Research Machines Plc has launched its E Series of 33MHz and 50MHz 80486-based workstations and servers, which the UK manufacturer reckons are the first systems to support Intel Corp’s overrated processor upgrade socket. The 32-bit EISA-bus-based machines are also the first to incorporate Research Machines’ Advanced Memory Architecture, which provides a 128-bit-wide data path between CPU and RAM, benefitting system performance and supporting up to 256Mb memory. The desktop offering, badged the QE Series, uses an 80486 running at 33MHz, with or without cache, or on a 50MHz 80486 chip with cache. All models come with MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0. The QE systems include a high-resolution HPGA graphics system incorporating a 32,000-colour Windows driver and an AutoCAD display list driver. The floor-standing SystemBase machines use the 50MHz 80486 processor and come with cache memory. Hard disk options include 85Mb, 170Mb, 340Mb and 1.3Gb, the systems supporting up to eight hard disks. The floor-stnding servers, aimed at all Research Machines’ market sectors, can be configured as either a NetWare server or RM Net LAN Manager server with Santa Cruz Open Desktop and Unix as options. The 33MHz 80486-based QE desktop with 8Mb RAM and 170Mb disk is UKP2,660 to the education market, UKP4,270 list; at 50MHz with cache and double the hard disk capacity, the system would be UKP3,860 for education, UKP6,180 list. A 33MHz 80486-based SystemBase server with 16Mb RAM and 650 disk is UKP4,900 for education, UKP9,935 list; a 50MHz version with cache and 1.3Gb disk would be UKP6,800 for education, UKP13,505 list. An RM Net LAN Manager SystemBase server for further and higher education would be UKP6,700 for a 33MHz 80486 configuration with 16Mb RAM and 650Mb disk. RM Net LAN Manager, also new, is Research Machines’ tweaked version of Microsoft’s eponymous software, supporting a Windows-centred network. It can support up to 13,000 users. Research Machines’ version includes application software packages Excel 3, Winword 2, PageMaker, Superbase IV, Micrografx Designer and Visual Basic. Bob Garrett, Research’s marketing manager for further and higher education, says his firm – which seeks to sell networked systems now into all its market sectors – has invested over UKP2m in the design of the new network system.
