Portable workstation pioneer RDI Computer Corp, San Diego, California, is expecting to start delivering its first 85MHz MicroSparc II-based PowerLite 85s this week, believing the little 8.5 lbs machine will open doors to the classic Sun Microsystems Inc technical users that have previously been shut tight against it. It believes it has finally got the goods to overcome objections. Features include TGX graphics acceleration and an optional 10.4 1,024 by 768 high-resolution flat panel colour display that should endear it to the computer-aided design manufacturing and engineering crowds, perhaps displacing conventional desktop machines. The unit also includes 2.4Gb of hard disk storage expandable to 4.4Gb with external options, an internal floppy and facsimile modem and a full Sun keyboard with a trackball. The machine is bundled with an unmodified Solaris 1.1.2 or optionally with the new Solaris 2.4. The unit comes standard with a 640 by 480 active matrix liquid crystal display that has a palette of 262,000 colours and 64 gray scale levels. The 1,024 by 768 option provides 512 colours – 256 of them can be displayed simultaneously – and eight gray scales. The unit can also hook to an external monitor. It also comes with either a 520Mb or 810Mb drive or two 810Mb units, one of which displaces the floppy. An optional Peripheral Expansion Unit provides for an additional 2Gb of storage, two standard SBus slots and power supply and the machine comes standard with 32Mb expandable to 96Mb. Cache is 8Kb for data and 16Kb for instructions. The PowerLite comes with RDI’s Virtual Workgroup Architecture, a Motif-based framework of software tools for automatic network connection, network administration and internal fax-modem operation. Pricing starts at $12,000 compared with Sun’s own Sparcstation 5, which lists for $9,500. The machine will be sold through Sun Microsystems Federal Division to the US government which has been one of RDI’s more loyal fans, and via SunExpress and Sun distributor Access Graphics Inc. It will also go through other resellers. RDI, which suggests that its run rate is about 1,500 machines a year, reckons it should get to 300 a month with the PowerLite, starting immediately. It says it currently has an installed base of 5,000 units which would seem to give it the leadership position against the other Sparc portables, the Tadpole Technology Plc SparcBook and the Sun Voyager.
