Product blitz of 62 items kicks off with Suprema business line

Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA yesterday launched an unbelievable 62 new products in an attempt to become all things to all people. It is trying to keep business users happy by introducing additions to the M6 Suprema series. The M6-640 is the highest performance personal computer workstation in the Suprema range with multimedia, document imaging and communications capabilities. It has a 90MHz Pentium processor with 256Kb of secondary cache. The M6-640 also has a high speed local bus conforming to the PCI standard, Local bus technology enables personal computers to use high speed peripherals like SCSI storage devices and improveds the performance of graphics and input-output-intensive applications. It can accommodate up to 128Mb RAM and supports hard disks of up to 1Gb through an IDE interface. The M6-770, M6-760 and M6-750 Suprema use the 80486 microprocessor. Like the M6-640 they use local bus technology and high performance graphics controllers. All four models also use the Plug & Play standard that eliminates the need for users to re-configure the system manually when adding expansion boards. The M6-770 will retail from #2,479 and the M6-760 and MG-750 from #2,240 and #2,040 respectively.

Large Modula family is aimed at the budget-conscious technically-experienced professional

Olivetti introduced 18 new models to its M4 Modulo desktop personal computer line. According to the company these products are aimed at the budget-conscious, technically experienced professional and corporate user. All new versions use 80486 and Pentium processors and have Pentium OverDrive upgradability, VESA and PCI local buses and Plug & Play. All Modulos have one socketed 256Kb cache memory to boast CPU performance. They run Windows NT, OS/2, SCO Unix and Novell operating systems. Modulos range from #1,000 to #2,823. Olivetti has also added two new personal computers to its PCS range – the PCS 42 and PCS 52. Both are pre-loaded with MS-DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1. PCS 52 E is the most powerful of the range, and is based on the Pentium microprocessor running at 60MHz. Prices are not yet available.

Three new notebook computers topped with a 75MHz model join the Philos line of notebook

On the portable computer front Olivetti has launched three new notebooks in the Philos range. The Philos 48 uses an IntelDX4 processor running at 75MHz with a video controller based on local bus technology. It has a removable hard disk of 240Mb and 8Mb of RAM. The Philos 46 uses an Intel 486DX2 processor running at 50MHz while the 45 uses an Intel 486SL running at 33MHz, for lower power consumption. It has an 8Kb internal cache. All Philos have expandable RAM and a PCMCIA slot that enables communication by fax, modem or network or can take a PCMCIA-compatible hard disk card. All Philos models also have a PCMCIA level III expansion slot for adding alternative communications or storage devices. On the Philos 48, multimedia features such as MPC-standard business audio and video local bus will give full motion audio-visual presentations to run on the IntelDX-equipped models. Olivetti says that at five and a quarter pounds, the Philos ranks as one of the few notebooks to match the performance and specification of many desktop personal computers but at a starting price of #1,870 for a basic version of Philos 45, they are not the most affordable option.

Bubblejet printer turns up in Jetwriter typewriter

The typewriter lives at Olivetti! Following the principle that any low-end printer technology can be configured into a typewriter, a process that gave the daisywheel typewriter a short heyday, Olivetti has pulled the same trick with the bubblejet printer and may have struck gold with its new Bubble Ink-Jet Personal Word Processors – the Jetwriter Linea 910 and 910. They are designed to produce high quality copy of 300 by 300 dots per inch resolution and print at 120 characters per second in letter quality mode. Both products have five built-in fonts which can be printed in five fixed sizes from 9 to 3

6 points and bold, underline, italic, box and shadow style options. The Ink-jet Word Processors also have a 1.44Mb 3.5 floppy disk drive and 64Kb of memory for text storage. This means that they have the storage capabilities of a word processor for the cost of a upmarket electronic typewriter – the JW 900 costs #400.

Lightness, price may make Echo notebook a winner

If you have ever wanted a more affordable notebook Olivetti’s Echos could be the one for you. It has a starting price of #1,300, and Olivetti believes that it it one of the lighest notebooks around. It weighs 4 lbs 6 oz lbs – the same weight as two bags of sugar. Echos 42 is based on a 25MHz Intel 80486SX processor with monochrome display. Echos 43 uses a 33MHz Intel 80486SX processor with a Double SuperTwist Nematic colour display and Echos 44 is also a colour version based on an Intel 80486DX2 processor running at 44MHz. Olivetti boasts that Echos offers all the characteristics of a desktop personal computer such as a standard memory of 4Mb, local bus for advanced video performance, hard disk capacities up to 240Mb and two PCMCIA slots.

Facsimile machines to double as office printers

From September Olivetti will have added to the functionality of its OFX 2100 and 3100 facsimile machines. They no longer just send and receive faxes but will double as printers for personal computers, a personal computer fax for sending and receiving personal computer documents and files, and a scanner for converting paper documents into files that can be modified on the personal computer and then transmitted or printed. The printer is connected to the personal computer via its RS232C serial port so incoming faxes can be viewed on screen and stored on its hard disk or they can be printed on the OFX 2100 or 3100 as conventional facsimiles. Prices are to be announced.

Colour bubblejet printer, laser printers in the works

Olivetti plans nine new printers in the coming months. Among them are the JP360, Olivetti first bubblejet printer with a colour printing option, the JP 50, the smallest portable bubble-jet on the market and the JP450 that will print five pages per minute and thus will challenge the lower end of the laser-jet market. The PG 304 is a laser printer that will do four pages per minute. If used with Windows, the printer behaves as a Windows Printing System and can be controlled and managed directly from the personal computer. – Krishna Roy