PCs
Name Price Rating Comment RAM HD MM Supplier Tel Issue Page no Additional comments, notes
Amd
5K86/90
Panther Predator 2 £1,399 lllmmm A good performance for this chip, but at a high price. 16Mb 1.6Gb 6x, no sound Panther 01442 253811 21 117
K5 100
Panther Predator £700 lllmmm Adequate performance and good build, but problems with the CPU. 8Mb 1Gb 4x,no sound Panther 01442 253811 24 114
Cyrix
5x86/100
AST Advantage 613E £1,349 llmmmm A mixed bag. Adequate audio and comms, poor monitor. 8Mb 850 Mb 4x,16 AST 0990 611611 15 83
Armari Blaze £1,250 lllmmm Performance on par with P75. There are far better buys. 8Mb 1Gb 4x,16 Armari 0181 810 7441 16 99
686/100
Cyrix Panther Premier £1,849 lllllm Well specified system delivering good performance. 16Mb 1Gb 4x,16 Cyrix 01442 253811 17 85 recommended
686/120+
Panrix Edge £695 lllllm An impressive all rounder. 16Mb 850Mb 4x,no sound Panrix 01132 444958 24 110
West One Pro Series Gem £599 lllmmm A potentially reasonable system restricted by an awful monitor. 8Mb 1Gb 6x,no sound West One 0171 734 0669 24 117
686/133
Armari Fusion P166+ £2,495 llllmm Well specified and built with an excellent software setup. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Armari 0181 810 7441 20 58
Carrera Jaguar 166+ £2,275 lllllm Super fast. The Cyrix chip blows Intel away. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Carrera 0171 830 0486 18 88 recommended
Carrera Jaguar 166+ £2,295 lllll[ Impressive performance and high quality components. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Carrera 0171 830 0486 20 59 value
CompuSys Equator £1,999 llllmm Carefully chosen components let down by poor case and software setup. 16Mb 2.1Gb 6x,16 CompuSys 01296 505100 20 60
Red Box CP 166 £2,380 lllll[ Ultra fast, well designed interior and impressive build quality. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Red Box 01480 405541 20 69 speed
686/133+
Office Techniques P133+ £821 lllllm Very well specified, with exceptional performance and unbelievable price. 16Mb 1Gb 6x, no sound Office Techniques 01923 211449 24 110 speed, value
686/150
Armari Fusion P150 Media DSP £1,499 llllmm Generally well featured but not the fastest machine in our test. 16Mb 1Gb 4x,16 Armari 0181 810 7441 22 106
Olympian Evolution 2000 Cx150 £1,500 llllmm A reasonable PC, but nothing that stands out from the crowd. 16Mb 1.2Gb 4x,16 Olympian 0181 880 4222 22 109
Panrix Edge II £1,490 llllmm A good performer with an imperssive set of peripherals. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Panrix 01132 444958 22 110
Red Box 150+ £1,475 llllmm A good all rounder, though poor bundled software. 16Mb 1.2Gb 4x,16 Red Box 01480 405541 22 110
686/166
Evolution EV-C166 Xpression £1,499 lllmmm Superb performance, but a poor set of peripherals. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,16 Evolution 0181 944 6222 22 109
686/166+
Armari Arcturus SP-166+ £1,499 lllllm First rate components, immaculate assembley and expert configuration. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 Armari 0181 810 7441 25 78
Carrera Media System 166+ 6x86 £1,349 lllllm An outstanding compromise between price, features and performance. 16Mb 2.1Gb 8x,16 Carrera 0171 830 0486 25 82 value
Compusys Equator P166+ £1,649 llllmm Not as fast as other Cyrix based machines. 16Mb 2.1Gb 8x,16 Compusys 01296 505100 25 83
Dotlink Power Tower £999 llllmm Well designed and a solid performer, but a shortage of frills for the price. 16Mb 1.2Gb 6x,no sound Dotlink 0181 902 5802 24 142
Evolution ev-C166 X-file £2,385 llllmm Ambitious system with top choice of components, but expensive. 16Mb 4.3Gb 6.7x,16 Evolution 0181 944 6222 25 86
Isys Director's Choice Multimedia £1,895 lllllm Well specified and feature packed with solid performance. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 Isys 01204 700555 25 88
Office Techniques T166+ £1,400 llllmm Solid if unexciting, with good performance but minimal software setup. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 Office Techniques 01923 211449 58 94
Olympian Evolution 2000 166 £1,649 lllmmm Olympian's poor performance and price put it out of the running. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 Olympian 0181 880 4222 25 95
Panrix 166+ £1,595 llllll Well designed and very fast, with top notch features. 16Mb 2.0Gb 8x,16 Panrix 01132 444958 25 96 speed
Red Box CP166+ Pro £1,799 llllmm Fast, but in spite of excellent components and peripherals, too expensive. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 Red Box 01480 405541 25 96
Rudi Technical Labs M5i £2,995 llllmm Good performance, allied to quality components. 32Mb 1.2Gb 4x,16 Rudi Technical Labs 0976 500150 24 140
West One Vivace £1,564 lllllm The best build quality we've ever seen and great performance. 16Mb 1.2Gb 8x,16 West One 0171 734 0669 25 98
686/200+
Carrera Jaguar P200+ £2,195 lllllm Workstation class performance at a superb price. 16Mb 3.0Gb 8x,16 Carrera 0171 830 1486 25 150 recommended
Panrix Cyrix P200+ £2,895 llllmm Combines sturdy components to turn in an above average performance. 32Mb 2.1Gb 8x,16 Panrix 01132 444958 24 136
Red Box CP200+ Pro £2,995 lllllm As swift as a Pentuim Pro - the fastest machine around. 32Mb 2.1Gb 6x,16 Red Box 01480 405541 22 122 recommended
Digital
Aplha AXP21066/166
HM Minstrel Alpha/166 £5,171 not rated Essentially a Unix workstation. Not a fast runner of PC software. 32Mb 4Gb 4x,no sound HM 0181 830 1300 11 76
NexGen
NexGen Performance 90/84
Dan Nexgen £2,153 lllllm Good value with an excellent graphics card. 16Mb 405 Mb no sound Dan 0181 830 1100 2 98 recommended
NexGen 586/100
Carrera NexGen 100 £1,849 llllmm Pentium power without the price. 16Mb 520 Mb 4x,16 Carrera 0171 830 0486 6 92
Panther NexGen 100 £1,475 lllmmm Fast use of this new processor. 16Mb 812 Mb no sound Panther 01442 253811 8 78
Panther Predator NX586 PF100 £1,695 llllmm Fair performance, though a well specified P100 would do better. 16Mb 1 Gb 4x,16 Panther 01442 253811 19 103

Last Update: 11/10/96