🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, this has been out for a few days and no one has mentioned it, so
I figured I would:  InfoWorld has a report about the Atari PC4 and PC5
MS-DOS machines coming out next week at Spring Comdex.  The PC4 is an
AT-class 12-MHz 286 machine, with 1 meg memory; offering CGA, EGA, and
VGA compatibility, a 1.2 meg floppy drive, and a 60 meg hard disk it
comes in at $2295.  It is supposed to ship in June.

The PC5 is a 386-based 16 MHz machine with 2 Meg of RAM and is
otherwise pretty similar to the PC4.  The article mentions 64K of
static RAM for 'disk caching' but this doesn't sound sensible-- maybe
for the main memory, but not for disk... It's supposed to cost ~$2800.
There's also talk of a 20-MHz version of this machine; no information
given about pricing yet.  Both 386 machines are predicted to ship in
August.

Now, for my money the 286 machine sounds like a loser, for
price/performance-- at a higher clock speed, and with a monitor
included, maybe (unless one _is_ included that would handle the color VGA);
but not at 12 MHz.  The 386, on the other hand, sounds kind of nice.
With a VGA momochrome monitor at well under $200, that comes out to a
very nice price indeed, assuming it's the right price.

On the whole, the machines don't sound like worldbeaters, but they don't
sound bad either...  if the bundled software is right and they threw in
a mouse, I'd think they were targeting the Vendex Headstart, Amstrad,
etc. market segment, which wouldn't be bad.  But from what little I see
in the article (all of three column-inches) I can't tell what's going on.

Anyone from Atari want to clarify? Or leave things under wraps till the
show, and then post a more reliable description of the machines?
Will these prices include monitors?  How many slots will the machines
have?  What's the deal on the 64K cache? Drive access time? RLL or MFM
controller? Bundled software?

Well, enough questions.  Floor's open.  
(And please, no bozos jumping in with skeptical 'yeah, right' postings.
They don't solve anything.  I realize we've been stung more than a few 
times by vaporproducts, but things seem to be a lot better than they
were.  Atari, while we'd like to know about this, if you're keeping this
under wraps until COMDEX day, that's fine-- just please post complete
specs _when it's time._)

-Antonio Romero    romero@confidence.princeton.edu