Here is a bit of exciting news! Yes, it may not be about the current status of the Bulgarian property market, but as a bit of a geek myself I very much rejoiced when I heard this!
Bulgaria’s very own Pravetz computers are making a comeback after 30 years of absence from the market.
The legend returns after 30 years, says the brand official homepage, while displaying a notebook and its parameters.
Judging from the ad, Pravetz 64M will run on its own Pravetz OS and have a free office suite, Intel processor and would also run on other OS’s, such as Android, Windows, Solaris and Chrome OS.
Initially there was no information about the possibility of pre-order or pricing, not even contact information. An email address was subsequently added. The news spread quickly in Bulgarian virtual space and lead to logical questions about whether this was true or just someone trying to joke.
Capital.bg was among the first media outlets to confirm the news. According to the on-line issue of Bulgaria’s business and politics newspaper, Laptopclean is the company reviving the Pravetz brand. The company manager confirms that they will start selling the notebook next year.
Boyko Vouchev, Laptopclean manager, adds that they already have a ready prototype and have completed initial tests, although they do not commit to an exact release date and pricing yet. He also mentions he did not expect the placing of the ad to go viral or receive such big response.
Unlike the models of the 80s of the last century, the new machines will not be produced entirely in the country. New Pravetz 64M laptops hardware design will be in Taiwan and they’ll be assembled in Bulgaria. Vouchev gives no details about the enigmatic Pravetz OS, but confirms that it is an open source platform.
According to the website, the new laptop will use Intel i3, i5 or i7, will have up to 16 GB RAM and up to 2 TB memory. Conveniently, it will also have a SIM card reader for mobile Internet. Vouchev says, they would use Intel processors, because at the moment Bulgaria does not manufacture its own chips. Vouchev also confirms that the company has acquired the rights to Pravetz trademark and they were just renewed.
The development of Pravetz computers began in the 70s of last century, and they were manufactured in the town with the same name, also being the birth place of the famous Bulgarian socialist leader Todor Zhivkov. A good deal of the peripheral devices back then were manufactured in the country, too. However, production stops with the fall of communism.