There was a time when the standard 80-GB hard disk looked big enough to store all the data a user would ever need. This was before video-sharing sites made everyone a movie director; online photo editing software turned every user into a digital artist and music mixing was still a professionals-only arena. Today, the need to create and share has changed storage space needs. “YouTube, for instance, hosts about 100 million video streams daily, while more than a billion songs are shared over the Internet every day,” says George Paul, executive vice- president, HCL Infosystems Limited. “IDC estimates that by 2010, over 70 per cent of all digital information in the world will have been created by consumers. This will continue to drive demand for higher data storage capacities in the PCs.” Besides, every one wants some place where they can store their favourite movies, family pictures and music. This makes the 80GB hard disk look puny. Enter HCL, which has launched a 1 Terabyte PC. It has a one-terabyte hard disk, which can carry 12 times more data than the standard hard disk. “The growing digital lifestyle and the increasing demand for volume-intensive content storage in high-growth industries of designing, animation and video production have resulted in the demand for bigger data storage,” says Paul. The computer has been released in two variants: an entry level PC and a Digital Content Creation Workstation. Both come equipped with a Core Two Duo Intel processor, 1-GB RAM and a 17-inch flat screen monitor. So not only can you store tonnes of data, but also enjoy your pictures and videos. Although the mainstay of this computer is its storage capacity, it still packs a punch with its hardware. Both variants are targeted at different sets of users. “It’s primarily targeted at designing and animation professionals who have massive data storage requirements due to the nature of the digital content. The entry level PC offers tremendous value to niche consumers who continuously crave for massive storage space,” says Paul. This specific targeting of the Content Creation Workstation shows. The variant is loaded with a graphics accelerator card, Quadro FX 1500, which makes creation and viewing of graphics smooth. HCL has also bolstered this by preloading the computer with Adobe’s Production Studio Premium, making the tweaking of graphics even simpler. This difference comes for a price. The entry level PC is priced at Rs 35,000, while the Workstation comes for Rs 99,000. Even though the Workstation is useful for people involved in graphic building, the entry level PC is a better choice for the average user.
