More coming up from innovating Compaq

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 28

More coming up from innovating Compaq

By

NEILL BIRSS

Compaq, which has just announced two 80386-based microcomputers, has more releases in the pipeline. One of these will be laptop size. Mr lan Penman, managing director of CCA Systems Pty, Ltd, the Australian arm of Compaq, has been in Christchurch promoting the two new machines: the 25MHz Deskpro 386, which he described as the most powerful personal computer in the world; and the 16MHz 80386 SX. He said Compaq would not make a laptop before it could market a model that could stand being dropped on the ground by a user. Present laptops were too sensitive to cope with such mishaps, he added. Compaq has not been happy with the screen quality of laptops either. Mr Penman would not be specific about what is coming up, but it is clear Compaq will have a much smaller portable — probably laptop size — towards the end of the year. It promises to be robust and readable.

The new 386/25 desktop is being hailed by Compaq as a work station more powerful than the Apollo or the Sun, and cheaper, too. However, it is the 3865, based on a new, cheaper 80386 chip from Intel, will make the bigger impact on the market. The base version, without monitor, keyboard, or external storage, is $7083 before GST. This is competitive with the higher-performance 80286 clones from Taiwan.

It can address up to 13Mb of RAM memory and internal hard disks of up to 220 Mb capacity. The 386 s will run software developed for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 386, and OS/2. “A key feature is that it will run future software developed for 32-bit 80386 machines, which 80286-based personal computers cannot run. At the same time, it will accept all popular industrystandard 8-bit and 16-bit boards and peripherals.” The fast big brother, the 386/25, is 60 per cent faster than the 20MHz noncache 80386 machine such as IBM’s PS/ 2 Model 80-111, Compaq says. It is 25 per cent faster than the Compaq Deskpro 386/20. It will also run MS-DOS and Windows 386 applications, as well as supporting upcoming versions of OS/2, Xenix, and Unix. It comes with a 100 Mb or a 300 Mb hard disk (this offers access under 20 milliseconds). RAM memory is expandable to 16Mb, which would leave five expansion slots available. Compaq has also announced a harddisk expansion unit, which allows its 386 machines to run up to four 300 Mb disk drives simultaneously. The company continues to eschew the microchannel architecture adopted by IBM in its PS/2 series. Compaq says IBM adopted the microchannel, a bus (signal route) to solve the PC-AT’s problem of having a bus designed for a central processor running at BMHz. When the speed of the central processor is increased, as it is on most AT compatibles now, the bus becomes a bottleneck between the processor and the faster memory system. Compaq says that in the IBM Model 50 and Model 60 microcomputers, the problem is solved by lifting the bus speed to 10MHz, but the microchannel architecture is still similar to that of an AT bus. On the IBM Model 80, the bus runs at half the central processor speed, except for some functions which run at the processor speed. Compaq’s solution is concurrent bus design. This separates the memory bus from the expansion bus, allowing independent memory and expansion-bus speeds. New Zealand firm

A New Zealand branch of Compaq will be opened this year, based at Auckland. This will be called Compaq New Zealand. The name, Compaq Australia, is held by an outside party in Australia, and Compaq and the party have not agreed on a purchase price. In the meantime, the wholly owned Australian arm remains CCA Systems, Ltd. Compaq is being sold in New Zealand by most IBM agents, and this arrangement is likely to continue.

Business graphics Business graphics were on the menu when Imagineering staged a demonstration at a champagne breakfast in Christchurch last week. Graphwriter II was the star product, though the Polaroid Palette system was also featured. The wide variety of graphs and symbols in Graphwriter 11, and the easier menu system in this release of the product, aroused considerable interest in the few score people from businesses and institutions who came to eat and to watch. Casualty Corvus Systems, the American network manufacturer, has sought Chapter 11 shelter from the Bankruptcy Court in California. Chapter 11 gives a company temporary shelter from its creditors. Graphics confusion If you have’t yet upgraded your MSDOS microcomputer to EGA graphics you can feel further left behind. VGA, a step better than EGA, is expected to be surpassed in a month or two by VGA2, an IBM standard of 1024 by 768 pixels (picture elements).

More windows Microsoft has released new versions of Windows, its graphics interface which is the subject of a legal battle with Apple. Windows 2.1 releases for ATcompatibles and 386-based machines allow an extra 50K of addressable memory, lifting the DOS limit to 690 K. Meanwhile Microsoft, 15 other software manufacturers, and 13 of America’s larget 100 companies have formed a Windows/Presentation Manager Association to promote the two products. (Presentation Manager, due out later this year, will be the graphics interface for OS/2). Claris expands Apple Computer’s software subsidiary, Claris, has bought an Apple II software developer, Style Ware, of Houston. Styleware’s Apple II interface is close to that of the Macintosh. Proofreading software A product has been announced for proofreading. This vocalises text from computer files so that one person can compare it with original copy rather than the traditional proofreading in pairs. Monologue, from CSSL, of Seal Beach, California,, comprises software and a small hardware box that plugs into a serial port of an MS-DOS machine. It reads punctuation, and can be adjusted for speed, volume, tone, pitch. The user can choose a male or female voice. Fax agency Voca Communications, of Australia, has appointed Atlas Gentech its New Zealand agent for Voca-fax machines. Commodore network Commodore Computer N.Z., Ltd, has obtained the New Zealand distributor-. ship for the local-area network, Waterloo Port. The network was developed by the University of Waterloo in Canada. It does not require a dedicated file server.

Paxus directors Paxus Corporation has appointed as a director Mr Philip Small, based in London and managing director of the' company’s subsidiary, Paxus Financial systems. Mr Gavin Wilkinson, of Australia, just appointed the managing director of Paxus Professional Systems, becomes an associate director. Mr Rod Smith has been appointed sales and marketing manager for Paxus Information Services in Wellington. Change at NAS The first managing director of the New Zealand subsidiary of National Advanced Systems, Mr Peter Wyatt, will leave on July 31 after three years in the country. Mr Bill Kingsley, manager responsible for business in New Zealand, and Mr John Ray, in charge of customer services and support, will now report direct to the Asia-Pacific vice-president of NAS, Mr Dave Koch. Atari PC An Atari PC compatible is now available. It comes with a hardware switch to change select monochrome CGA, or EGA graphics, 640 K RAM, and bundled GEM software. Atari also has a desktop publishing system comprising an Atari laser printer and a MEGA 2 computer with 20Mb hard disk. The first newsletter from Software Supplies (N.Z.) was set up on the system. The resolution of the laser printer looks excellent, but the newsletter shows that scanners and laser printers still have a long way to go in handling, half-tone pictures.