HP_Brio
The HP Brio was a line of business-oriented desktop personal computers made by Hewlett-Packard aimed at small businesses.
The 7000 series was targeted at mainstream business computing, and started with a street price of $2449, inclusive of a 15-inch monitor. The 8000 was designed for "power-hungry" business users. Both series were announced in September 1998.[1]
In June 1999, HP announced Brio models BA and BAx that included Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business. They were launched at street prices of $999 and $1,499 respectively.[2]
Announced in October 1999 at an estimated street price of $499, the BA200 was aimed at small businesses that purchase white box PCs—non-branded PCs assembled by resellers or consumer PCs from manufacturers such as eMachines at retail.[3][4] The PCs came ready for Windows 2000, and were certified for Novell network operating systems, for easy integration into a networked environment. They also shipped with HP Brio Internet Center and HP Brio Center, which together provided comprehensive Internet and e-commerce capabilities and online support.[5]
Alongside HP's announcement of a new HP Brio Business PC line with the HP Brio Internet Center, HP also announced an agreement with AT&T; WorldNet Service to provide small- and medium-business customers with fast, easy access to the Internet. The alliance with AT&T was meant to provide small and medium businesses with an end-to-end solution—from initial connection to creating a Web site and online store.[6][7]
In 1998, HP partnered with Symantec to incorporate pcANYWHERE32, a remote-control software package, on all HP Brio PCs for small and medium companies without an information technology (IT) staff.[8]
Geared for small business users, the value lines of Brio PCs offered on-screen and online tech support. The latter came via a customized Yahoo! web site that featured news, business tips, stock reports, and product-specific service and support content from HP.[9][10][11]
In May 2000, the HP Brio BA200 placed sixth on PC World's May list of Top 10 Budget PCs.[12]
In January 2002, Netscape Communications announced that it had licensed its Netcenter Web portal to Hewlett-Packard for the Brio line of business computers.[13]
