The new machines, priced from $24,000 to more than $110,000, are available in small numbers immediately, with production in volume to begin this summer.

On a poster is a seven-month-old washing machine, "priced to sell."

But the lower-priced segment of the market has come alive, as more powerful machines priced below $2,000 have become commonplace.

The cassette is the same size as standard VHS but, being digital, it requires a new machine, initially priced around $1,000, some industry people say.

And all three rivals have recently introduced machines priced at under $10,000, the segment of the market dominated by Sun.

Yet both the market-share figures and the anecdotal evidence point to Dell making solid gains in servers, especially for machines priced below $25,000.

On Tuesday, H-P essentially replaced its entire work station line with new machines priced from just under $5,000 to more than $50,000.

Cray Research, based in Minneapolis, has for years assembled the industry's fastest and most expensive machines, priced as high as $30 million.

Last month, I.B.M. introduced a machine priced at $100,000, about half the previous starting price for its mainframes, which can run up to several million dollars.

It was a wonderful machine: Ten grand worth of gimmicks and high - priced Special Effects.