European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 04, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 4,1994 computer the stars and stripes Page 9 chips n1 bits Intel corp.,the world s largest maker of computer chips is cutting the prices of its mos advanced microprocessors. The  lower wholesale prices for its pentium and 486-Type chips 14 percent to 18 percent by mid-1994. Analysts say the move could reignite a Price War that has sent personal computer prices tumbling. Intel will Cut the Price of its most advanced 66-Mhz pentium Chip from$898 to $871 during the first Quarter of next year and to $750 by july 1, an Overall drop of 14 percent. The slightly slower 60-mhzpentium will sell for $675 by the Middle of the year Down from $818.prices Are based on 1,000-piece sales. Intel also will Cut prices on its fastest 486-Type Chip the 66-Mhz 486dx2 from $463 to $440 Early next year to $360 by the end of june an Overall drop of 18 percent. Smaller cuts will be made on other 486 chips. Microprocessors Are the brains of personal computers. An estimated 80 percent of pcs now use Intel microprocessors. Megahertz Mhz is a measure of the Speed at which the hip runs the computer. When Intel introduced pentium it leading Edge microprocessor Early last year pcs Basea on the Chip sold for at least $5,000. But prices have dropped As Intel has trimmed pentium prices and analysts now expect pentium based machines to sell for $2,000 by the end of the year. Looks like Intel s beginning to drive pentium into the Market said Dan Hutcheson at Vlasi research Insan Jose Calif. Thinking machines corp., the supercomputer maker based i Cambridge mass., will sign a three year $16 million contract with the naval research Laboratory in Washington d.c., to deliver a upgrade to the lab s existing cm-5 supercomputer system. The government research facility will use the huge parallel processing system to create More accurate weather forecasts to research fluid dynamics in the building of aircraft and submarines and to study Ocean currents said Danny Hillis thinking machine s founding scientist. Iii parallel processing thousands of microprocessors work simultaneously to solve a computing problem thinking machines is the Leader in this $270 million Market with a 34 percent  said the contract was significant because it demonstrate that for the first time the lab is running out of computational capacity on its existing thinking machines supercomputer. The contract includes a $6 million upgrade of the lab s existing cm-5 system that will quadruple the system s memory As Well As $3.4 million in additional equipment. The rest of the contract will Cove upgrades Over the next three years. The naval research Laboratory conducts a wide Range of scientific research. Its supercomputer services will be used by the defense department other government agencies and universities. Wang laboratories inc., newly emerged from bankruptcy said i expects to report a $20 million profit in the fiscal year that ends june 30. In september Wang had forecast net income of $25.7 million for the 12 months ending next sept. 30. That projection was required in the computer company s  wire reports speaking of speakers by Joe Fasbinder United press International a lot of people have recently discovered that multimedia is More than just a cd rom. If you own a pc Type computer you probably know what multimedia is More Money. In addition to a 386 or better Micro processor to be multimedia compatible your computer needs an Mac Standard cd rom Reader attached As Well As a sound reproduction card and speakers. The cd rom device is by far the most expensive add on to your computer costing upwards of $200. Sound cards can be considerably cheaper. And speakers can Range from about $29 to about $150. Any old cd rom will do the Job for the most part though some operate considerably slower than others. All you have to remember is to buy one that meets the Mac Standard. It will say so on thebon. Sound cards likewise differ mostly in the various Bells and whistles that Are attached to them. You can choose the one you want based on what you see and hear in a computer store. But when it comes to speakers you should probably spend a Little More than you plan to. It s like installing speakers in your car a cheap stereo will produce relatively clean sound through the right speakers top of the line speakers for a pc in clude the Yamaha yet Mio powered Monitor speakers. You might want to buy powered speak ers if your computer does t have a sound card and you still want to listen to music cd through your computer. It can be done if you have speakers like these that have an amplifier built  problem is that you have to turn them off every time you turn off the com with a system that includes for exam ple an external cd rom player you would have to Power Down the cd then the speakers then the Monitor and then the computer. Of course you could put All these de vices on a single Power strip but some times turning on the cd at the sometime As the computer does t work. The computer May try to install the cd rom Drivers before the cd is ready to receive them. Powered speakers like the Yamaha Brand have a real advantage Over non powered speakers they sound Good even if you Don t have a sound card i your computer to help the cd play music. The Yamaha yet Mio powered is Susan Harris speakers can still sound Clear even i turned up loud enough to get your neigh Bors banging on your door. That s the real reason to spend $149 on computer speakers they sound Good. The Yamaha yet Mio powered speakers give Bass response Down to 80 Hertz the kind of Bass that rattles Walls the kind of Bass that s so Low it won t usually go through Telephone lines. Sound Quality is Rich and accurate wit the yet Mio speakers amazingly so for a pair of boxes so Small. The secret is in the design of the inter Nal baffles that focus the sound As i leaves the cabinets. This kind of Engi Neering won t be found in speakers in the $29range. And in fact the yet Mio speakers probably won t set you Back the full $149 list Price like most computer hardware it can be had for much less than list Price if you look around. -. -. Computer de lacking study says by Carole Fel Manthe associated press Washington computers i America s classrooms Are often outdated and teachers Aren t adequately trained to help their students use them concludes a study financed by the National science foundation. American schools started introducing computers years before most other coun tries but the . Is falling Well behind the other countries in terms of having an up to Date inventory said Ronald an Derson the study s author. The study examined computer use inthe United states Austria Germany Japan and the Netherlands. The stereotype of americans As technological of addicts is widespread so it May come As a Surprise that american Stu dents have been technologically Short changed said the report by the International association of the evaluation of educational achievement. The cooperative of research centers has members in More than.40 countries. In 1992, 3.5 million computers were in use at 99 percent of . Elementary an secondary schools said the study. The typical High school has one computer for every 10 students Middle schools and Al the . Is falling Well behind the other countries in terms of having an up to Date inventory Ronald Anderson study s author Emen tary schools have an average one computer for every 15 pupils. Teachers Are using computers Fromlath to science to language arts the study said. The study tested 69,000 pupils ingrates five eight and 11 in 2,500 schools on practical computer knowledge. . Portion of the Survey involved 11,284 students in 573 schools. Anderson said schools Only now Are beginning to replace their older Slowe Rapple us with newer ism pc compatibles and Apple macintoshes. Only 2 percent of a typical . Elementary school s computers can be considered 16 or 32-bit," the study said. The percentage rises to 20 percent for High schools. Japan Austria and the Netherlands All had higher percentages of updated computers than the United  study also found that less than Hal of . Schools offer their teachers introductory computer courses either on site or at local colleges. Some schools Are improvising. At Abita Springs elementary school i Louisiana Kathleen Duplantier the computer resource teacher said she had to teach herself How to use the computers fourth graders Are staying after school  teachers with new soft Ware. They re going to teach the teach ers she  Roybal who works with third and fourth graders at Mission Valley elementary school in Tucson Ariz said computer instruction is available. It s basically up to the teachers to choose whether to take the Opportunity or not she said. Anderson said almost half of .households with school age children have computers. Of course a computer in the Home does t necessarily mean it gets used by students he said. Anderson said . Pupils say they us their Home computer two hours a week on average less than the Western euro Pean pupils. Regardless of country the most common use of no school computers was to play games. Sony to produce notebook units for Dell Tokyo a Sony corp. Will sup ply notebook personal computers to Dell computer corp. Beginning next summer a Sony spokesman  spokesman who declined to be identified said Austin Texas based Del would sell the machines under its own Brand name beginning in mid-1994. He said Dell and Sony would conclude an agreement  financial daily Nihon Meizai Shim Bun reported that Sony will assemble the computers at both japanese and . Plants. Japan broadcasting corp. Said Sony would use its own computer chips and Supply Dell with 10 different  Sony spokesman who declined to comment on the reports would not Dis cuss the value of the planned Deal. Notebook pcs Are smaller and lighter than Laptop computers but run on lower Power batteries that reduce Speed and screen Quality. Dell which suspended production of its own notebooks last year has been looking for a japanese company to Manu facture them a Sony source said. Sony has distributed its own Brand of computer monitors for several years through Dell s . Sales network and has also made Power Book laptops for Apple computer inc