From: pr-news@pa.dec.com (Digital Press & Analysts News) Subject: Press/Digital Expands Venturis Desktop Line With Pentium PCs Date: 1995/05/02 Message-ID: <9505022225.AA08392@raptor.pa.dec.com> X-Deja-AN: 101908566 sender: rjones@usenet.pa.dec.com approved: rjones@pa.dec.com x-to: Digital Press and Analysts News:; x-received: by raptor.pa.dec.com; id AA08392; Tue, 2 May 95 15:25:06 -0700 newsgroups: biz.digital.announce |||||| Digital Press and Analysts News |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571 Editorial contact: Sandy McLaughlin (508) 264-7981 DIGITAL EXPANDS VENTURIS DESKTOP LINE WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE PENTIUM PCs One of Industry's Most Extensive Line of Pentium PCs Available in Volume Today MAYNARD, Mass. -- May 2, 1995 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today added high performance Pentium PCs to its Venturis line of easy-to- use desktop systems for general business computing. The new systems bring the price of Pentium PCs down to the level of high-end 486 systems. Starting at $1899, the six new Venturis systems greatly expand the price performance range available to a broad audience of personal computer users through Intel 75MHz, 90MHz and 100MHz Pentium processors. Providing high reliability, top quality engineering, stylish ergonomic design and easy setup not typically found in volume-priced systems, the new Venturis line is the first in the industry to meet the new EPA Energy Star guidelines, designed to help users increase energy conservation. In addition, the Venturis line provides DMI (Desktop Management Interface) support, making PCs easier to manage in both standalone and networked modes. Digital supports DMI across all its commercial desktop PCs. The Venturis line is also backed by Digital's experienced worldwide service and support organization, and a three-year limited warranty rated among the top in the industry. "Since its introduction last fall, Digital's Venturis line has achieved increased popularity as a feature-rich enterprise desktop system that offers ease-of-use and solid performance," said Howard Elias, vice president, Desktop Product Line for Digital's Personal Computer Business Unit. "With today's announcement, the Venturis line broadens its appeal to a wider range of business users who count on performance, ease, and functionality, as well as price in determining value." "The new Venturis line is in the channel, in volume, and ready to ship," said Skip Gladfelter, vice president, Americas marketing for the PC Business Unit. "They are the perfect complement to our successful Celebris line -- we now offer a Pentium price performance solution for every user's needs." Leader in Energy Star Compliance The new Venturis models already meet the EPA's more stringent MOU V2.0 Energy Star requirements that will become effective on Oct. 1, 1995. By building future Energy Star compliance into the Venturis line a full six months early, Digital provides businesses with long-term investment protection as well as the immediate benefits of energy and cost savings by cutting energy consumption. In accordance with the future guidelines, the new systems ship with the power management settings enabled and a Windows-based user interface that allows users to customize their settings. Also included are online tutorials and documentation describing the features and benefits of power management functions. DMI Support for Desktops A founding member of the industry-wide consortium, DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force), Digital has played an active role in creating the DMI standard. DMI is a standard application programming interface that handles the communication between network management applications and manageable products. Whether standalone or linked to networks, Digital's DMI-ready systems are easy to use, understand, configure and manage. Digital's DMI implementation for Venturis, Management Information Format, allows users and administrators to browse the system for information needed to perform asset management, status reporting, and other management functions via an easy-to-use Windows-based program. Building on Digital's strengths in networking, the new Venturis systems can be managed within Novell and Microsoft networking environments. As a Windows for Workgroup client, the Venturis line supports enterprise network management tools such as Digital's POLYCENTER AssetWORKS and Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS). To support the needs of departmental network administrators, the new Venturis systems support Intel's LANDesk and Digital's ManageWORKS network management tools. In addition to DMI support for general business desktop systems, Digital supports DMI throughout the entire commercial desktop line. Easy to Use, Easy to Maintain Based on feedback from customer focus groups, the Venturis line is Digital's first commercial desktop line to offer 'Quickstart DOS' and 'Quickstart Win' online documentation, helping users to become familiar with their PC. In addition, animated tutorials are included for common systems functions such as printer setup and cabling, power management and using a CD-ROM. The Venturis systems also feature Plug and Play for unassisted system configuration and tool-free access to system internals to facilitate set-up, integration and maintenance. High-End Features at Volume Prices The new models give users even greater latitude in choosing a desktop system that suits current -- and future -- processing, performance and connectivity requirements. In addition to providing Pentium performance, the Venturis line now provides faster disk drives and larger storage capacity -- 420MB, 845MB and 1.2GB -- for greater configuration flexibility. Venturis systems also will be equipped with Novell NetWare ready drivers for simplified networking. PCMCIA and Infrared options provide seamless connectivity with Digital's mobile products. Pricing and Availability The new 'slimline' models -- Venturis 575, Venturis 590 and Venturis 5100 -- have U.S. list prices starting at $1899, $2249, and $2499, respectively. The 'full profile' Venturis FP575, Venturis FP590 and Venturis FP5100 are housed in larger enclosures and have U.S. list prices starting at $1949, $2299 and $2549, respectively. All models are available in volume today. The systems come pre-installed with the Windows for Workgroups operating system and are designed to take advantage of Windows 95. The new Venturis PCs come with Digital's worldwide service and support through a limited three-year warranty, including one-year on-site, where available. The systems are available through Digital's channel partners, including resellers, distributors and dealers, as well as through Digital's direct sales organization. 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 marketplace. #### Note to Editors: Digital, the Digital logo, Venturis, Celebris, POLYCENTER ManageWORKS and AssetWORKS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark and Pentium and LANDesk are trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. NetWare is a trademark of Novell, Inc. Sales information may be obtained by calling the Digital PCatalog at 1-800-722-9332. CORP/95/894 ============================================================================ Digital Press and Analysts News is sent as a courtesy to members of the press, analyst and consulting community. For subscription information please contact: Russ Jones Digital Equipment Corporation Voice: 415-617-3333 FAX: 415-617-3374 Internet: pr-news@pa.dec.com All Digital press releases, fact sheets and backgrounders are archived on ftp.digital.com in the /pub/Digital/info/pr-news directory. They are also available at http://www.digital.com/ on the World Wide Web . ============================================================================