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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:The Digital way of working
Moderator:QUARK::LIONELON
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5321
Total number of notes:139771

2068.0. "Digital builds PCs once again" by TEXAS1::SOBECKY (It's all ones and zeros) Tue Aug 25 1992 16:51

    
    	I heard on the radio this morning that Digital will announce
    	a line of PC's that will be manufactured by Digital (as opposed
    	to the ones we currently sell, manufactured by Intel, Olivetti,
    	etc.).
    
    	Anyone have details on this, like where they will be built, and
    	what chip they will use?
    
    	John
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
2068.1Apple PCs via DEC IndiaALFPTS::GCOAST::RIDGWAYFlorida NativeTue Aug 25 1992 17:085
I had a memo in my inbasket this morning, but I deleted it.  The bottom line
is that we are going to product Apple (Macintosh?) pcs through the Digital
India Program (DIEL).

Keith R>
2068.2a little dataSGOUTL::BELDIN_RD-Day: 218 days and countingTue Aug 25 1992 17:084
    The only detail I have is that I read in VTX (about six months ago)
    that they will be designed and built in Taiwan.
    
    Dick
2068.3AIMHI::BOWLESTue Aug 25 1992 17:257
    There was an article in this morning's Boston Globe confirming that DEC
    had announced plans to build a line of PCs in Taiwan.  John Rose was
    mentioned.  Quotes from current DEC employees.  Also speculated that we
    would not be making lots of margin on the machines--rather we would
    rely on related products and services to make our money.
    
    Chet
2068.4Made in TaiwanNEST::CESARIOVinyl DinosaurTue Aug 25 1992 17:2912
    
    There is an article on this in today's Boston Globe Business section.
    
    The lead-in...
    
    	"Marking its debut as a maker of personal computers, Digital
    	 Equipment Corporation said yesterday that it would begin
    	 manufacturing six new PCs in Taiwan.  The machines will be
    	 assembled at seven locations worldwide, including Springfield."
    
    Lou
    
2068.5Gimme a break!FINALY::BELLAMTEMe fix! Want bannana NOW!Tue Aug 25 1992 18:286
    
    _DEBUT_ ?? .... That's too kind .... they could have said:
    
    	"Marking it's latest desperate attempt as a maker ....."
    
    
2068.6What I did during lunch today...FRITOS::TALCOTTTue Aug 25 1992 18:313
Full article from the Globe will be in tomorrow's VNS.

					Trace
2068.7Tiger AnnouncementCOMET::BARRIANOchoke me in the shallow water...Tue Aug 25 1992 19:57141
This is the announcement of the new Tiger PC's
The bad news is, they probably will not be available thru the Employee Purchase
Program for quite a while, if ever. Demand is expected to be heavy.

Regards
Barry_who's_still_waiting_for_his_DEC_PC

********************************************************************************
From:	AKOCOA::MATUS        "PC Group Marketing" 18-AUG-1992 22:39:18.40
To:	LJOHUB::DENAULT,LJOHUB::NUSBAUM
CC:	MATUS
Subj:	Please distribute via your lists

Digital's new PC family will be announced in the U.S. on August 25.  The 
following text is scheduled to be distributed via Sales Flash on Friday, 
August 21.  It is being sent to you in advance.  PLEASE KEEP CONFIDENTIAL 
UNTIL LAUNCH DATE.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

            New Digital Manufactured Low Profile PCs

 HIGHLIGHTS:

    .Complete family of Digital built industry standard low profile 
     Desktop PCs: 386SX, 386DX, 486SX, 486DX and 486DX2 products.  

    .Many industry leading features in 386DX and all 486 models:
	- Upgradable
	- Local bus video with GUI (Graphical User Interface)
	  acceleration which runs Windows up to 4 times faster
	  than ordinary PCs.
	- Built-in 128K cache

    .Competitive low prices.  (Our systems cost less than the 
     comparable Dell systems with shipping and we have more features.)

    .New advertising campaign:  "The Perfect PC"

    .Available from Desktop Direct.

 OVERVIEW

    On August 25, in the U.S., Digital will announce a new family of 
    Personal Computers that are designed, engineered, and manufactured by 
    Digital.  With these new PCs we will provide our customers with the 
    high performance and high reliability they need at a truly competitive 
    price. 
    
    These PCs offer excellent Price/Performance functionality over a 
    complete family of LP (Low Profile) products:

       Product Name         Processor       CPU Speed

       DECpc 333sx LP       386SX             33 MHz    
       DECpc 340dx LP       386DX             40 MHz
       DECpc 425sx LP       486SX             25 MHz
       DECpc 433dx LP       433DX             33 MHz
       DECpc 450d2 LP       486DX2            50 MHz
       DECpc 466d2 LP       486DX2            66 MHz

    The DECpc 386SX LP is a highly competitive offering.  Starting at
    $899 without a monitor, our system is 32% faster than the 
    similarly priced Compaq ProLinea 386SX model and includes the
    following additional features: one additional ISA slot, 64KB of 
    cache, a larger hard disk drive, and Microsoft Windows installed.

    The 386DX and 486-based systems will be launched using the new
    "Perfect PC" campaign.  In July 1992, PC Magazine described what
    they would like to see in a perfect PC.  Now, Digital will
    manufacture it.  In the ad, we will specifically mention several
    features and will include the following chart which compares one
    member of the LP family to the competition:

    +------------------------------------+-------+--------+-------+
    |                                    | DECpc | Compaq | Dell  |
    |                                    | 433dx | Deskpro| P     |
    |                                    | LP    | I      | 433   |
    +------------------------------------+-------+--------+-------+
    | Upgradable                         | yes   | yes    | yes   |
    | Cache included                     | 128K  | 8K     | 8K    |
    | Cache maximum                      | 256K  | 64K    | 256K  |
    | Local bus video                    | yes   | no     | no    |
    | GUI (windows graphics) acceleration| yes   | yes    | no    |
    | Maximum RAM                        | 64 MB | 32 MB  | 64 MB |
    | Hard disk bays                     | 2     | 1      | 1     |
    | Shipping included in price         | yes   | N/A    | no    |
    | List price                         | $1849 | $2449  | $1849 |
    | Estimated street price             | $1849 | $2252  | $1849 |
    +------------------------------------+-------+--------+-------+

    Major features of the entire LP family are:

      .Fully Industry Standard: Tested by National Software Testing 
       Lab for software and hardware compatibility.  NSTL tests are
       very detailed and only truly industry standard systems pass.

      .SVGA video:  Supports up to 1024x768 non-interlacing monitors.

      .Three available full size 8/16 bit ISA slots.

      .Four disk bays: 2 Front-Accessible, 2 Internal Bays

      .Low Profile and Small Size- 3.5"H x 16.1"W x 15.6"D
     
      .145 Watt Power Supply, Auto-Sensing with Low Noise Fan

      .Packaged Configuration will include Keyboard, Mouse, MS-DOS 5.0 
       and Microsoft Windows 3.1 (Installed)
 
  Pricing for the LP family is extremely competitive.  Here are sample
  prices for a configuration with 4 MB RAM, 122 MB Hard Disk and our new
  high quality 14-inch 1024x768 low radiation monitor, keyboard, mouse,
  MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows:

       Product Name         Qty 1          Price
			    Catalog        Without
                            Price          Monitor

       DECpc 333sx LP       $ 1649	   $ 1199
       DECpc 340dx LP       $ 1999         $ 1549
       DECpc 425sx LP       $ 2099         $ 1649
       DECpc 433dx LP       $ 2299         $ 1849
       DECpc 450d2 LP       $ 2449         $ 1999
       DECpc 466d2 LP       $ 2649         $ 2199

  Note that the $899 configuration of the DECpc 333sx LP includes 2 MB
  of RAM and a 52 MB disk.  

  More information will follow in the September 7 Sales Update Article 
  with packaging and pricing information.  Information is also currently
  available in the "New and Revised Products" section of the CSO portion
  of the Electronic Connection.

  Digital has made a major investment to provide you leadership PC 
  Products at competitive prices. Make sure that Digital PCs are on the 
  Authorized Vendor List in your accounts. Encourage your customer to use 
  Desktop Direct to place specific orders or any of our Digital Resellers 
  for specific solutions. Work with your local Desktop Team to stay 
  informed on the growing market opportunity to help you meet the needs of 
  your customers.
2068.8aka TIGER ... looks great!SELL1::COUTUREGary Couture - NH Sales SupportTue Aug 25 1992 20:0013
The new pc's are code named TIGER and it looks to be an EXCELLENT product
and a excellent price!!

they are 386 & 486 upgradable pc's with Taiwan parts and US assembly.  Our
customer response has been great so far.  I've been talking to customers
about them for a month or so and have already sold quite a few.  Our biggest
problem right now is building them fast enough.  There will not be enough to
meet the inital demand.  This is a new problem for digital!  I think the TIGER
product is what we need to finally become a serious player in the desktop
market and I'm very positive about it.

gary

2068.9Looks like we were both right! Apple and DEIL....ALFPTS::GCOAST::RIDGWAYFlorida NativeTue Aug 25 1992 20:0941
Digital Equipment (India) Ltd. to manufacture Macintoshes for Apple.

Apple Set to Roll Out Macs from India by November
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1992 AUG 18 (NB) -- The first batch of Apple
Macintosh desktops manufactured by Digital Equipment (India) Ltd.
(DEIL) are expected to be out by November this year.

Though DEIL is planning to offer the entire Apple range, it will
begin only with Macintosh LC IIs.

DEIL's foray into desktop business is the offshoot of a mutual,
worldwide, distribution agreement between Apple Computer and
Digital Equipment Corp.

According to DEIL sources, Apple, which was operating in India
through Raba Contel, was finding it increasingly difficult to market
its systems in India as importing desktops is laden with many a
restriction. The systems Raba Contel managed to sell in India were
the ones that were being passed off as desktop publishing systems.
Apple is said to have handed over manufacturing and distribution
to DEIL to tap the true potential of the market for Macs in India.
Ravi Chauhan, marketing manager (desktops) in DEIL, says that the
Macs manufactured locally would not just be marketed in the domestic
market. They would also be exported and a bulk of them would be
bought back by Apple itself for marketing abroad.

While DEIL is still a long way from working out the pricing of the
machines, Chauhan expects them to cost 50 percent less than the
rates at which imported Macs are sold now. Presently, a Macintosh
LC II with standard configurations from Raba Contel costs about Rs
195,000 ($6,500).

DEIL would extensively use dealer networks to market Apple Macs
and there would be very little direct marketing. Raba Contel's
relationship with Apple would undergo a change. Henceforth, Raba
Contel would be a distributor of DEIL.

DEIL has already an ongoing marketing agreement with Modi Olivetti
Ltd. for selling the latter's DOS-based microcomputers. "The
relationship will continue," says Chauhan, "It will be
complimentary to our own desktop business."
2068.10from VTX LIVEWIRECTHQ::DWESSELSTue Aug 25 1992 20:1347
    TM                                                   
    digital                   Worldwide News                      LIVE WIRE
                                                         
    
      Digital introduces PC family based on integrated worldwide business
    strategy 
    
      Digital has introduced a family of high-performance, upgradable desktop 
    PCs and launched a new, worldwide strategy to increase the profitability
    of its PC business.
    
      The Digital-built, industry-standard DECpc LP (Low-Profile) family
    includes a 66-MHz 486DX2 system that uses Intel's fastest 486 processor,
    released earlier this month.  Five of the six new models offer extremely 
    high-performance graphics technology and plug-in processor upgrades.
    
      The six modular PC family models are configured and priced to serve a
    wide range of applications and users.
    
      o  ENTRY-LEVEL SYSTEM:  DECpc 333sx LP uses a 386SX processor running
    at 33 MHz, which typically is 32 percent faster than competing 25-MHz
    386SX machines.
    
      o  CPU-UPGRADABLE SYSTEMS:  DECpc 340dx LP, DECpc 425sx LP, DECpc 433dx
    LP, DECpc 450d2 LP and DECpc 466d2 LP are 386- and 486-based units
    with clock speeds of 40 MHz, 25 MHz, 33 MHz, 50 MHz, and 66 MHz, for
    demanding desktop business and technical applications.
    
    
      Components will be manufactured at Digital's Taiwan facility and
    assembled and tested at seven Digital "integration centers" worldwide: 
    Springfield, Mass.; Kanata, Ontario, Canada; Tokyo, Japan; Taoyuan, Taiwan;
    Sydney, Australia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Ayr, Scotland.  The products will
    be shipped directly to customers from the integration centers.
    
      The business strategy for the new PC family will serve as a franchise
    model, under which all Digital regions will follow similar business
    practices.  All aspects of the entire process of product engineering, 
    manufacturing, and worldwide distribution will be involved.
    
      Digital test-marketed the business strategy earlier this year when it
    introduced a 386-based PC in Asia, Australia, South America, and
    Canada.  The results included tremendous cost savings and superb quality.
    
    
    
    
2068.11Hands On a 433dx LP (low profile)GLDOA::DLAVALLEYTue Aug 25 1992 22:1410
    I had a chance to play with one of the new PC's, it came out here as
    a field demo.  486, 33Mhz, what a screamer!  Comes with a graphics
    accelerator and video bus that makes it seem much faster than the
    usual 433.  Looks good too, low profile cabinet looks less boxy than
    your generic PC.  I can't believe we had the smarts to build a value-
    add machine (SVGA and fast graphics) and not "premium price" it!!!
    
    I wonder if we make any money at these prices?
    
    D.
2068.12Here a DEC, there a DEC, everywhere a DEC!NEWVAX::MZARUDZKII am my own VAXWed Aug 26 1992 11:186
    
     Quantity has a Quality all it's own.
    
     Market share! With these and Alpha we could own the desktop.
    
    -Mike Z.
2068.13Staying tuned... but fearing the worst!IW::WARINGSilicon,*Software*,ServicesWed Aug 26 1992 19:362
I only hope that DEC classic get to sell these boxes here!
								- Ian W.
2068.14They were used at DECworld...!MR4DEC::FBUTLERWed Aug 26 1992 20:5112
    
    
    	We had over 70 of the Tigers at DECworld, although many people may
    	not have noticed them since the word was not really out about them
    	at the time.  They very well (especially for a new product) and we
    	had excellent support from the Springfield team! (in fact, they 
    	were among the most cooperative, positive, and energetic people
    	my team dealt with).
    
    
    	Jim (still working on decworld...)
    
2068.15Wall Street JournalANOVAX::JWICKERTVote LibertarianThu Aug 27 1992 16:014
      See the 8/27/92 issue of the Wall Street Journel for an article on
    this subject. It was very favorable.
    
                                            JRW
2068.16SA1794::GUSICJReferees whistle while they work..Tue Sep 01 1992 18:3714
    
    	Just to add..  First, Tiger is the code name for a family of DEC
    PC's.  First there was Tiger I which wasn't sold in the U.S.  Now comes
    Tiger II which will be sold in the U.S. and is a full CPU family.
    Can't comment on whether there will be a Tiger III or not, but let's
    just say that here in Springfield, we are scheduled to build in the
    mid-four digit range over just the next 8 weeks.
    
    	It appears that we (DEC) are trying to move in the right direction
    and Tiger could get us there.
    
    
    								bill
    
2068.17More favorable pressGIAMEM::LEFEBVREPCG Product ManagementFri Nov 13 1992 15:0080
      DIGITAL EQUIPMENT IS MOST-IMPROVED PC VENDOR, SURVEY SAYS

 
 
MAYNARD, Mass. -- November 12, 1992 -- Digital Equipment Corporation 
is the most-improved PC vendor for the second consecutive year,
according to a survey of more than 3,000 PC users by Datamation 
magazine and research firm Cowen & Co.  

     The survey, which rated 20 leading PC vendors, said Digital's
net gain of 48 percent increased favorability was higher than any 
other PC vendor's.  The 1992 survey said 50 percent of Digital PC 
users have a "more favorable attitude" toward Digital than they did 
last year, while only 2 percent said they had a less favorable 
attitude.

     The Datamation/Cowen & Co. survey ranked Dell Computer second,
with a net gain of 44 percent increased favorability, Gateway third 
with a 43 percent gain, and Apple Computer fourth with a 35 percent 
gain. 

     "Anyone who thinks Digital is not succeeding in the PC business 
is dead wrong.  Digital came out of nowhere and built a sizable 
presence in a short time," said Datamation publisher Michael Wisner.  
"They are clearly a significant player."  

     Compaq ranked eleventh with a 15 percent net gain, while IBM
was ranked sixteenth with a net loss of 10 percent.

     The results of the survey will be published in the November
15, 1992 issue of Datamation.

     In the 1991 Datamation/Cowen & Co. survey, Digital shared most-
improved PC vendor rating with Apple Computer, with a 38 percent net 
gain in user favorability.

     "Digital has made many significant improvements in its PC
business this year.  We've cut prices, cut delivery times, improved 
our warranty service, and introduced more competitive PC 
technology," said Jay H. Atlas, vice president, U.S. Channels, 
Digital Equipment Corporation.

     Digital initiated its Desktop Direct catalog business in
January.  Market research firm Computer Intelligence has ranked 
Digital among the industry's fastest growing PC makers in each of 
the past six months.  And Direct Marketing magazine has ranked 
Digital the largest computer vendor in direct response marketing.

     The Datamation/Cowen & Co. survey was based on 3,058 
questionnaire responses received from a sampling of 65,000 
Datamation readers.

     Datamation is a semimonthly magazine for managers of 
information technology and executive information systems managers.

     Founded in 1918, Cowen & Company is the nation's second oldest
and second largest brokerage partnership.  The firm is perhaps best 
known for its expertise in technology and health care research.  In 
1991, Cowen's 14 institutional equity analysts earned 12 places on 
the prestigious All-America Research Team, as published each October 
by Institutional Investor magazine.

     Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard,
Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked 
computer systems, software and services.  Digital pioneered and 
leads the industry in interactive, distributed and multivendor 
computing.  Digital and its business partners deliver the power to 
use the best integrated solutions - from desktop to data center - 
in open information environments. 
                                ####


Note to Editors:  DESKTOP DIRECT is a trademark of Digital Equipment 
                  Corporation. 

CORP/93/841

Distribution: Deleted
 
2068.18A wee bit of good news about the 425'sSYSTEM::COCKBURNCraig CockburnSun Nov 22 1992 09:3634
           <<< ROCKS::DISK$APPL01:[NOTES$LIBRARY]UK_DIGITAL.NOTE;1 >>>
         -< Matters pertaining to DIGITAL and its employees in the UK >-
================================================================================
Note 544.56      Would you recommend a DECstation PC to friends         56 of 57
SYSTEM::COCKBURN "Craig Cockburn"                    28 lines  20-NOV-1992 17:15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A nice bit of news about the 425's:

Craig

 ------------ Forwarded mail received on 20-Nov-1992 at 06:36:09 ------------

From:	VBORMC::"silver.e@zooid.guild.org" "Eric Silver"
To:	edieng::cockburn

BTW Craig, 
   I just bought 56 LP 425 DEC workstations  (LP == Low Profile ?) for
my office LAN. They're great machines and run well on a Novell LAN. 
I hope I can order 35 more before Canada's finance minister announces 
a budget freeze. Now the next step will be getting access to DEC-NET !
Regards,

Eric Silver - York, Upper Canada.
"Legitimize dissent in Canada!"

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