Nexar launches its new line of expandable systems

Nexar Technologies Inc. today took the wraps off its latest line of PCs designed to support multiple microprocessors and to make the task of upgrading major system components easier.

Nexar's Cross Processor Architecture (XPA) midtower PC follows the Nexar 9000 and Nexar II in the company's evolution of highly expandable business computers. The XPA PC provides broader support for microprocessors than previous models. Nexar offers motherboards in various configurations that support Intel Corp.'s Pentium Pentium Pro dual Pentium Pro and Pentium II chips as well as chipsets from Cyrix Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Government Technology Services Inc. is already offering Nexar's XPA PCs on the General Services Administration schedule and several hundred systems are on back order said Tony Colangelo vice president of Nexar's Federal Systems Division. The products are scheduled to ship next month according to Nexar.

In particular the ability to interchange components such as microprocessors gives government customers "a comfort level " Colangelo said.

"The government can only buy so many computers every year and something designed to be upgraded and expanded will find a certain amount of favor within the government " added Payton Smith a research analyst at IDC Government. Smith called Nexar's computing approach "one of the best examples of differentiation that I've seen. They've definitely got their niche."

Nexar's XPA PC offers several motherboard options. The XPA Pentium CPU board offers a Socket 7 module and supports Pentium and Pentium-with-MMX technology chips running at 133 166 200 and 233 MHz. The board also supports Advanced Micro Devices' K5 and K6 processors at 133 166 200 and 233 MHz and Cyrix M1 and M2 chips at 166 and 200 MHz.

The XPA Pentium Pro CPU board features a Socket 8 module and supports Pentium Pro chips at 180 or 200 MHz. The Dual Pentium Pro XPA CPU board offers two Socket 8 modules and supports Pentium Pro processors running at 180 and 200 MHz. The XPA Pentium II CPU board supports a single Pentium II cartridge at 200 233 or 266 MHz.

Nexar sells exclusively through resellers which assemble the interchangeable components based on customer requirements. Product pricing is based on configuration but Nexar has provided pricing on some sample configurations. For example an XPA Pentium II workstation with a 233 MHz chip a 4.1G hard drive 32M of RAM a 512K external cache 16X CD-ROM drive a 4M S3 ViRGE 3-D video card and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 has an estimated price of $1 999.