32Mb: the next RAM standard?

Granville Technology-owned PC vendor Colossus today made the bold move of shipping almost all of its business systems with a minimum of 32Mb RAM as standard, saying the move was caused by user demand. However, most vendors said they were sticking with 16Mb for the near-term.

General manager Alan Gower said Colossus decided to use 16Mb RAM as standard in March, and by June, around 50 per cent of callers were requesting 32Mb. "I think 32Mb RAM will become standard in business machines very soon, and in consumer PCs 32Mb will be standard in the next three months." He added that Colossus is prepared for a rise in RAM prices but insisted that it would not drop down to 16Mb if that happened.

The firm's P133 Desktop (£1,999 + VAT) is supplied with 32Mb RAM, 2Gb hard disk, eight-speed CD-ROM drive and 15-inch monitor. The P200 (£1,899 + VAT) includes 32Mb EDO RAM, 2Gb hard disk, Matrox Millennium 64-bit graphics card with 4Mb WRAM, and 15-inch monitor.

David Moore, senior product manager of Dell Direct, said: "We've increased the number of 32Mb configurations on Dimension and OptiPlex, partly driven by NT 4.0 and low RAM pricing." Moore added that six out of 22 base configurations on Dimension in October will include 32Mb of RAM.

A spokesman for London-based direct seller Mesh Computers said a 32Mb RAM standard was unlikely in the near future, and that the shift would not benefit the home user at present. "Over 80 per cent of our systems go out with 16Mb," he added.

A spokesman for Elonex also confirmed that the majority of the systems it shipped went out with 16Mb RAM. "I don't think 32Mb will become entry level yet," he said.