★ PEOPLES ★ AMSTRAD'S NEW BUSINESS PCs ★ |
| Amstrad's Power Station (New Computer Express) |
SX machine, notebook and colour portable announced As first predicted in Express Amstrad has launched three upmarket computers aimed at executives. A small-footprint SX machine, a notebook and a colour portable were announced by the company at Cebit Hanover on Wednesday 13 March. The Amstrad PC4386SX is just about the smallest computer which can claim to be a desktop. It's about one foot square and under three inches high, yet comes with a 20MHz 386SX processor, 80Mb hard disk, two half-length expansion slots, 4Mb of memory and a 3.5-inch floppy. To match its small size, it uses a VGA monitor with a tube size of just 10 inches. With mono monitor the machine costs £1,499, and with colour monitor (using a Sony Trinitron tube) it costs £1,699. No other options are offered. The Amstrad PC4386SX - just about the smallest computer claim to be a desktop. >> Amstrad says it is aiming the PC4386SX at executives who have little space on their desks and little time to learn to use a computer. The machine is supplied with Windows 3, but Amstrad says this is still too complicated for many executives, so it has written an easy front-end for Windows. When the machine boots, the Amstrad Program Manager shows icons for applications (including spreadsheet, card index and word processor) which can be selected with the mouse. The joke in Amstrad is that this makes the machine so easy to use that even Alan Sugar can manage it. Experienced users can switch to the full version of Windows 3 with a simple key combination. Most of the applications offered by the Amstrad Program Manager come with Windows 3 as standard. The spreadsheet, however, is the trial version of Microsoft Excel. This has most functions of Excel, but worksheet size is limited. If the full version of Excel is bought by the user, this replaces the trial version. Other application programs which are bought separately, such as a full database or word processor, can link to the appropriate icon. Amstrad says no compromises have been made to build the machine. It has 64K of cache memory which, combined with the 20MHz processor, makes it over a third faster than most 16MHz 386SX machines. A full-size, 102-key keyboard is provided - the only attempt to reduce the size of this has been to minimise the border around the keyboard. The normal Amstrad mouse is included. Because Amstrad has become Several companies offer small-footprint SX machines, but none has produced machines as small as the PC4386SX while still retaining two expansion slots. The Carry-1 9000 from Centreprise is smaller, but has only one expansion slot, is slower and uses an external transformer. The SX version of the Carry-1 starts at £1,295, but versions roughly comparable with Amstrad's new machines are £150 more expensive. The Amstrad PC4386SX is made in Korea and should be in the shops by June. Amstrad hopes the machine will become a status symbol among the type of executives who have previously resisted using computers. Along with the PC4386SX, the Amstrad notebook and colour-screen portable machines are hoped to boost the company's image in the corporate market. Amstrad says that much of the damage done by the 2000 series has already been compensated for by the 3000 series machines and its ALT model portables. The ‘4' designation of the new machine does not mean the replacement of the 3000 -they-are complementary ranges, says Amstrad. *
New Computer Express #123
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