— PHOTO: Shaju John

CHEAPER CHIP: A student along with her father using a low-cost computer. A server kept at the service providers' storage place will meet user requirements.

CHENNAI: G. Mani is a Southern Railway employee and resident of Parkavi Apartments in K.K. Nagar in Chennai. Like millions of others in the country, he requires a personal computer for basic Internet connectivity and simple tasks.

Six months ago, he was still deciding whether to invest Rs.30, 000 in a branded PC or shell out Rs.20, 000 for an assembled PC. Both estimates would have taken a large chunk of his middle-class budget.

Then luck smiled on him. Novatium, a Chennai-based company that was developing a Net PC, identified the South Chennai locality to run a pilot test of its low-cost PC.

Mr. Mani's house is now one of 140 homes in Chennai where `Nova Net PC' offers Internet connectivity and computing solutions at affordable rates.

The Net PC primarily scores with its costing. The Net PC package — consisting of the CPU, a 14-inch CRT monitor, a keyboard and a mouse — has been tentatively priced at Rs.4, 450 (roughly $100). When Net PC hits the market at this price, it could well be the most economical home PC ever.

However, Novatium is positioning the device beyond the cost advantage. It is talking about the PC as a home appliance that would offer a no-frills attached comfort of use.

So, what makes it comfortable? For starters, the first generation Nova Net PC is stripped off most hardware that could give rise to complications. The CPU consists of a motherboard, an Ethernet connectivity port to connect to the VLAN, 4 USB ports and a serial port for the monitor. Two of the 4 USB ports are used for the keyboard and mouse. Storage, therefore, will exist remotely on a server managed by Novatium. Each user gets close to 2 GB of space.

Alok Singh, CEO, Novatium Solutions explains: "Nova NetPC is just practical, affordable computing. The reason why conventional computer systems cannot meet your requirements and often your budget is because they are simply office-use computers. Home computing needs are different."

The 140 subscribers have been paying a monthly rental of Rs.449. This enables them to log on to the Internet through either the Windows (Network version) or Linux (Ubuntu) operating systems, run productivity applications — Microsoft Office or Star Office, run educational packages, play games and download content that will be stored in the server.

R. Kalyanaraman, one of the first customers to test the Net PC, says the savings have been phenomenal. "Had I proceeded with my plans to purchase a branded PC, I would have had to pay Rs.40,000 and an additional Rs.3,000 on broadband connection."

For further details, log on to www.novatium.com

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