Dell's popular Latitude notebooks feature Vadem low-power PC card controller.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1994--The award winning Latitude XP family of notebook computers from Dell Computer Corp. incorporates the Vadem Inc. VG-468 PC Card socket controller chip, Vadem announced Thursday.

The Latitude XP computer family features a 100 MHz IntelDX4 processor in a compact, light-weight design. The computer is perhaps best known for its industry-leading battery life and power management features, which allow up to a record-breaking 17 hours of use.

The Latitude XP drew headlines in early August, when Dell president Michael Dell personally asked American Airlines passengers to test the battery life of the new Latitude XP during a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles.

Critical to the versatility and connectivity of the new computer family is its use of PCMCIA smart-card technology for applications such as modem communications, add-on memory and networking. Dell chose Vadem as one of sources for PC-Card socket controller chips because the VG-468 was designed precisely for applications that require low current-draw, low-cost and have limited available space.

"Vadem understands the unique requirements that must be carefully thought out in the development of portable devices," said Dave Altounian, director of Portable Marketing at Dell. "Issues such as compatibility and low-power draw are items that Vadem has clearly addressed in the VG-468."

The 208-pin Vadem VG-468 was specifically designed for applications in small notebook computers, palmtops and other personal information devices. The VG-468 provides full ExCA implementation of two PCMCIA 2.01/JEIDA 4.1 PC Card sockets directly (up to eight, by cascading four 468s), PCMCIA hard disks and semiconductor disks, as well as memory and I/O cards. It features five mappable memory windows and two I/O windows for each socket.

In keeping with the philosophy of high-integration combined with minimum overall space usage, the VG-468 interfaces directly to a synchronous or asynchronous ISA bus. Thus, no external buffers or transceivers are required.

Fully register-compatible with the Intel 82365SL, the VG-468 also features selectable programming voltage for various programmable devices, internal buffering support for `hot' card insertion and removal and supports both the memory-saving execute in place standard (XIP) and both overlapping I/O windows and duplicate I/O cards.

The VG-468 continuously monitors, through its status register, the state of PC Cards under its control, including detecting the card's presence, its memory write protect status, battery voltage detect, card power and ready/busy. Any change in card status can cause an interrupt.

Of particular importance to the Dell Latitude XP designers was the VG-468's on-board power management system, with its integrated timer, individual socket power control, windows inactivity function and CS-controlled powerdown. This power management system fully supports 3.3 volt SUSPEND with modem ring resume detection.

"We are pleased that Dell has chosen Vadem as one of their component suppliers for a milestone product like the Latitude XP," said Ahmet Alpdemir, Vadem's vice president of marketing. "Dell understands the needs of people on the go and how important PCMCIA is to the future of portable computing. We will continue to evolve and expand our PCMCIA controller line to meet the on-going needs of industry pace-setters like Dell."

About Vadem

Vadem develops and sells single-chip solutions based portable systems design expertise for large OEMs. Its product line is especially well-suited for cost sensitive, low power applications of a single-chip PC, PCMCIA/ExCA-compliant socket controllers and a very low cost VGA/LCD controller. Vadem is located at 1960 Zanker Road, San Jose, California, 95112. Phone [phone]; fax [phone]. Vadem is privately held.

About Dell

A Global 500(R) company, Dell Computer Corp. (NASDAQ:DELL) designs, develops, manufactures, markets, services and supports a complete line of personal computers compatible with industry standards.

Dell is the world's leading direct marketer of personal computers and one of the top five personal computer vendors in the world with annual revenues of nearly $3 billion.

Information on the company and its products can be obtained through its toll-free number (800/592-3355) or by accessing the Dell Worldwide Web server, at http://www.dell.com. Dell is a registered trademark and Dell Latitude XP is trademark of Dell Computer Corp.

CONTACT: Vadem

              Ahmet Alpdemir, 408/467-2102
                        or
              MQPR
              Matthew Quint, 510/651-9744