HP Updates SMB Product Catalog

The free quarterly catalog is an update to the direct mailings that Compaq Computer used to send to SMB customers prior to its merger with HP, said an HP spokeswoman.

The glossy, color magazine includes photographs of HP's new product line,including Compaq Evo PCs, HP ProLiant servers, printers and the HP iPAQ Pocket PC,with descriptions of the products and how they make up a complete solution. The catalog instructs customers to purchase either direct from HP or from a solution provider.

John Riddle, president of Information Networking, a network integrator in Irvine, Calif., said HP should have "saved all the trees" it used to produce the catalogs, because thousands of solution providers already do a great job offering small businesses a full range of products from HP and other manufacturers. But since the catalog is completed, Riddle said he'll use it to his advantage.

"It seems like a good tool to add to a solution provider's bag of tricks because it shows the customer how many different products it takes to make up a whole solution," he said.