In an attempt to compete with 80386 AT bus market leaders Compaq, Tandon (UK) Ltd is to release an upgraded micro range. Two new 16MHz machines – the 386/16 single 1.2Mb floppy machine at UKP3,000 and the 16-40 with 40Mb hard disk, UKP3,500 – can be upgraded with up to 110Mb of disk and have 1Mb main memory, optional cache memory, and Tandon is pitching the low-end models against the 16 bit bus Compaq Deskpro 386S, which uses the 80386SX verson of the chip. The 20MHz range – starting at UKP3,600 – all feature 1Mb CPU, 1.2Mb floppy and 64Kb cache: the 40Mb 386/20-40 is UKP4,000, 70-Mb 20-70, UKP4,300, and 110Mb 20-110, UKP4,800; the UKP5,000 top of range 386/20-110 DP has Tandon’s proprietary In-pac Personal Data Pac exchangeable cartridge drive for improved data portability and security; optional In-pac kits are available for each of the other models. Tandon looks for 50 to 100 dealers to carry the new line, and optimistically aims to match Compaq’s 40% market share of the 80386 market with the new line in six months by undercutting Compaq’s prices – for instance the 20-70 is priced UKP100 below Compaq’s equivalent, while, topping the range, the 386/20-110DP is claimed to be UKP1,000 below the nearest Compaq equivalent. Unfortunately for Tandon, Apricot Computers Plc and Amstrad Plc also have designs on the 80386 market and are likely to better its prices – substantially in the case of Amstrad.