GREYSTONE'S NEW OCTOPUS LOADS SOFTWARE ON LAPTOPS

Fast, Low-Cost Mass Market System Duplicates on up to 16 Units
Simultaneously

Los Gatos, CA -- November 7, 1994 -- Greystone Peripherals, the leader in
affordable high-performance hard disk software duplication systems,
announced today a new version of its DataBlaster system designed for the
broadest duplication market, from retailers to laptop manufacturers. The
Model DB-108 Octopus System allows the loading, control and monitoring of
software duplication onto laptop or notebook hard disk drives from a
central computing unit (CCU).

Octopus duplicates software through a laptop computer's PCMCIA channel onto
the unit's hard disk drive. Using the PCMCIA channel increases the loading
speeds significantly -- at least a magnitude faster -- over loading
software conventionally through serial or parallel ports. Any laptop or
notebook utilizing a hard disk drive, PCMCIA slot, and 3.5-inch floppy
disk drive for system bootability is a candidate for the Octopus
DataBlaster.

Octopus is available in four, eight and 16 target-unit configurations.
Software 'mix n'match' duplication can be controlled simultaneously to any
combination of IDE or SCSI drives on target systems. The unit loads
software at the high rate of two megabytes per second -- including
hardware bit-for-bit compare -- without the necessity of removing the hard
disk drive. About 6-800 individual 340MB drives under CCU control can be
duplicated in an 8-hour period. The 16-unit Octopus can pay for itself in
less than two months at 600 drive duplications per day.

'Software loading is entering a revolutionary phase with the Octopus. Now
software loading can take place anywhere -- at the point of sale or the
factory,' said John Usher, vice president of sales and marketing for
Greystone. 'The need for mass-market duplication is because many programs
are now so large that they're released on CD-ROMs instead of floppies.
Many OEMs now choose to ship systems with software already loaded on hard
disk drives; plus, the millions of laptops already in the field will
require an inexpensive upgrade duplication method. Octopus revolutionizes
the way multiple copies of software and software upgrades can be
distributed.'

Popular software such as DOS, Windows, Word, Excel, OS/2, UNIX, Chicago, NT
and other widely-used packages may be selected at random from the Octopus
library, then configured, linked and downloaded to target hard drives
already installed on laptop computers. This provides 'load-to-order'
flexibility for the various situations where it is impractical to remove a
hard disk, load new software and re-install the disk, or load from a
floppy, CD-ROM or network, which is a time-consuming and expensive
processes.

Users are expected to include dealers, distributors, systems integrators,
VARs, software manufacturers, disk drive and system manufacturers, as well
as corporations, financial and educational institutions. A few
applications examples:

* Manufacturers who provide a suite of pre-loaded software on their
systems, or who carry large inventories may load at the last minute, or
update the software on units immediately prior to shipment, due to the
speed and convenience of Octopus

* Resellers and retailers whose customers want the latest software revision
can update the pre-loaded software on the unit at the point of sale

* Large corporations which constantly upgrade computers for widespread
organizations with the latest software revisions require an easy-to-use
fast duplication system for on-the-fly updates.

The Octopus consists of hardware and software to monitor and control up to
16 individual laptop computers in parallel for duplication. Easy to use
and operate, the Octopus allows individual or collective software loading
or upgrades under central control. Physically, cabling allows the Octopus
to be up to 15 meters from any given laptop target unit. Dealers and
manufacturers can also keep records of software loaded and configured by
customer name in case of system or drive failure. This feature may be
attractive to dealers, VARs, integrators and distributors as an extra
value-added customer service.

The proprietary OctoBlast software operates under either DOS or Windows.
Operation is menu-driven, using a mouse and/or graphics interface,
allowing point and click operation. Graphic images representing the
various units under control are selectively downloadable, with the ability
to choose, select and configure software packages or files to be loaded on
the target systems. Thus the operator can automatically install an
operating system as well as applications software packages from the
Octopus library. This allows the copying of software to a variety of
different hard drives of differing manufacture and capacities.

The DB-108 Octopus System includes OctoBlast software, Greystone PCMCIA
card, PC interface card, cables and connectors. PC/AT-compatible, the
system requires a PC running DOS 3.0 and above, with 4MB of RAM, either a
5.25-inch or 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, a 240MB hard disk, plus an 16-bit
expansion slot. Available now, the DB-108/4 is priced at $3,995; the
DB-108/8 is priced at $5,995; the DB-108/16 is priced at $9,995. The units
may be upgraded to the next level of capability when required.

Greystone Peripherals, Inc., founded in 1992, is led by PC and peripheral
industry veterans George Robinson and John Usher. The company designs,
manufactures and markets computer peripherals. In addition to the
DataBlaster line, its CardDock reader/writers line is targeted to the
PCMCIA market. The company is located at 130 Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, CA
95030

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