Promising to continue the price war that started last month, 3Com Corp and Intel Corp have announced two new Fast Ethernet Cards for notebook computer users, with both claiming dramatic price cuts. 3Com is offering the Fast EtherLink XL 32-bit CardBus PC Card and Fast EtherLink 16-Bit PC Card. Both include 3Com’s Parallel Tasking and DynamicAccess technology. According to the company, The Fast EtherLink XL CardBus PC Card will be aggressively priced – with a suggested list price for single cards less than some rival products – but equal to those from Intel. 3Com’s Fast EtherLink XL CardBus PC Card supports 10/100 BASE-TX and will be available in May 1997 for $180 per card in a five-pack and $190 for a single card. The Fast EtherLink 16-Bit PC Card will be available in the summer of 1997 for $200 per card in a five-pack and $210 for a single card. Intel has its EtherExpress PRO/100 Mobile adapters. The two new adapters provide 10BASE-T and 100 BASE-TX networking for mobile computers. Available in both 16-bit personal computer and 32-bit CardBus versions, both adapters fit Type II PCMCIA slot. The EtherExpress PRO/100 Mobile adapters are available in packages of one, five or 20 units. The suggested retailer prices for the Mobile Adapters are $180 for 20 for the 16-bit PC Card and $200 for 20 for the 32-bit cardbus.
