Press/Digital Unveils New Venturis FX Family of Desktop PCs
Digital Press & Analysts News
Digital Equipment Corporation
Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571
Editorial contact:
Sandy McLaughlin
(508) 264-7981
Wendy Pickering
(617) 266-8400
Digital Unveils New Venturis FX Family of Desktop PCs
Easy-to-Own systems deliver
outstanding performance at industry leading prices
MAYNARD, Mass., June 3, 1996 -- Digital Equipment Corporation
today announced the new Venturis FX family of Pentium-based desktop
systems that offer customers reliable, price/performance leading
computing solutions that are easy to own and maintain.
With processing speeds ranging from 100MHz up to the
soon-to-be-announced 200MHz, the Venturis FX family delivers a broad
range of cost-effective, yet powerful solutions to businesses of all
sizes from customers who require entry-level personal productivity
machines running Windows 95 to high-end power users who demand
Windows NT on the desktop.
Further establishing Digital as an industry price/performance
leader, pricing for the Venturis FX line begins at US $1,679 and the
new systems will offer either Windows 95 or Windows NT configuration
options.
"In order to maintain a competitive edge, business customers
need a computing solution that will grow with them as their needs
change," said Howard Elias, vice president, worldwide business
segments for Digital's PC Business. "Not only are these powerful
and aggressively-priced systems easier to upgrade, expand and
manage, they also come with the Digital reputation of reliability,
which gives customers the peace of mind that they have a solution
they can depend on."
Increased Performance at Affordable Prices:
By combining Digital's engineering expertise with the computing
power of Intel's Pentium processor and industry-leading technology
such as EDO memory, pipeline burst cache and--for maximum
flexibility--the industrys only single socket memory upgrade path,
the new Venturis FX systems deliver up to 20 percent greater
performance than the previous generation of Venturis systems. This
performance increase--which allows customers to do more in less
time--comes at no incremental cost to the customer over previous
systems.
Easy to Own, Maintain and Use:
Digital is aware that maintaining and upgrading a system
actually can be even more expensive than purchasing it. In response,
Digital has developed a new enclosure and motherboard that serve to
reduce the total cost of ownership for channel partners and
customers.
With the newly designed and engineered enclosures, the Venturis
FX family makes upgrading and servicing a PC quicker and easier than
ever before. The enclosure is tool-less and has only one thumb
screw, which stays on the enclosure. There are no cables to the
motherboard, so there is no need to unhook them during maintenance.
The motherboard has no screws and quickly slides in and out on
rails. Because the most commonly-upgraded components have been
moved to the front of the motherboard, away from the option slots,
users can leave option cards in while upgrading the CPU, memory,
video memory, and cache. Getting the system up and running is also
simple since the mouse and keyboard are color-coded for faster
setup.
In order to protect customers' hardware investments and stay on
the cutting edge of the Intel power curve, the new Venturis FX
family is designed for easy upgrade to faster Intel processors. By
incorporating the ZIF Socket 7 on the motherboard, customers can
easily "snap" out the old processor chip and "snap" in the new one.
Easy to Manage:
For all of Digital's commercial desktop, server and mobile
products, manageability is a key feature; Venturis FX is no
exception. Digital includes its latest industry-standard version of
ClientWORKS manageability software on Venturis FX. ClientWORKS
helps manage users' assets and network, reducing the overall cost of
ownership. ClientWORKS adheres to the Desktop Management Task Force
(DMTF) specifications, and has unique features, including a 32-bit
service layer for Windows 95 and Windows NT compatibility, more
component information, as well as dynamic BIOS recognition. What
this all means to the customer is the most robust manageability in
the industry, which reduces support costs and improves accuracy of
analysis. Best of all: It comes free of charge.
Reliability:
The Venturis FX family has over 60 human years of testing
behind every machine. In addition, Digital designs and manufactures
its own motherboards for the Venturis FX, allowing for improved
performance and tighter quality control. The systems also meet or
exceed worldwide environmental health and safety guidelines for
recyclable components, and the Energy Star certification.
Colorful World:
In response to extensive customer research, Digital is
heralding the arrival of the Venturis FX family with a new, brighter
color that better blends into todays corporate environment. Digital
is transitioning the Venturis FX peripherals and components to the
new color, as well. Digital will also incorporate the new color
across the other desktop product families throughout the year.
Pricing/Availability:
The Venturis FX 5100 up to and including the Venturis FX 5166
models are available immediately through Digital's channel partners
including master resellers, wholesalers, distributors, dealers, VARs
and system integrators. Pricing for the new Venturis FX family
ranges from US $1,679 to $2,789, based on configuration. For
complete pricing information and system configuration, please call
1-800-DIGITAL.
Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open
client/server solutions from personal computers to integrated
worldwide information systems. Digital's Intel and Alpha platforms,
storage, networking, software and services, together with
industry-focused solutions from business partners, help
organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.
####
Note to Editors: Digital, the Digital logo, Venturis and
ClientWORKs are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered
trademarks and Windows NT is a trademark of
Microsoft Corporation. Intel and Pentium are
registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Other
trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. Please visit the Digital PC World Wide
Web page at http://www.pc.digital.com.
Corp/96/292
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