The Which Computer? Show appears to be reflecting the economic recession this year, using only two halls instead of the usual four at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, and with many vendors, including a lot of the Japanese peripheral manufacturers, giving it a miss. The Show has been dominated by the launch of the Intel 80486SX chip earlier this week, which has already spawned several personal computers built round the spanking new 32-bit 20MHz processor.
AST launches the Premium II 486SX/20, complete with CUPID
AST Research Inc was first off the block with its Premium II 486SX/20 desktop computer. This is the second machine to use its CUPID – Completely Universal Processor and Input-output Design architecture which is upgradable because CPU, cache and memory are all on one board. The new CPU offers 8Kb of integrated four-way cache and full 32-bit address and data buses. AST is using its own ASIC chips to provide cost savings and reduce the machine’s footprint. The system comes complete with super Video Graphics Array – 800 by 600 pixel resolution – four ports, an integrated drive electronics – IDE – hard drive interface that supports two IDE hard drives and floppy controller support for up to three floppy type devices. The new range consists of three models: model 3V with 4Mb of RAM and 3.5 floppy costing UKP2,600; the model 83V that includes 4Mb RAM, 3.5 disk drive and 80Mb hard drive and costs UKP3,000; and the model 213V that has a 210Mb drive and costs UKP3,600. All models come as standard with 4Mb RAM, expandable to 16Mb on the processor board. The system holds a maximum of 80Mb of 32-bit RAM by adding two Cupid-32 memory expansion boards. All machines ship in May and are targeted at large, corporate users.
Advanced Logic Research offer 80486SX machines with AT, EISA, Micro Channel
Advanced Logic Research UK Ltd duly launched four personal computers based on the new crippled 80486SX version of the 80486 using the slogan just upgrade the CPU. All users have to do to add more processing power to is pull out the 20MHz 80486SX module and replace with one of the company’s integrated 25MHz and 33MHz 80486-based CPU modules. The entry level machine is the Powerflex i486ASX, based on the AT bus, and comes in three configurations – Model 1 with no hard drive, Model 40 with 40Mb disk drive, and Model 80 with 80Mb hard drive. The mid-range offering is the ALR BusinessVeisa and Modular Processor System, based on the EISA and Micro Channel bus respectively. Both ranges provide up to 49Mb of RAM – there are optional ALR 25MHz and 33MHz upgrade modules available as well as an optional ALR 64Kb CachePak. BusinessVeisa is also available as a high performance model – the 150 HP – including 5Mb of RAM as standard with 150Mb high-performance hard drive and 32-bit EISA-based ESDI disk controller with 1Mb cache. The MPS 486SX offers Micro Channel compatibility including 16-bit Micro Channel adaptor, standard 1Mb of RAM and PS/2 compatibility. PowerFlex costs UKP1,400 at entry level, rising to UKP1,900 for 80Mb model; BusinessVeisa 101 costs UKP1,950, model 80 costs UKP2,400; MPS model 101 costs UKP2,150, model 80 costs UKP2,600. No shipping dates.
IBM offers two 80486SX machines
No indication of how well it went down with visitors, but enthusiasm for the crippled version of the 80486 – word is that the 80486SX is simply a standard 80486 in which the floating point processor has been disabled, but the suspicious reckon that they are full 80486s that either couldn’t cut it at 25MHz, or on which the chip was good apart from the floating point element, or both. It’s more likely that the 80487 falls into the former category, and if all the suspicions are true, Intel’s shareholders should be cheering, because the chips will be able to come from the company’s stockpile of 80486s that almost worked, and would otherwise have had to have been thrown away. At all events, IBM took the opportunity to wheel out its new machines based on the new chip, the 80486SX-based PS/2 Models 90 and 95, are available in several configur
ations. Model 90 comes with either 4Mb or 8Mb memory and an 80Mb or 160Mb hard disk. With 4Mb random access memory and 8Mb disk, the Model 90 costs UKP5,030, while with 8Mb memory and a 160Mb disk it’s UKP6,000. Both configurations are available this month. Model 95 comes in two versions, both available in June. The first has 8Mb memory with a 160Mb hard disk, the second has 8Mb of memory and a 400Mb disk. They cost UKP6,411 and UKP8,075 respect ively. The new uncrippled 25MHz 80486 Model 90 with 400Mb disk and 8Mb memory is UKP10,000 and will ship immediately. The 33MHz version with 8Mb and 400Mb disk is UKP11,000 and with 16Mb and 800Mb disk is UKP14,280; the first is available now, the 800Mb version next month. The 80487 maths co-processor costs UKP1,070 remember Intel Corp has set a retail price of $800 – currently equivalent to UKP470 – for it, so if you’re tempted, ask a friend visiting New York to drop into 47th Street Photo and pick one up for you – and is available from July. Also, there is a 400Mb SCSI hard disk costing UKP4,780 and a 3510 External SCSI Enclosure that accepts one external drive, costing UKP280. The SCSI disk is available now and the Enclosure will ship in June. The PS/2 Model 30 286 with 45Mb is out now and costs UKP1,205.
touts new PS/2 Model 30
There had been suggestions that IBM would have a more capable AT bus machine in the new announcement, but there was no sign of an 80386SX version of the PS/2 Model 30, only a slightly bigger disk for the PS/2 Model 30 286 – the 10MHz 1Mb machine now has a 45Mb disk where previously it offered only 30Mb. The new version of the box is UKP1,205.
Tulip 486SX unveiled in Utrecht
Tulip Computers says it is committed to developing a microcomputer based on the new 80486SX chip, but appeared to miss the boat at the Show. It added that development of the Tulip Vision Line de 486SX/e is underway and that a prototype machine was unveiled in Utrecht…
