TECHNOLOGY : Marketing for the Home

AST Research Inc., the Irvine maker of personal computers, on Monday introduced an updated line of PCs for the consumer market.

Rival Compaq Computer Corp. last week unveiled its own line of PCs for the home.

Like the Compaq models, AST’s Advantage! Adventure PCs are designed so that they can be set up and operated with minimal knowledge of computers. They range from $1,199 to $3,699.

The product introductions represent a revival of faith in the potential of the home market after a series of earlier machines failed to attract budget-conscious consumers.

Compaq has scored well in the corporate market but not as well as IBM and Apple have in the home market, where customers are often wary of highly technical gadgetry.

The AST Advantage! Adventure Multimedia computer includes graphics features that enable it to run motion-picture clips that approach TV quality.