TEXAS Instruments Hongkong last week introduced four new 486-based TravelMate notebook computers, including what the company claims are the most powerful colour and monochrome systems in their class.
''With read-to-run, optimised Windows software and extended battery life, the TravelMates offer no-compromise solutions for users who demand high performance and portability,'' said Mr Nassir Ahmed, worldwide portable products marketing director of TI's Peripheral Products Division (PPD).
Added Mr Allan Ip, general manager of TI PPD in Hongkong: ''Each model in the TravelMate series offers outstanding value. The TravelMate colour notebooks, in particular, are an attractive alternative to competing 486 monochrome, as well as colour, models.'' TI's new TravelMate 4000 WinDX2 50-MHz notebook computer is the fastest, lightest and most powerful 486 notebook computer on the market. It features eight megabytes (MB) of memory and a 200 MB hard disk drive and includes a VGA display with 64 gray scales.
The TravelMate 4000 WinDX2 weighs 2.54 kilos including battery, and measures 21.59 x 27.94 x 4.57 cm. Expected retail price is $27,380.
Priced from $14,980, the entry-level TravelMate WinSLC costs about the same as a 386SL notebook but offers more than twice the performance of 25-MHz 386SL models. Standard configuration includes a 25MHz TI486SLC processor, two MB of memory expandable to 6 MB and a 60 MB or 80 MB hard disk drive.
The new TravelMate 486 colour notebooks offer a choice between the TM4000 WinDX2 40 MHz, with eight MB of memory and a 200 MB hard disk drive, and the TM4000 WinSX 25-MHz colour model with 4MB of memory and a 120MB hard disk drive. Expected retail pricesare $24,980 for the WinSX/25 colour and $29,980 for the WinDX2/40 colour.