Sonnet Technologies Inc. has introduced its Tango 2.0 card. The card is shipping now, according to Sonnet. What’s more, the company has dropped its price on Encore/ST G4 and Harmoni G3 CPU upgrades.
The PCI expansion card is compatible with Macs and Windows PCs. The Tango 2.0 card sports four external ports in all: Two FireWire ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. The FireWire ports, based on the “original” FireWire standard, work at 400Mbps, while the USB 2.0 interfaces operate at up to 480Mbps.
The Tango 2.0 card is compatible with any Mac equipped with a PCI expansion slot, although Sonnet notes that USB 2.0 functionality and performance require Mac OS X.
The Tango 2.0 card has a suggested retail price of US$89.95.
In related news, Sonnet Technologies has reduced the price of its entire line of Encore/ST G4 and HARMONi G3 upgrades. The upgrades are designed to provide various Power Mac and iMac models with CPU performance boosts.
Prices on the Encore/ST G4 line have dropped $70 each. The 800MHz, 1.0GHz and 1.2GHz models are now $299.95, $499.95 and $599.95 respectively. They’re compatible with Power Mac G4 models including the AGP Graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, QuickSilver G4 and Cube systems, and Mac Servers in the old Power Mac configurations (not the Xserve). Encore/ST upgrades sport 2MB of DDR L3 Cache.
Sonnet noted that the Cube requires an additional installation kit, and recommends professional installation. Such kits are now available for both the 800MHz and 1.2GHz models; the 1.0GHz model kit is expected in the second quarter of 2003.
Sonnet’s HARMONi G3 upgrades are aimed at iMac Rev A – D systems (Original Bondi Blue and “Fruit”-colored models). The upgrades sport 500 or 600MHz PowerPC G3 processors with 256K of Level 2 Cache, and also feature a FireWire interface that can be connected through the iMac’s side panel to make it compatible with DV cameras and other FireWire-compatible peripherals.
The HARMONi G3/500MHz and G3/600MHz have been dropped $50, to $249.95 and $349.95 respectively.