The new company should ditch all those crummy, cheap PCs. HP has no less than six lines of laptops: Mini, Pavilion, Envy, ProBook, EliteBook, and Essential. Each has a bunch of models, typically denoted by seemingly random strings of letters and numbers. Desktops are just as bad, with Pavilion, Omni, TouchSmart, Essential, and Pro. That doesn't even get into the Compaq models! Many of these are stuck in a "race to the bottom," trying to pick up sales in the $300-600 price range. Most of these products aren't great. And they're not great for HP either: They have razor-thin margins and they eat up precious design and manufacturing resources.

I'd like to see the company that ends up with HP's PC business drop half of these lines and focus on premium, forward-looking products that start at no less than $799. HP shouldn't even bother with cheap materials, bulky enclosures, and crummy keyboards and mice. Rather than a PC business that scales from "cheap to great," the goal should be to start off at "great" and try to extend from there. Let the other guys fight over the $20 margin of a $400 all-in-one desktop.

Will HP spin off its PC business? We don't know for sure, but it sure sounds like the company would like to. Frankly, with a few exceptions, the PC side of HP's house has grown messy in recent years. If the new company acquires whatever relevant patents HP holds in its Personal Systems Group, it could be a blessing. A leaner and more aggressive company, focused on quality over volume, could do wonders for HP's sagging PC business, and deliver exciting new products for consumers, too.