Intergraph launches 3-D PC with aggressive pricing

Intergraph Computer Systems today announced a line of 3-D PCs featuring Pentium and Pentium Pro chips graphics accelerator technology and commercial pricing that starts at $1 185.

The new low-cost system will be available as part of a set of three new models Intergraph added to its TD PC line of Pentium-based PCs. The 3-D PCs mark the latest push into the PC market for a company that made its name as a workstation provider to the federal engineering community.

The TD-22 includes a 133 166 or 200 MHz Pentium processor and 16M to 64M of RAM. The TD-25 offers a 166 or 200 MHz Pentium processor with MMX technology and 16M to 64M of RAM while the high-end TD-220 features a 180 or 200 MHz Pentium Pro chip and 16M to 256M of RAM. All three models come with 3-D graphics accelerators 1.7G hard disk drives and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95.

Pricing starts at $1 185 for a TD-22 with a 133 MHz Pentium processor. A TD-25 with a 166 MHz Pentium with MMX technology starts at $1 485 and a TD-220 with a 180 MHz Pentium Pro chip starts at $1 680. Monitors are priced separately and start at $339 for a 15-inch unit.

Intergraph Federal Systems officials said federal pricing is not yet available but added that the company's General Services Administration schedule and indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity pricing is lower than commercial pricing.

The new models will be added to Intergraph Federal Systems' GSA schedule when the products become available in May said Tom Baybrook vice president of marketing for Intergraph Federal Systems. The products also will be added to Intergraph's three Computer-Aided Design-II contracts with the Navy.

The company in January launched a PC marketing effort targeting federal agencies with 133 166 and 200 MHz Pentium systems running Windows 95 or Windows NT. The addition of the 3-D PCs provides platforms for PC CAD and World Wide Web applications Baybrook said.

Intergraph is initially focusing its PC effort at its traditional engineering users but will look to expand its reach among nonengineering users. "At the start we are selling into the customer base who knows us: the engineering community " Baybrook said. But the firm is trying to "expand the customer base beyond the typical Intergraph engineering customer."

Payton Smith a research analyst with IDC Government Falls Church Va. called Intergraph's 3-D PC pricing "incredibly low. I haven't heard of anybody offering such a low-end machine targeted at graphics and engineering applications."

Smith added however that high-end engineering users might find the single-processor 3-D PCs underpowered and may prefer more expensive dual-processor products. He added that business users meanwhile may not find much use for the 3-D technology in typical office applications with the exception of publishing.

The three 3-D PC models ship with Intergraph's Intense 3-D 100 which the company said is geared toward general-purpose Windows 95 PC productivity applications as well as 3-D acceleration for such applications as multimedia.