WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- International Business Machines Corp. Tuesday unveiled a model of its Personal System-2 computer that uses a new, faster Intel Corp. microprocessor.
The current standard for many personal computers is Intel's 386 chip series.
The Intel i486, introduced by the Santa Clara, Calif., chipmaker in April, is heir apparent to the 386 family and is designed to run all software written for 386 chips.
IBM said the chip enables its Personal System-2 Model 70-A21 computer to operate at twice the speed of 33 megahertz computer systems based on Intel's 386 chip. The new system is known as the IBM PS-2 486-25 Power Platform.
Intel has said the i486 compresses the power of yesterday's mainframe into a single computer chip.
IBM said its i486 system was designed for tasks such as financial analysis, computer-aided manufacturing and desktop publishing.
The PS-2 486-25 Power Platform is priced at about $3,995. The product will be available in the fourth quarter. IBM said it would reduce the price for the IBM Model 70-A21 to $8,995 from $11,295.
IBM also introduced new products that will enable users to produce multimedia presentations that incorporate high-quality still photographs and stereo sound.
The IBM Audio Visual Connection, available in September, is priced at $495. The video adapter for the system is priced at $2,250 and the audio adapter costs $565.
