Compaq Professional Workstations Graphics Product Positioning
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not totally unimportant criterion in the decision process. Generally, these customers would prefer
stability (platform and graphics) and uniformity to “latest and greatest” speed and functionality.
Performance customers
Performance customers have specific requirements for their graphics controllers and in general
are far more dependent on obtaining the “ideal” solution for their needs. These customers have
typically purchased specialized or highly modified PCs to meet unique implementation
requirements. Additionally, many more of this class of customer has traditionally purchased high
performance graphics workstations such as SGI Indy or Octane systems, HP VISUALIZE
systems or Sun Ultra 2 products for high end MCAD, Imaging, Animation or Geoscience
applications. Considering the great demands placed on the graphics subsystems and the high
value of the visual output, customers in this section will only reluctantly make concessions in
graphics choices. In fact, these customers place significant emphasis and priority on graphics as
part of purchase criteria.
“Performance” oriented customers generally prefer established graphics OEM brand(s), and have
often found or developed application-level optimizations for these solutions that in many ways
‘lock them in” to a given brand of solution. They are often willing to pay for unified or value-add
drivers that improve the performance and/or stability of the graphics environment. And as a
follow on it stands to reason that they would require graphics that are tested and certified with
their key applications.
Because so much of their business is riding on data visualization and optimal responsiveness of
graphics subsystems, these customers demand the fastest graphics solutions available for their
applications. Moreover, they are also much more likely to require graphics with advanced feature
sets and functionality to meet user or application requirements. Such enhancements could include
features such as dual display support, display management software, Digital Visual Interface
(DVI) output, stereo support, large texture memory or hardware-based full scene antialiasing.
Compaq provides an array of solutions to meet needs in each of these classes. The following
sections place each of Compaq’s Premier, Select and Specialty graphics solutions in the context
of the appropriate customer segment and provides an overview of the functionality, performance
and pricing that justifies this positioning.
