Ampro Lowers the Cost-of-Entry of Intel®-Based Modular Designs

XTX 800 offers long-lifecycle Pentium® M and Celeron® M CPUs at aggressive prices

SAN JOSE, CA, March 30, 2006. - Ampro Computers, Inc., a leading supplier of standards-based computer systems and modules, announced today a solution for embedded system OEMs who prefer to design with the low-power Centrino® processors from Intel, but must have a low price. Ampro’s new XTX 800 Computer-on-Module (COM) is cost-optimized for commercial grade applications (0 to 60°C) and even plugs into existing ETX baseboards that are not using the ISA bus. Using the latest Celeron® M and Pentium® M processors based on the “Dothan” core, the XTX 800 module provides the long lifecycle benefits of Intel’s embedded roadmap, which is critical for devices that require agency certifications. Starting below USD $300 in volumes, the XTX 800 COM features 10/100 Ethernet, Serial ATA (SATA), six USB 2.0 ports, and PCI expansion. Visit www.ampro.com/html/XTX_FormFactor_800.html for product information.
"For years, Ampro has been known for rugged SBCs and modules for the embedded market," said Joanne Mumola Williams, president and CEO of Ampro. "The XTX 800 demonstrates Ampro’s capability to deliver low-cost Intel-based solutions in the popular ETX and XTX format. Ampro’s presence in the XTX market assures embedded system integrators and manufacturers that their investments in custom baseboard designs and low-cost systems can be preserved for years to come."
The XTX 800 module comes with a choice of 800 MHz, 1.0 GHz, or 1.4GHz CPUs, all with Thermal Design Power (TDP) ratings of 5-10 Watts for simplified system design. The use of DDR RAM to 1GB is important for cost and longevity. The module also contains (6) USB 2.0 ports, both EIDE and Serial ATA (SATA) interfaces for migration, 10/100 Megabit Ethernet, PCI expansion, and RoHS compliance. XTX modules plug into a baseboard to allow customization of board size and shape, I/O circuitry, connector locations, and easy migration to higher performance processors and chipsets as they are introduced.

The XTX 800 is designed with ACPI 2.0 support with the exception of S3 Suspend-to-RAM. OEMs interested in S3 Suspend-to-RAM should consider Ampro’s existing XTX 820 for low-cost designs or the ETX 802 for rugged designs. In addition, XTX 800 does not include PCI Express™, but provides a plug-compatible upgrade path to the XTX 820 to allow OEMs to transition smoothly to PCI Express when needed. Ampro’s focus on cost optimization for XTX 800 and a plug-compatible roadmap means that OEMs and integrators only pay for functionality that is being used.
The XTX 800 QuickStart Kits include drivers and Board Support Packages (BSPs) for Windows® XP, Windows XP Embedded, and Windows CE 5.0, as well as a full Linux® 2.6 distribution (Fedora™ Core 3).
Pricing and Availability
RoHS-compliant XTX 800 modules begin shipping by mid-April, 2006. Prices start below $300 in moderate quantities.
For a product photo, please use the following link:  www.ampro.com/html/XTX800.gif

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