HP cuts out Intel with blade PC

HP's latest blade PC will be powered by an AMD64 processor

HP today revealed that it has selected the AMD64 processor, rather than Intel's Pentium 4, to power its latest blade PC.

The newly launched HP BC1500 blade PC, based on the firm's BladeSystem, is the latest addition to its Consolidated Client Infrastructure (CCI).

The HP CCI system consists of access devices at the user site, such as HP Compaq thin clients, through which users connect to dedicated HP blade PCs using secure log-ins.

Users are dynamically allocated one-to-one connections to an available blade PC, which retrieves their profiles from networked storage located in a data centre.

"With CCI, businesses are able to better secure, protect and manage their PCs, putting them one step ahead of common IT challenges," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group.

"With CCI, HP has the broadest desktop portfolio of any vendor, with all platforms operating under a consistent set of management and security tools."

Rolling out an IT system based on this CCI infrastructure can lead to a potential 50 per cent reduction in the total cost of ownership over the typical four-year lifecycle of traditional desktop PCs, according to HP.

It can also improve data security by limiting traditional desktop computing risks such as theft, viruses and lost data.

Jeff Groudan, vice president of marketing at HP's Desktop PC Business Unit, said: "With our estimated annual growth in the thin client market of more than 69 per cent, and the powerful performance of the AMD-based blade PC, HP is in a great position to drive the market."