Digital Enters SOHO Retail Market With Starion PC
Signs CompUSA and Sam's Club

MAYNARD, Mass. -- November 1, 1994 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today
announced its initial entry into the U.S. PC retail market with the
introduction of its Starion personal computer line, targeted at the small
office/home office (SOHO) market segment. At the same time, the company
announced it has signed exclusive agreements with CompUSA and Sam's Club
to sell the new Starion line.

The SOHO computer retail market is defined as those organizations and
home-based businesses with five or fewer employees, primarily in
service-oriented businesses, such as consultants, florists and lawn care
specialists. According to BIS Strategic Decisions, of the 13.6 million PCs
sold in 1993 in the U.S., one third were sold into the SOHO market.

"With the Starion line, we are establishing a beachhead in the SOHO
market," said Bernhard Auer, vice president and general manager of
Digital's Personal Computer Business Unit. "By offering Digital branded
PCs to a broader set of PC users, where they want to buy them, we are
further accelerating our momentum toward becoming a top five PC vendor by
the end of 1995."

The Starion line is the third major announcement in Digital's fall PC
product roll-out. Each of Digital's new PC lines feature a new naming
convention, new packaging, new enclosures and a new start-up menu, and is
designed to help PC users become more productive, more quickly.

"We are entering the U.S. retail market with a measured, rational
approach," said Rod Keller, director, Consumer Market Development for the
PC Business Unit. "With our entry into the retail market, we have put in
place the necessary business practices, support and services, logistics
and merchandising to be profitable and to provide the foundation for
future expansion in this channel."

Getting Down to Business

Digital designed the Starion PC line to help the SOHO business owner to get
right down to business -- right out of the box with an average set-up time
of 15 minutes or less. "We asked small business owners what they wanted
most from a PC," said Keller. "Their three main areas of concern are --
ease of set-up and use; ease of expansion; and service and support.

"We are offering the right combination -- reliable, upgradable, easy-to-use
products; single-source service and support from one of the most
experienced service forces in the world; and recognized retail outlets --
for this diverse and rapidly growing market," he added.

"Digital's new line of multimedia PCs offers small business users
easy-to-use, business-practical multimedia products that are certain to
increase efficiency and productivity," said Steve Barlow, director of
Lotus' Multimedia Products Group. "By bundling Lotus ScreenCam, as well as
providing users with application-specific ScreenCam screen demos, Digital
is offering customers innovative solutions -- complete with robust
business applications that can be up-and-running right out of the box."

Digital selected two national retail chains -- CompUSA and Sam's -- as the
first U.S. channel partners in the retail market. Each retailer will carry
different products on an exclusive basis, eliminating any channel
conflict. Digital is providing both organizations with merchandising,
promotional and sales training programs.

Aggressively-priced, the five new Starion PCs offer a number of outstanding
features designed for users in the small office/home office segment. All
models include:

- 16-bit stereo sound, speakers, and microphone; and SoundBlaster PRO
  compatibility;
- Built-in telephone answering machine;
- MaxFax communications software and 14.4 FAX/modem for
  sending/receiving faxes;
- "Getting Started" interface screen with illustrated instructions;
- Multimedia demos and tutorials to assist users with business tasks,
  such as sending a FAX and data conferencing;
- Pre-loaded MS-DOS, Windows for Workgroups, and special, on-line
  software manuals, including "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows";
- Intel ProShare software for data conferencing;
- ClarisWorks integrated software package for office applications;
- Lotus ScreenCam software for multimedia tutorial creation;
- CompuServe on-line information service;
- For the four CD-ROM-based models, American Business Information's
  "11 Million Businesses Phone Book;"
- 250MB tape drives on the Starion 500 and Starion 700 models; and
- One-year, on-site warranty service with an option to upgrade and
  one-year telephone support for all factory installed software.

The new models are built around powerful 486DX2 and Pentium processors;
include 8MB of standard system memory and a minimum of 540MB hard drive.

Offered exclusively through CompUSA, the Starion 300, Starion 500 and
Starion 700 models are priced at $1,699, $2,299 and $2,799, respectively.
Exclusive to Sam's Club, the Starion 200 and Starion 400 models, including
monitors, are priced at $1,799 and $2,399, respectively. All models are
available immediately.

For customers who purchase Pentium processor-based models -- Starion 400,
Starion 500 and Starion 700 systems -- by December 31, 1994, Digital is
offering a free upgrade to a three-year hardware service agreement, second
and third year carry-in. Included with the system is an offer for a $99
upgrade to Digital's Service-in-a-Box program, which provides one year of
telephone support for more than 400 business software programs. Digital
also offers remote support via modem for instant fixes.

Digital is one of the fastest growing PC vendors in the world. Digital
offers a full line of personal computers worldwide, including desktops,
servers and mobile systems, through a worldwide network of resellers.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information
systems. Digital's scalable Alpha AXP platforms, storage, networking,
software and services, together with industry-focused solutions from
business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global
marketplace.

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