Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 27, 1993                   TAG: 9308270119
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

DOES YOUR HOME NEED A TOUCH OF COORDINATION?

\ The hot stuff coming from personal computer makers during the next few weeks isn't for high-tech junkies in big corporations or tiny laboratories.

It's for you and the kids - at home.

The big PC companies are rolling out computers simpler to set up and use and loaded with popular software. Prices range generally from $1,000 to $2,000 and, as with every new generation of computers, there's more computing power for less money.

The wave comes as the reason consumers buy PCs is changing away from the office-in-the-home purpose that has driven sales in recent years. People are increasingly looking at the personal computer as a communication device.

"A lot of the purchases of computers for home in the past have been largely stand-alone oriented," said Bill Bluestein, director of computing strategy research at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. "Now you see a lot going on there with how to integrate with the phone and get at online services."

That shift is reflected in two models Compaq Computer Corp. introduced Thursday. Both can send and receive faxes and have software to reach the Prodigy and America Online services. One has a built-in telephone answering machine.

In addition, they will have word processing, spreadsheet, personal finance and game programs already installed and large memory drives to carry even more.

They are the first models in a new line called Presario, which Compaq plans to sell only through retailers. The one with the answering machine capability, called the Presario 425, has a built-in monitor design that resembles Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh and costs $1,400. The other, called the 633, costs $1,300 with the monitor an addition to that.

Similarly, AST Research Inc. has started rolling out updated versions of its Advantage PCs. Its new models include a $1,900 machine that runs compact disc-based multimedia programs, a popular design for families because a lot of educational software is designed in that format.

Some of the new models IBM plans next month for its consumer-oriented PS-1 line also are aimed at parents with young children. They will carry the Disney Software Collection, 11 programs featuring Mickey Mouse and other characters teaching subjects such as math, spelling and reading.

Dell Computer Corp. plans new machines for the segment in October.

Link Resources Corp., a New York-based research firm, has forecast PC sales for home use will reach 5 million units in the United States this year, representing $6 billion in revenue and about one-third of the entire PC market.

Thirty-one percent of the nation's households have at least one PC, up from 27 percent a year ago, the firm found in a study finished in June.

"By any standards, that's a pretty large market," said Andy Bose, vice president at Link Resources. "Coming into the heavy fall buying season, naturally the major players are all placing their bets on the table."