IBM Personal Computer Co unleashed another string of product announcements yesterday, this time concentrating on what is now regarded as the premium Micro Channel-based PS/2 line, bringing out 80486-based models of the key machines, notably the Models 56 and 57, including models using IBM’s own 50MHz 486SLC II version of the iAPX-86 architecture. IBM also cut prices on existing PS/2s by 30.7% to 45.5% in moves that are expected to win back some of the business IBM has been losing to cheaper rivals. All the systems are pre-loaded with OS/2 2.0. Three new colour displays, the IBM 9515, 9517 and 9518, offering flicker-free, non-glare screens with high refresh rates were also announced. The 9517 is a 17 display designed for use with IBM’s Extended Graphics Array-2 graphics adaptor, which supports resolutions up to 1,024-by-768 and as many as 64,000 colours. The other two are a 14 XGA and a 14 VGA display.
