[comp.sys.zenith] exclerator boards for 80286 zeniths

ssmiller@uccs@ccnuccs.colorado.edu (09/20/90)

excelerator boards for 80286 zeniths
Has anyone come across any products that will upgrade 241s and 248s to
386SXs?  Intel makes such a board with a meg of ram.  Has anyone tested
it or other products on zeniths.

djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) (09/20/90)

In article <470.26f768a4@uccs@ccnuccs.colorado.edu> ssmiller@uccs@ccnuccs.colorado.edu writes:
>excelerator boards for 80286 zeniths
>Has anyone come across any products that will upgrade 241s and 248s to
>386SXs?  Intel makes such a board with a meg of ram.  Has anyone tested
>it or other products on zeniths.

I haven't tried either one, but in the June, 1989 issue of REMark, Pat
Swayne reviews the AOX Z-Master 386, a drop-in replacment for the Z-248 CPU
card.  He also mentions AMI's product (the ZX-386) and the Heath User's
Group product (HUG-386 upgrade), and notes that (at least at THAT time)
First Capitol Computer in St. Peter, Missouri offers a trade-in style
upgrade.  There are/were apparently several paths to consider.

AOX has started advertising with a slighter higher profile these days,
and I have sent for some updated info on the Z248-Z386 upgrade they
currently offer.  I have no actual experience with any of these 
possibilities, including the Intel board.  Good luck!

"Moby" Dick O'Connor                         djo7613@u.washington.edu 
Washington Department of Fisheries           *I brake for salmonids* 
"Moby" Dick O'Connor                         djo7613@u.washington.edu 
Washington Department of Fisheries           *I brake for salmonids* 

dmckeon@hydra.unm.edu (Denis McKeon EMERG.MED) (09/21/90)

Check into the SOTA company's offerings - we are using their add-in boards
to upgrade XT-class Zeniths to 286 or 386sx power, and they seem to work well.

I have no idea if SOTA offers a board to upgrade a 286 to 386sx or 386 chip.

No problems in the 6 months or so, except that getting the device drivers
set up correctly took a visit from the local vendor's tech staff.

We also got their 16i card for a 2MB memory implant in a Zenith XT-clone 
(model 151, 159, or 1217, I don't recall which.)

I don't have the (800) number handy, check recent PC Mag or equivalent.

The pricing is such that you might as well skip the 286 SOTA board,
and go ahead and add a 386sx chip (to an XT).  I looked into this area
in some depth about a year ago, and SOTA came to the Zenith market early,
and has stayed up as a player - has kept innovating, delivers good product,
has fairly readable manuals.

I realize this may not help you with a 286 - good luck.

Denis

dmckeon@hydra.unm.edu

RFM@psuvm.psu.edu (09/22/90)

SOTA has a BBs - 1-408-745-0326, 8-n-1, FDX. Call 'em as ask re 286s
I have a SOTA 386sx accelerator card in my Z-159. Works like a champ.
But mine is a 8088-based machine.