Rock has launched its first product since the troubled system builder was integrated into the Stone Group.
At a launch in London, it claimed the new notebook line-up, featuring Intel Centrino 2 and nVidia 9800M graphics, would give gaming enthusiasts the platform they needed.

More importantly, by changing the channel to market, Rock founder Nick Boardman claimed the Warwick-based manufacturer would be giving the gaming community a better choice of supplier.

The gamer is a demographic that is picky about which supplier it likes to buy from, argued Boardman. “At the moment, users can only buy their top-class notebooks via the web. That is a situation we do not think is right. When you are choosing something on which you place so much emotional attachment, as a serious gamer would, you do not buy it off the internet,” said Boardman. “It would be like choosing your engagement ring from the net.”

However, he conceded that Rock will keep its online options open.

Resellers such as Laptops Direct will not be excluded from selling the new range.

Though the range with its Intel Centrino 2 processors and GeForce 9800M GPUs (driven by nVidia’s PureVideo HD video engine) will be offered by a host of other PC makers in the near future, Keith Collins, the Stone Group’s new commercial director, argued that he has some creative ideas to make the company stand out.

“We could steal a march on Apple, without charging Apple prices. I like the idea of providing training and seminars on, say, using applications. It definitely makes customers loyal to a shop. We are looking at the logistics of providing support to our resellers on this score,” he said.

Collins, a marketing veteran with Dell and Xerox, was recruited in June to raise the Stone Group’s profile. “Stone is arguably the UK’s biggest system builder, but we are a well-kept secret. We are very strong in the public sector, in universities, local authorities and the NHS. But we need to grow.”

He added that further acquisitions could follow. The priority meanwhile is a marketing campaign. “We are bigger than Viglen and catching RM fast. But why has no-one heard of us?” he asked.