It's desperate times indeed for the system builder which has to consider assembling its own notebooks. Yes, notebooks are more profitable than desktops, but they are more complicated to make and they are much more likely to go wrong. And then there is the price competition - is the local notebook maker really able to compete with the rebadged clones marching out of Taiwan?

Seagate thinks so: the disk drive giant says it can teach PC makers to "cost-effectively compete against the big brands, satisfy customers and create a healthy new profit center". And it has launched the whitebook builder program to help them along their way.

This consists of an interactive tool which helps system builders select the most approprate components and accessories for sundry vertical notebook market. Seagate is also offering a Momentus notebook hard drive for product demo purposes at 20 per cent discount to system builders. Also on offer are advice on selling notebooks and maximising profit, promos, regular seminars, product news and reviews, and whitepapers. ®

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