Meet the new prod - same as the old prod.

It seems that PC makers have found a new, cost- effective way to upgrade their products: They simply change the names.

While working on the special Test issue of Wired magazine (comes out in late October) I came across three cases:

• Gateway changed its M250X lightweight into the NX250X and its M680XL gaming laptop into the NX850X.
• Sony changed its VGN A790 notebook into the VGN-A60091. (At least Sony makes that point clear on its Web site.)
• And one other big vendor will be chanigng a product name soon. (Sorry, can’t say more right now.)

I’m certain that these are the same notebooks because we had to confirm that point with the manufacturers as part of our fact-checking process. (We had tested the “earlier” notebooks and had to make sure that our test results would still be valid.)

With technologies changing so quickly, we’re accustomed to seeing new models emerge. But I think a new model name implies that the model itself has changed. Apparently, that’s not always the case.