HP SHOWED OFF two new Intel-powered PCs, the DC 5800 and the DC 7800, at a special event in San Francisco this week. The companies reckons the workstations are "energy-conscious".

The DC 7800 features optional 16GB Sandisk solid-state hard disk. The drive will add $300 to the cost, but offers faster boot and load times and improved power efficiency, HP reckons

Kirk Godkin, senior product manager at HP, told gathered hacks that he expects solid-state drives to become mainstream on the company's PC offerings by 2010.

The new PCs also feature Surveyor, a tool which allows network administrators to gauge power consumption on large networks.

HP said it plans to deliver a version of Surveyor for small to medium sized businesses within 45 days.

The new PCs are part of HP's attempts to seem green.

But the outfit said its recycling efforts are hampered by red tape. Carl Eckersley, of HP's Personal Systems Group, complained that the different laws that apply in different U. S. states make the whole thing confusing.

"I would love to see the federal government step in," he said. "Complying with 50 state laws is a lot harder than complying with one federal law."

Eckersley said the WEEE laws in Europe were an example of how electronic waste could be regulated. "The Europeans are as advanced as anybody," he suggested. µ