Further compounding Compaq Computer Corp’s problems, Digital Equipment Corp has now formally launched its onslaught onto the US personal computer market with the headline item being the DECpc 433, built for it by Intel Corp – reportedly because Intel could do the complex machine more cheaply than its principal OEM supplier Tandy Corp – coming in at $6,000 where Compaq charges $11,000 for a similar configuration. Describing it as a power user’s dream machine, DEC says it can reproduce graphics with greater clarity than any comparable product. The Triumph-Adler Walkstations were announced as the DECpc 320sx for the 6 lbs model at $4,900, the DECpc333 for the 11 lbs one at $6,450, and the DECpc 433 T, a 27 tall deskside machine from Tandy Corp. DEC will sell the machines only direct and via its authorised distributors – but that will reach a substantial part of Compaq’s core customer base. Key added value of the knockout 33MHz 80486-based workstation is the graphics subsystem, which comes from Sunnyvale, California-based Appian Technology Inc, which uses Texas Instruments Inc’s TMS34020 Graphics System Processor and Appian’s software interface and drivers to provide the highest graphics performance available on a personal computer. It supports high quality, fixed-frequency 1,280 by 1,024 monitors in both that mode and in standard 640 by 480 by use of its proprietary VGA Grabber technology.
