IMAGINE owning a second PC for less than P6,000. Nope, we're not talking about a prehistoric XT but a fully functional Windows-based PC that's as powerful as the one you have now. All you need is to plug in the Buddy card to your current PC's ISA slot. Add a monitor, keyboard and mouse, stir, then eat-er--use your new PC while it's hot.

While it might sound too good to be true, the Buddy has been available in the country since last year through Banbros Commercial Inc. The idea is to make a second computer more affordable for small offices/home offices, schools and basically every Filipino who needs a second PC but can't shell out the dough for a new unit.

"It's really like having a dumb terminal. Basically, what's installed in the host can be used on the Buddy terminal," said Cris Casas, Banbros's branch manager for Cebu. He noted that this is the same theory behind thin clients and the much ballyhooed network computers, which rely solely on applications, piped down the network. Vega Technologies, Buddy's makers, however, went one step further than current networking technologies by eliminating the need for a second central processing unit.

Asked how Microsoft Corp. and other software vendors have reacted to the possible threat to sales of their applications, Banbros president Michael Bangayan said that so far there has been no reaction from Microsoft. He also stressed that the technology does not infringe on the intellectual property rights law and software licensing agreements.

"You are not using a CPU for the second or third unit, so by that technicality, we are not violating software licensing agreements," Bangayan said. A visit to the Vega Technologies site at www.vegatechnologies.com shows, however, that the manufacturer advises users that it is their responsibility to check the licensing agreements for the software that they use. Some licenses limit program use to a single computer, while others limit it to a single user.

More important, how would PC manufacturers and dealers react to Buddy? For now, Banbros is not carrying any branded desktop PCs, but it is possible that this might change in the future.

"Buddy is not in conflict if Banbros should decide to carry a branded PC," Casas said, noting that Banbros caters to different customer needs. He admitted, though that "Buddy will eat up a bit of the PC market."

Banbros does not sell Buddy direct to customers but rather through dealers. Bangayan told the Inquirer that sales of Buddy would really be driven by customer demand. He admitted that some dealers that are carrying PC brands are not too keen on aggressively pushing the product, as this could affect their PC sales.

While saying that there are already a number of local installations for Buddy, Casas said that since the dealers are the ones who sell, Banbros does not have information on which companies have deployed the solution.

"What I'm aware of is that they are selling to schools, Internet service providers and cybercafes," Bangayan said.

Though two users will be sharing the resources of a single PC, Buddy will reportedly not entail any deterioration in performance. This applies to common office tasks such as word processing or web browsing.

"If you talk about games, particularly games that make extensive use of graphic accelerators, then that would really slow down the system," Casas admitted.

Right now, only the Buddy B-200 for two to three users is locally available. The B-500 that accommodates up to 32 users is too expensive for the local market, according to Banbros general manager Emmanuel Wong. Wong said that the B-500 would cost roughly P100,000, adding that for now Banbros's focus for Buddy is the low-end PC market.