IBM has been saying for some time that the entire PS/2 line would ultimately go 80386, and the 80386SX has hastened the day. IBM Japan has been given the pioneering role in bringing the Micro Channel PS/2s down market and has come out with a low-price version of the PS/2 Model 55Z aimed at the home and small business market, reports Newsbytes Japan, which says that the machine is also expected to be launched in the US next spring. The PS/55Z Model 5530Z SX has 2Mb memory expandable to 16Mb, a 12 colour display putting up 1,024 by 768 pixels and the machine sells for $3,000 with a 3.5 floppy in Japan – but personal computers are rather cheaper in the US than in Japan, so the US pricing is likely to be rather keener. IBM Japan insists that the US version will have the same basic configuration as its own, and suggests that the new model will take over from the Model 30 as the workhorse of the family in the early 1990s.
