However, being ugly, 4 lbs heavier, larger in every single dimension, having half the battery life, it can't run OS X (Apple will run Windows just fine, either native or virtual), no internal bluetooth, no backlit kbd, no media center functionality (unless you add Vista Ultimate), no wireless remote, no VGA or SVGA (gotta buy after market adapter), No LED option, and it comes with a load of bloatware, and Antvirus and AntiSpyware (which the Mac doesn't really need) are extra. All those missed points, and if you're licky, you saved $50 doing with Dell. And oh yea, your helpdesk is in india, Apple has
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
You need better advice.
Millions of dollars have been spent on studies looking to find some harm that coffee does. All to no avail. After oil, coffee is the second most traded commodity there is; we've been drinking it for so long and in such quantities that if there were anything harmful in it, the evidence would be literally pouring in. It isn't.
Also, anecdotes and old-wives' tales aside, caffeine dilates your blood vessels and stimulates fat-burning. Google "caffeine adenosine insulin"; it's all very interesting.
I'm a Programmer. That's one level above Software Engineer and one level below Engineer.