The following is from Phase5's web site and regards the BLIZZARD 603e Power Board which has finally gone into production and the latest PowerUP links.

BLIZZARD 603e Power Board finally went into production, passes CE approval

Oberursel, 2/5/98:

Good news for all users of the Amiga 1200 which are looking forward to upgrade their computer to PowerPC performance: The BLIZZARD 603e Power Board finally went into production by end of January, and will start shipping in the second half of February. The finalization of this product, which has been presented to the public already in November 1997 on the Amiga Show in Cologne, had been delayed by some small but tricky design problems that are now solved. Amiga 1200 users can now go for real Power(PC)horses for their machines, too.

phase 5 digital products has changed the product line and the nomenclature of the BLIZZARD 603e Power Board, which will be available in speeds of 160, 200 and 250 MHz. Three major changes should be recognized by all customers:

1. There will be no more 030 version coming out (formerly named BLIZZARD 603e), only the 040/060 version will become available (formerly known as BLIZZARD 603e+).

2. The '+' sign remains and indicates that the board is equipped with a SCSI controller, while the standard BLIZZARD 603e comes without SCSI; this decision has been made to offer a lower-cost entry product. The SCSI controller can not be upgraded later, however; this is a compromise due to the design requirements.

3. The BLIZZARD 603e and 603e+ boards will ship either with a 68LC040-25 (w/o FPU), a 68040-25 (w/ FPU) or a 68060.

The new product line looks as follows, with a recommended retail pricing in UK Pounds and US Dollar as follows (prices for the UK incude VAT):

BLIZZARD 603e Power Board (Without SCSI-Controller)

	68LC040-25	68040-25	68060-50
BLIZZARD 603e 160 MHz	UKP 239 USD 379	UKP 249 USD 399	UKP 489 USD 769
BLIZZARD 603e 200 MHz	UKP 299 USD 469	UKP 309 USD 499	UKP 539 USD 869
BLIZZARD 603e 250 MHz	UKP 359 USD 589	UKP 369 USD 609	UKP 599 USD 979

BLIZZARD 603e+ Power Board (With SCSI-Controller)

	68LC040-25	68040-25	68060-50
BLIZZARD 603e+ 160 MHz	UKP 289 USD 469	UKP 299 USD 499	UKP 529 USD 879
BLIZZARD 603e+ 200 MHz	UKP 349 USD 569	UKP 369 USD 599	UKP 599 USD 969
BLIZZARD 603e+ 250 MHz	UKP 409 USD 669	UKP 429 USD 689	UKP 649 USD 1049

phase 5 digital products has put a marketing focus on the low-end boards with inexpensive 040's and the 160 or 200 MHz PowerPC CPU. "These entry- level products will provide the best price-performance relation, and offer a substantial performance and functionality increase for A1200 users for a reasonable investment" says Wolf Dietrich of phase 5. "Therefore we will start to ship the 160 MHz versions first, and later the 200 and 250 MHz versions, as we currently have some 9-10 weeks delivery lead time on the faster PowerPC chips." The BLIZZARD 603e Power Board comes along with a complete software demo package, including e.g. a MPEG player that allows for MPEG playback in small resolutions even on the Amiga's AGA standard graphics, and other interesting software.

phase 5 digital products will offer special upgrade conditions for users of a BLIZZARD 1240 T/ERC or a BLIZZARD 1260 Turbo Board; the upgrade offer will be published on phase 5's website in February, and will also be mailed to registered users during February. Also available on phase 5's website will be a purchase information for users of 68040/68060 boards from other vendors, who want to obtain a BLIZZARD 603e Power Board.

Users of BLIZZARD 1230-IV boards, which had been looking forward to a 68030-based PowerUP board as an upgrade, will also get special upgrade conditions for the 68040-based BLIZZARD 603e Power Boards. The upgrade offer will be published on phase 5's website in February, and will also be mailed to registered users within during February. Users who have no access to the internet or don't get an upgrade mailing can also contact their local distributor or dealer for the upgrade conditions.

BLIZZARD 603e and BLIZZARD 603e+ Power Boards pass CE approval

The BLIZZARD 603e and BLIZZARD 603e+ Power Boards, installed into a standard Amiga 1200 desktop system, have passed the CE approval for Class A devices in compliance with the EN55022 standard; this means that both products can be used in standard Amiga 1200 desktops under the condition that the user undertakes necessary actions in case that e.g. radio or television reception in the near surrounding gets disturbed. Such necessary actions would be the use of a shielded case, such as a common tower case for the Amiga 1200, in which the combination of the Amiga 1200 motherboard and the BLIZZARD 603e and BLIZZARD 603e+ Power Boards fully complies to the EN55022 Class B standard. phase 5 digital products points out that the use of the BLIZZARD 603e or BLIZZARD 603e+ Power Board in a desktop Amiga 1200 may also require the usage of a replacement power supply, which are usually provided with tower cases.
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