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From: sa...@dell.dell.com (Charlie Sauer)
Newsgroups: comp.newprod
Subject: DELL COMPUTER INTRODUCES 486-BASED EISA PC
Message-ID: <36620@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>
Date: 23 Apr 90 21:56:44 GMT
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Organization: Dell Computer Corp., Austin, Tx.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23 22:56:44 1990
DELL COMPUTER INTRODUCES 486-BASED EISA PC
Unprecedented Price/Performance for the Power User
AUSTIN, TEXAS, MARCH 19, 1990 -- Extending the high-performance end
of its product line, Dell Computer Corporation (NASDAQ: DELL) announced
today the Dell System(R) 425ETM, its first personal computer based on
the Intel(R) i486(TM) microprocessor and the high-performance 32-bit
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) bus.
Targeted for the experienced power user, the 425E offers exceptional
performance at about half the price of the Compaq Deskpro 486/25.
The price/performance of the 425E combine with Dell's top-rated service
and support to provide outstanding value for applications that demand
very high computation power and high-speed, large capacity storage.
The 425E provides an excellent platform for applications such as software
development, large spread sheets, CAD/CAM/CAE, single and multiuser
UNIXR applications, and mid-range to high-end network server applications.
The 425E, which will be available in the second quarter 1990, is also
a platform for the DELL(TM)Station, a Dell developed, fully integrated
UNIX-based office automation system.
"The 425E reaffirms Dell's price/performance commitment to its
high-end customer base of corporate accounts, value added resellers
and individual power users," said Joel J. Kocher, senior vice president
of Dell's USA sales and support. "This system extends our ability
to meet our customers' needs at a price significantly below competitive
systems. Only the Dell System 425E couples the industry's highest-performance
processor and highest-performance expansion bus with Dell's service
and support -- al l at a price that is within the range of corporate
users needing this level of power."
High-performance EISA bus gives industry-standard access to expanded
capabilities
The 425E supports the open standard EISA bus providing access to both
current ISA boards and the emerging market of high-performance EISA
board offerings. "EISA allows you to use your current investment
in standard ISA car ds while offering a compatible pathway to higher
performance in the future," said G. Glenn Henry, senior vice president
of Dell's Product Group. "The ability to access high-performance
storage and networking support using t he EISA bus will make the 425E
particularly well suited to network and server applications."
Pairs of one or two megabyte SIMMS can be added to the four megabyte
base configuration allowing the user to mix SIMM sizes for memory
upgrades, thereby preserving the user's investment.
High-performance 486 boosts processing by 100% or more
Based on the 25-megahertz Intel i486 microprocessor, the 425E achieves
two to three times the performance of 386-based systems, with speed
increases of up to five times for numerically intensive operations.
A fully softwar e-compatible extension to the 386TM family, the 486
provides the highest level of performance available using reduced-instruction-s
et-computing techniques to enable many instructions to execute up
to four times faster than o n the 386, and a "burst mode" that
allows the processor and memory to transfer data at high-speed. This
greatly increases the amount of data the processor can utilize. An
integral eight kilobytes of cache memory also enabl es the most efficient
use of 486 processing power, eliminating a large number of processor
"wait states" during -memory accesses. The built-in math coprocessor
greatly speeds the 425E's computations in scientific, engineering,
spreadsheet and other applications involving numeric intensive processing.
The 425E is designed to support the Weitek 4167 coprocessor.
Unsurpassed price/performance for power applications
The 425E offers top-rated 486 performance and the fastest expansion
bus in the industry at a price that is half that of the equivalent
Compaq Deskpro 486/25. It offers significant performance increases
over the Dell System 325, an 80386-based PC running at 25-megahertz.
Dell System 425E with four megabytes of memory, an 80 megabyte hard
disk drive and a Super VGA monitor (800 X 600 resolution) is priced at $8,299.
The 425E offers performance, mass storage and industry compatibility.
The 425E's system-performance increases include faster RAM access
through the use of an advanced interleaved-memory architecture, and
the use of shadow RAM. The 425E also provides large mass storage
capabilities with fast-access disk drives: up to 1,300 megabytes
of hard disk storage using high-speed ESDI drives. For industry-wide
compatibility, the 425E features high-performance 32-bit EISA bus
support with six EISA and two ISA expansion slots for industry add-on
boards, and a high-speed 16-bit video adapter for VGA monitors. In
addition, the 425E runs all applications for MS-DOSR and O S/2, and
applications for leading UNIX standards including UNIX System V and
XENIX(R).
Configurations and pricing
The 425E comes standard with four megabytes of RAM; expandable to
16 megabytes on the system board; a high-performance 16-bit video
adapter for VGA monitors; a 5.25-inch, 1.2 megabyte or 3.5-inch, 1.44
megabyte diskette dri ve; a 101-key keyboard; eight expansion slots
(six EISA and two ISA slots); one parallel and two serial ports; and
a 270-watt power supply.
Options for the 425E include two and four megabyte memory expansion
kits. Mass storage options are 80, 100 and 190 megabyte IDE hard
disk drives and 330 and 650 megabyte ESDI hard disk drives. The 330
and 650 megabyte dri ves offer 15 megabits per second transfer rates
and 18 and 16 millisecond access times respectively. Optional tape
backup devices are also offered.
Prices for the 425E range from $7,899 for a configuration with four
megabytes of RAM, a floppy disk drive, an 80 megabyte hard disk and
a VGA Monochrome monitor; to $12,499 for a 650 megabyte hard disk
and high-performance TI34010-based GPX-1024/16 accelerator board (1024
X 768 resolution) with a GPD 16-inch monitor.
Software support
The 425E is fully compatible with MS-DOS, MS-OS/2 and Dell UNIX System
V. Dell UNIX System V is compatible with the AT&T System V Interface
Definition and will run most XENIX applications. Dell's software
product offering includes Dell MS-DOS 3.3 and 4.01, Dell MS-OS/2
1.1 with Presentation Manager, and Dell UNIX System V 3.2 Release
1.1 as well as the recently announced DELL Station UNIX-based Office
Automation software. Dell also provides support for Novell(R) NOS
(Network Operating System) and other network operating system environments.
Complete service and support
The 425E is backed by Dell's 30-day total satisfaction guarantee,
toll-free technical support and a one-year Xerox on-site service contract
included in the price of the computer. The Xerox service contract
can be extended up to an additional four years through Dell Computer
Corporation.
Dell Computer Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets,
services and supports a complete line of personal computers compatible
with industry standards. The company is recognized in independent
surveys as having the highest customer satisfaction level in the industry
for its line of personal computers.
# # #
Dell System is a registered trademark and Dell, 425E and Dell Station are
trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation
UNIX is a registered trademark of American Telephone and Telegraph Company
Intel is a registered trademark and 386 and i486 are trademarks of Intel
Corporation
MS, MS-DOS and XENIX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
--
Charlie Sauer Dell Computer Corp. !'s:uunet!dell!sauer
9505 Arboretum Blvd @'s:sa...@dell.com
Austin, TX 78759-7299
(512) 343-3310