Suddenly, small businesses are a hot market, and PC makers can't do enough to sell fast, easily networked PCs adapted to small-business needs via the Web.
Buyers get lower cost and convenience, but without dealers' hand-holding.
We compared each site's ease of use, its prices, and how it addresses the financial, technical, and service concerns of small businesses. Competition has made the tech giants hungrier. Until November, Compaq lacked an online presence. A digital store was, after all, a threat to its thousands of dealers. But, as Dell continued to gobble up market share, Compaq splashed into cyberspace with a new line of computers, called Prosignia, geared for small business.