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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Rieman who wrote (28673)	1/24/1998 3:04:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Cube customer... At Last, 266MHz Systems You Can Afford Jonathan Blackwood 02/01/98 Windows Magazine Page 134 Copyright 1998 CMP Publications Inc. Finally, the price of 266MHz systems is falling out of the stratosphere and into the realm of the possible. We recently took a look at two 266MHz systems from direct marketers Kingdom Computers and Unicent Technologies. Both systems are targeted toward small businesses and enthusiasts. Kingdom Pinnacle 266/S Kingdom provides a good collection of features and a healthy dose of performance in its Pinnacle 266/S. Our evaluation system came with 64MB of EDO RAM (expandable to 256MB), Intel's 440LX chipset, 512KB of level 2 cache, a 4.3GB (nominal) hard disk, a 24X (maximum) CD-ROM drive, a Hercules Terminator 3D/DX video adapter with 4MB of RAM and an excellent 17-inch (15.8-inch viewable) monitor with 0.26mm dot pitch. It also included integrated Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 sound with MidiLand MLi 170 speakers and a Zoltrix internal K56flex Fax/Data/Voice with Speaker Phone Modem. Windows 95 and Lotus SmartSuite come preinstalled. You loosen two screws to access the tower case's interior. Both internal drive bays were available; of the five external bays, two were available. The system also had one available shared PCI/ISA, one available AGP, three PCI (two available) and two ISA slots (one available). Performance was exceptional for a 266MHz system-among the highest we've tested-earning the Kingdom a WinScore of 143. Like most Pentium IIs, it performed particularly well on computationally intensive tasks such as AutoCAD and our multimedia script. There was one fly in the ointment: The Kingdom was a bit banged up when it arrived. The power supply connector was loose and we had to tighten it for the system to boot. The CD-ROM drive connections were loose as well, and couldn't be satisfactorily tightened-the slightest movement or vibration disabled it. We believe this was due to the relatively flimsy packing materials Kingdom uses. The Kingdom Pinnacle 266/S compares very favorably with the Polywell Poly K6266Mx on our WinList. The Polywell provides about 80 percent of the Kingdom's performance for approximately 81 percent of its price. Unicent Avanta L266 Unicent Technologies' Avanta L266 is a nicely made system with quality components and solid construction. Our test system arrived with a Pentium II processor, Intel's 440LX chipset, 32MB of RAM (expandable to 256MB), 512KB of level 2 cache, a 4.3GB (nominal) hard disk, a Toshiba DVD -1-ROM drive paired to a Cinemaster DVD decoder[Made by Quadrant a Cube customer], an Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card with two Enjoy Pro-260 speakers and a U.S. Robotics Sportster 56K x2 modem. Video came courtesy of a Matrox Mystique 220 PCI adapter with 4MB of RAM and an excellent Princeton Graphic Systems EO70 17-inch (15.8-inch viewable) monitor with 0.28mm dot pitch. Windows 95 and Microsoft Office 97 Professional Edition rounded out the package. The DVD -ROM drive can't read CD-Rs, but its Cinemaster DVD decoder provides smooth playback of prerecorded movies. The unit's snap-off case reveals three internal drive bays (two available), two external bays (taken by the floppy and DVD -ROM drives), three PCI slots (all taken), three ISA slots (two free) and one shared PCI/ISA slot (free). The Avanta L266's performance was middling for a 266MHz machine: Its WinScore of 121 was a full 22 points below the Kingdom. It was particularly disappointing in its multimedia and AutoCAD scores. The Polywell Poly K6266Mx is a better buy: It serves up 93 percent of the Avanta's performance at just 81 percent of the price. But should you buy it? Both the Kingdom Pinnacle 266/S and the Unicent Avanta L266 are well-built systems with good feature sets and quality components. Unfortunately, the Kingdom system needs better packing materials, and the Unicent system ought to be faster and offer more RAM. The Polywell Poly K6266Mx on the WinList remains a better choice than either. --Quick View-- Kingdom Pinnacle 266/S Bottom Line: Aimed at small businesses, a good performer marred only by poor packing materials Price: $2,497 Platforms: 95 Pros: Nice feature set; good performance Cons: Poor packing materials offer scant protection during shipping Strongest Rival: Polywell Poly K6266Mx Kingdom Computers, 800-488-1122, 717-662-7515. Winfo #771 -- Unicent Avanta L266 Bottom Line: Versatile small-business system, but should be faster and have 64MB of RAM for this price Price: $2,499 Platforms: 95 Pros: Good combination of features; DVD -ROM drive Cons: Relatively slow; DVD -ROM drive can't read CD-Rs Strongest Rival: Polywell Poly K6266Mx Unicent Technologies, 800-307-9456, 216-344-2649. Winfo #772