Impending Core 2 Duo Desktop Onslaught

The first forays by PC makers into the Core 2 Duo desktop market has mostly consisted of turbo-charged, latest component laden-gaming rigs -- with high price points to match.

However, a few forward-thinking vendors, namely Velocity Micro and HP (and to a lesser extent Dell) have announced new Core 2 Duo Desktops that sell for true budget-PC prices -- and pack impressive power and speed. Velocity Micro's Core 2 Duo-based Vector GX Campus Edition is a true industry pacesetter and currently the best bang for the buck system on the market.

My sense is that in the next couple of months, the budget and mainstream end of the PC market is going to be completely redefined by an onslaught of powerful new Core 2 Duo-equipped models -- power that will be undoubtedly become a requirement in order to handle Microsoft's upcoming Vista operating system and all the countless new apps that will run under it.

In a scant six months or so, it's going to get tough for vendors trying to unload older generation technology (I expect fire-sale pricing on older, Pentium-based systems towards the end of the Q1 2007)