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New Ampro Single Board Computer Product Line Expands Choices for Embedded Engineers

Posted on: Monday, 29 March 2004, 06:00 CST

SAN FRANCISCO, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampro Computers, Inc., the inventor and leading supplier of PC/104 and EBX single board computers for non-backplane embedded systems, today announced the Ampro ReadyBoard(TM) family of single board computers (SBC) to address the needs of cost-sensitive applications which do not require the rugged reliability of Ampro's traditional LittleBoard(TM) and CoreModule(TM) products. Starting at less than $300 in low volumes with a Pentium-class processor, the ReadyBoard family is the best value for commercial applications that do not require extended operating temperature, extended product lifecycles, resistance to shock and vibration or an extended warranty. Yet, ReadyBoard products are full- featured, supporting high performance Via Eden(TM) and Intel Pentium(R) III / Celeron(R) processors, four serial ports, dual 10/100BaseT Ethernets, and high-performance video. And unlike some low-cost boards, ReadyBoard products are configuration-controlled, ensuring the same product is delivered time after time. Customers are notified in advance of any changes which affect form, fit or function of the board. See details at http://www.ampro.com/html/ReadyBoard_550.html and http://www.ampro.com/html/ReadyBoard_700.html.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990503/AMPROLOGO )

"For over 20 years, 'Ampro Value' has been largely associated with our reputation for rugged reliability in harsh environments," said Joanne Mumola Williams, president and CEO of Ampro. "Today, we have expanded this notion of value to include low-cost SBCs that come with our core competencies of quality, reliability, and local support that have helped hundreds of OEMs create and support profitable systems."

The ReadyBoard family is a great platform for applications such as user interface terminals for equipment, building automation, kiosk/point-of- information, industrial applied computing, uncertified medical devices, and many other commercial applications which benefit from fully-featured, fanless, low-cost embedded solutions. ReadyBoard products are designed with PC-style connectors along a single edge to easily mount against a back panel or bulkhead with little or no cabling. This saves system OEMs time and money compared to boards that use pin header connectors for all basic I/O and require cables or an I/O board to provide connectors for the outside of the systems.

ReadyBoard products come complete with an Ampro embedded BIOS, offering such features as serial console, customizable splash screen, and battery-free boot. Even if the on-board battery fails, the board will continue to boot normally, using the correct CMOS settings stored safely by the Ampro embedded BIOS. ReadyBoard products are application-ready, delivered with support for leading operating systems including Windows(R) XP, XP Embedded, Linux(R), VxWorks, QNX, and Windows CE .NET.

ReadyBoard products are also the first commercially-available SBCs that comply with the new EPIC form factor standard, also announced today as an open standard created by Ampro and four other pioneers and innovators in standards- based embedded computing. This assures OEMs that the form factor is well supported in the industry and has long-term availability. The specification can be downloaded free-of-charge at http://www.epic-sbc.org/.

Pricing and Availability

The ReadyBoard 550 pricing starts at under $300 in low quantities. The ReadyBoard 550 is available in 30 days for evaluation and qualification, with production volumes available in 60 days. The ReadyBoard 700 is available in 60 days for evaluation and qualification.

About the ReadyBoard 550 and 700

The ReadyBoard 550 single board system is based on Via Technologies' Eden(TM) ESP family of low power processors, including the ESP 3000 running at 300MHz, the ESP 5000 running at 533MHz, and the ESP 10000 running at 1GHz. These processors contain 128kB Level 1 cache and 64kB Level 2 cache.

The ReadyBoard 700 single board system is based on Intel's high- performance, Tualatin-based Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Celeron(R) processor running at 400MHz and 650MHz, and Low Voltage Pentium(R) III processor running at 933MHz. Tualatin-based Celeron processors contain 256kB Level 2 cache, while Tualatin-based Pentium III processors contain 512kB Level 2 cache. These processors dissipate roughly half the power of previous generation Coppermine- based Celeron and Pentium III processors.

Both products support up to 1GB SODIMM SDRAM, dual 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports, four RS232 serial ports, two of which support RS485, four USB 1.1 ports, eight general-purpose I/O (GPIO) pins, EPP/ECP parallel port, PS/2 keyboard and mouse interfaces, floppy and Enhanced Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Synchronous IDE disk interfaces, a Type II CompactFlash(TM) socket, IrDA, AC97 sound ports, and high-performance AGP 4x video with built-in support for LVDS, TFT, and STN LCD and flat panel displays. Both products measure 115x165mm (4.5x6.5") and operate fanless from 0 degrees C to 60 degrees C.

About Ampro Computers, Inc.

Ampro Computers, Inc. is the leading global provider of modular embedded computing solutions for OEM applications. Ampro's mission is to provide time saving solutions for embedded systems designers that accelerate the product deployment process. Ampro pioneered the embedded PC industry creating the popular PC/104 and EBX standards. The EnCore family is a Computer-on-Module (COM) which enables designers to obtain all the benefits of an off-the-shelf CPU solution while maintaining the flexibility of a full custom design. In addition to EnCore, Ampro offers four product lines; PC/104-compatible CoreModule CPUs and MiniModule expansion products, EBX form factor LittleBoard single-board computers (SBCs), and EPIC form factor ReadyBoard SBCs. Ampro was awarded Electronique magazine's "Electron d'Or 2002" for subsystems for the EnCore M2 product. For more information about Ampro Computers, please visit http://www.ampro.com/.

AMPRO is a registered trademark and EnCore, CoreModule, MiniModule, ReadyBoard, LittleBoard and Little Board are trademarks of Ampro Computers, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990503/AMPROLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

Ampro Computers, Inc.

CONTACT: Paul Wcislo of Ampro Computers, Inc., +1-408-360-4324 orpwcislo@ampro.com

Web site: http://www.ampro.com/

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