Does It Play Eight-Tracks?

It makes stereos, televisions, and microwaves. Now it makes computers. Emerson, one of the leading home-electronics producers, has leaped into the personal computer market.

The company is counting on name recognition and its widespread home-electronics distribution network to capture the mass market for computers, said Al Abrams, an Emerson spokesman.

Emerson's PCs have some features that set them apart from the average PC clone. Among those attributes are a 32-voice Signetics sound chip, MS-DOS 3.3 in ROM, and an online MS-DOS help program that not only displays onscreen instructions, but says them as well.

The line includes three models, the 800 CEC, a 10-MHz 8088 computer with 768K of RAM and four open expansion slots ($999 retail); the 8286EC, a 16-MHz 80286 system with IBM of RAM, SCSI hard disk interface, and four 16-but and two 8-bit expansion slots ($1,599 retail); and the 8386EC, which has all of the features of the 8286EC but uses a 16-MHz 80386SX microprocessor ($1,999 retail).

Emerson will sell its computers through discount electronics and department stores, such as Fretter and Service Merchandise. For more information, contact Emerson at One Emerson Lane, North Bergen, New Jersey 07047; (201) 854-6600.

—DENNY ATKIN