HP stacks up a new modular PC with the Elite Slice
Stack separate modules, from an optical drive to a Skype phone to a wireless phone charger, to create your own mini desktop.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Why buy more PC than you need? Especially if you're buying a business desktop, or potentially an entire office full of them, and you're looking to save space or money by skipping extras that aren't important to you.
The base PC, surrounded by add-on modules.
HP has designed a clever new take on the modular PC idea, called the Elite Slice. It's a very small desktop, 6.5 inches square, roughly similar in size and shape to Apple's Mac Mini or even HP's own Pavilion Mini. But rather than being one-size-fits-all, the Elite Slice can be configured with a series of stackable add-on units that quite literally sit on top of one another.
The base unit, which is under 2 inches tall, can support up to an Intel Core i7 processor, and can include a fingerprint reader for security. To this, you can add the HP Collaboration Cover, which has special touch controls for Skype video and audio calls; an Audio Module, with dual microphones and Bang & Olufsen tuned speakers; an optical disc drive module; and sometime next year, a charging cover for wireless phone charging.
Several optional modules stacked together.
By just ordering the parts you need, you can put together a business desktop that's tailored to a specific company or task, rather than ordering off the shelf. We don't have full international pricing yet, but in the US, the HP Elite Slice goes on sale this September, and will cost from $429 to $999, depending on how you slice it. Converted, that starts at about £330 or AU$570.