Touting it as everything in one – from a portable to a workstation and back again Ing C Olivetti SpA has launched its Walkstation range, comprising three notebook computers: the 12MHz 80286-based A12, 16MHz-based V16 and 20MHz 8386SX-based S20, and two laptops: the 20MHz 80386SX-based S20 and the 33MHz 80386-based D33. The feature that distinguishes these products from anybody else’s portable range, according to Olivetti, is the docking expansion modules on offer that enable the user to add units to the portable once back in the office, constructing a workstation by connecting to a docking station offering its own Centronics parallel and RS232C serial ports, VGA interfaces, two 16-bit expansion slots and room for a 5.25 disk drive. The machines also feature an integral mouse pad and paper-white liquid crystal display. True to its claims to embrace the workstation world the range is capable of running Xenix and OS/2 as well as being offered with MS-DOS and Windows 3.0. Bowing to German supremacy in precision engineering, the Walkstations were designed, developed, and are being manufactured, by Olivetti’s German subsidiary Triumph Adler. The notebooks weigh in at 6.5 lbs, A4 size and two inches thick, while the laptops weigh approximately twice as much. The range extends from the entry level 80286 notebook to the top of the line 33MHz 80386 laptop. A 12MHz 80286 notebook with 20Mb hard disk will cost UKP1,200, the 80386-based laptop with 40Mb disk, UKP4,100, the docking station UKP700, and they will be available in the UK at the end of April.
