Inverness, Ill. - July 21 - Hartford Computer Group, parent company of VisionTek, a leading supplier of advanced PC graphics cards and memory solutions, today announced its acquisition of certain assets of Argus Camera from Rally Capital Services, the trustee-assignee for the benefit of the creditors of Argus Camera.

The Argus acquisition is part of Hartford's broader consumer brands acquisition strategy. The company possesses strengths in the areas of marketing, sales, and distribution. "We've been on the lookout for category leaders that have brands that are respected by consumers," explained Tony Graffia Jr., president of Hartford Computer Group. "These are good companies with good products that simply came up short on cash in a very tough market."

Argus is the second retail brand acquisition for Hartford. The company picked up VisionTek at the end of 2002. VisionTek was last year's market leader in 3D graphics accelerator cards. VisionTek reentered the market in March of this year and met with instant success, securing relationships with more than a dozen key resellers including CompUSA, Fry's, Micro Center and Amazon.com among others.

Argus offers a wide range of photographic products, including digital cameras, 35mm cameras, APS cameras, and single use cameras. "We see a remarkable opportunity in working with the Argus brand name," remarked Graffia. "The brand has been synonymous with quality photographic solutions since the inception of pictures." Argus Camera was founded in 1936. The company introduced the first low-cost 35mm camera and was also named the Great American Camera Company by The Smithsonian. Argus products are sold at many leading national retailers including CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, Ritz Camera, and Wal-Mart.

According to CIPA, the Camera and Imaging Products Association, worldwide shipments of digital still cameras climbed 79 percent in May of this year. The Taipei Times reports that global demand for digital cameras is surging, buoyed by lower-priced cameras, better picture quality and a wider range of models. Shipments of digital cameras by manufacturers were almost double those of older film-based models in the first five months of the year.

About VisionTek:
VisionTek is a division of Hartford Computer Group, Inc., founded in 1978. The VisionTek and XTASY brands gained increasing popularity from the time of their launch in 2001. They were the top selling graphics product line in the U.S. retail market for most of 2001 and 2002. Hartford acquired the VisionTek and XTASY brands in December 2002 and is committed to bringing the most innovative and best performing products to PC enthusiasts. The current Visiontek product offering includes 3D graphics accelerators, system memory, flash memory, portable USB drives, and digital and 35mm cameras.