★ HARDWARE ★ LES PC D'AMSTRAD ★ HEAVY WEIGHT LIGHTWEIGHT|New Computer Express) ★ |
| Amstrad Alt - 386sx | Hardware Les Pc D'amstrad |
Amstrad's second attempt at a portable PC looks to the top end, and this time gets it right, finds Keith Pomfret. Amstrad's second attempt at a portable PC looks to the top end, and this time gets it right, finds Keith Pomfret. The Alt-386SX is a top-end portable PC with a hard disk which costs £2,500 less than a similarly specified Toshiba. As the successor to the much-criticised PPC portable range, it represents Amstrad's attempt to launch a no-holds-barred power machine, but can the firm with a reputation for downmarket products carry it off? The Alt-386SX: a radical change in styling for a computer The machine is quite un-Amstrad like in appearance. The matt grey box has a texture like a cross between fine sand and stove enamel. It is a thousand miles from Amstrad's last sortie into the portable market, the very tacky-looking PPC range. The clamshell opens to reveal a large, clear VGA LCD screen and a gently raked 85-key keyboard. The keyboard is surprisingly responsive for an Amstrad and a set of 12 reduced size function keys adorns the top. The cursor cluster is at the bottom on the right and all the function specific keys (Insert, Page Up and so on) are set out around the periphery. Indicator LEDs for Caps Lock and Num Lock are grouped with a hard reset button above the keyboard. Power, battery and drive LEDs are placed on the far right in such a way that they can be seen even when the clamshell is closed.. POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO The Alt-386SX is a true portable with a large detachable battery pack underneath. It is slowly recharged while the machine is in use from the mains, but if the machine is switched off it can be ‘blast' charged in two hours. The claimed battery life is two hours, but with little disk access it managed a healthy 165 minutes. Anyone needing more than a couple of hours of battery life could carry a second battery pack and change when necessary. The internal battery pack and AC power supply contribute a large amount toward the portable's hefty 15.41b (7kg) weight. This would be bearable if it wasn't for a carrying handle with all the ergonomics of the tow-bar of a 32-tonne lorry. The handle is a disaster of bad design, causing hand swapping winces after a couple of hundred yards. However, that may not be too much of a PERFORMANCE With a 16MHz 386SX chip, the Alt-386 has healthy performance figures and is fast enough for most applications. Underneath the cover the machine uses VLSI (very large scale integration) chips to save space, and at the heart of it all is the 80386SX. The 386SX is the little brother of the i386, differing in that its data bus is only 16 bits wide as compared to the 386's 32-bit system. It will run all 386 specific software however, and all in all makes the Alt-386SX one of the most powerful portables around. The chip is dual speed and can be switched between 8 and 16MHz. The hard drive, a 40Mb Connors device of the kind used by several manufacturers, performed well with a short average access time of 25ms. The screen is an Epson 640 x 480 VGA screen capable of displaying 32 colours as grey scales with a fast refresh rate giving smooth scrolling. The LCD display has fiddly contrast and brightness knobs that make adjustment awkward and there's also an invert switch that reverses the greys on the screen. The inclusion of a VGA screen ensures that almost all software will run on the Alt-386SX. Expansion is catered for with a single 16-bit slot that will take a card of up to 155mm x 156 mm. Ports and peripheral connections are two 9-pin serial, one 25-pin parallel, a 9-pin analogue video (for a colour VGA monitor), a connector for an external keyboard and one for an external floppy drive. The on-board 1 Mb of RAM can be expanded to 4Mb. A thoughtful inclusion in the box is a set of extra keys for the keyboard to enable users in different countries to change the keys as well as the set-up. One surprise was the lack of bundled software. The machine comes with a single manual to cover itself and the included MS-DOS 3.3. It happily ran everything we threw at it, and suffers none of the compatibility problems associated with the early Amstrads. RIGHT ON This time Amstrad has got it right. The design, components and specification are at least the equal of other portables in the same price bracket, and it stands comparison with considerably more expensive machines. The Alt-386SX brings the price of a power portable down low enough to attract small businesses, while retaining the features that make it so desirable to power users. The Amstrad Alt-386SX cost £2,299 from Amstrad dealers. New Computer Express #92
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