Hercules Revived With New Wares

Fast Graphics

Guillemot's recent graphics products are "as good as or better than" what Hercules offered, Glaskowsky notes.

The Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI features Guillemot technology, including the GeForce 256 DDR chipset and a Digital Visual Interface (DVI-Out) connection that supports flat-panel monitors, digital CRTs, and LCD projectors. It comes with 32MB of Double Data rate RAM, which is designed to speed complex graphics operations; Guillemot claims bandwidth of 4.577GB/second.

It is available for sale online and at Electronics Boutique and Best Buy.

Future products may or may not have a more authentic Hercules pedigree, says Helen Bougas, Guillemot spokesperson. A Guillemot official is checking with former Hercules employees for interest in joining the revitalized company.

Guillemot purchased Hercules's assets and not its liabilities; the new owners are not liable for its debts, which Bougas says are to suppliers, not consumers. Guillemot will not fill any back orders.

Guillemot plans to eventually support Hercules users, according to Bougas. It will also establish a customer support Web site where people can download the latest drivers--extending the life and usefulness of products. Many of those customers may purchase a new card every six months to remain on the graphical cutting edge.

In any case, the new Hercules will have as much to do with perception of a label as it does the reality of operation.

"We are carrying on a respected brand name," said Bougas. "It represents high quality and performance, and we want to bring it back."