Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!ncar!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Intel Inboard 386/PC
Summary: Inboard PC != Inboard AT !!
Message-ID: <1478@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 24 Jan 89 04:24:02 GMT
References: <7244@xanth.cs.odu.edu> <5714@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Sender: wfd@neoucom.UUCP
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
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A lot of people have said in this group that they have had very
good luck with the Inboard 386 for the 8 bit XT bus.  I have some
unpleasant memories of the 16 AT bus version of the Inboard 386
from when I tried to get one to work in May of 1988.

Be warned that Intel claims that it will only work in an AT model
339, Compaq 286 (whatever model, I forget) and the Tandy 286 (model
3000?).

I tried the board in an ALR 286, Wells American 286, AST Premium
286, Epson Equity III (not III+) and Tandy.  The Tandy was the only
machine that the Inboad would work in as advertised.  Of the other
machines, the only one that would go through the POST with the
Inboard installed was the Equity III set to run at 6 MHz.  The
Equity would boot most of the time with the Inboard but would crash
inexplicably after 5 to 10 minutes.

I strongly recommend that you not bother with the AT version of the
Inboard unless you have the one of the approved three PCs or else
can buy it with the understanding you may want to return the board.

With the Inboard in the Tandy, performane was pretty good, but not
really any bettter than the qualitative feel you'd get from a new
highspeed AT clone system.  Of course, there were the advantages of
having the '386 chip that would let you run 386-to-the-max or
Windows 386, etc.  The software that comes with the Inboard
includes an OEM version of 386-to-the-max.  Other than that, the
Inboard usues your original BIOS, which, of course, is not
optimized for the 386.  (Note 386max relocates your system and/or
EGA BIOS to high RAM to improve speed by avoiding the added wait
stats of ROM accesses.  you can't run other protected mode programs
at the same time as 386max, though, so Windows 386 can't coexist;
one has to go.)

In the DOS world, you might as well buy a whole clone turbo 286
system for the price the Inboard AT version costs.  The performance
would be about the same.

Again, people that have the XT version of the Inboard report being
very pleased.

--Bill