pls@ncsu.UUCP (Phillip L. Shaffer) (12/06/84)
There was a recent query about Wyse 50 terminals, and there have
been others before. Since I am using one, and like it a lot, I thought
I would post a brief review of the terminal.
Overall, I am very impressed with the terminal; considering its
price, I think it is unbeatable. My comments, in approximate
order of how much they impress me:
- the large screen -- a 14" screen makes the letters very readable
even if I lean way back in my chair. It has a 132-column mode, but
I haven't used it yet. But the terminal occupies less space on my
desk than any other I've used, and seems smaller even with the large
screen, because of the sleek design. Of course, it tilts and swivels.
- the keyboard is very nice, at least I like the feel, and generally
the layout. Most keys are in the right place, except the caps lock
key is below the left shift key rather than above it as I'm used to.
- there are 16 truly programmable function keys, and counting
shifts, 32 programmable functions, which can store up to 8 characters
each, even with power off. There is a line at the bottom of the screen
which can be used to display labels, in one of two ways: in 80-col.
mode, you can display 8 8-char. labels in fixed slots, or (the way
I do it) you can display anything, in free form. Using the latter
approach, I have all 16 key labelled with 3 or 4 letter labels. But
the really neat part is this: when you press the shift key, the line
changes to show the labels for the shifted functions! If you put
related labels of the same length in the same places, this is not
very distracting, but is very useful. There are also, of course
the usual complement of pre-labelled function keys (non-programmable).
- it works at up to 38.4 kbaud -- really -- I'm using it now, and
there are no glitches or dropped characters. Also, it will use either
hardware handshaking (DTR) or software (XON-XOFF) or both, and they
both work fine.
- all setup can be done from the keyboard, menu-driven, no fumbling
with tiny switches in the back (there are no switches in the back),
and all the settings are remembered when power is off. The setup does
not interfere with currently displayed data (in most cases) so can be
changed anytime. Also, all setup can be done by the host computer.
Function keys can also be programmed from the keyboard or by the host.
- the screen will blank out after about 15 minutes of inactivity (if
you don't disable this feature), so I never turn my terminal off. But
if I did want to turn it off, the switch is up front where it should
be -- I hate reaching around behind electrical equipment.
- there are several emulation modes, as well as the native mode:
it emulates Televideo 910, 920, and 925 terminals, as well as
Hazeltine 1500 and Adds Viewpoint. I am using the 925 mode as it
seemed to offer some features that weren't available in other modes.
- there are a bunch of features I haven't used: there is a host
message field at the top (a 26th line); this is actually half a line
as the other (left) half is the "local message" field. Host message
field is used for whatever you want. Local message field displays
"CAPS" when you press the caps lock you (it doesn't click down) --
this takes a little getting used to, but is no problem. This field
will also display (but I have it disabled) FDX, INS, LOCK, PROT, etc.
The terminal has a decent set of block graphics. There are also
"text segments" but I'm not sure what they are -- split screens is my
guess -- I only have the "Quick-reference Guide" which doesn't explain
all that stuff. That manual makes reference to "Terminal Reference
Manual", but those may be figments of Wyse's imagination. Generally,
the Quick Reference Manual is quite useful, however.
Now a few bad points:
- screen attributes generally occupy a character position on the screen.
I have been told that this can be avoided, but have yet to figure out
how, except for the protected mode, which can be shown by dim or reverse.
Attributes occupying spaces is characteristic of Televideo terminal,
of course, so is necessary for true emulation, but is a real pain.
- the left shift key sticks a little when pressing it, if the pressure
is not quite vertical; I suspect a small burr on the casting, but
haven't tried to pull it off to see if it's correctable. The problem
seems to be getting better, anyway. Other keys have no problems.
- the power cord plugs into the back, and doesn't make a really
solid connection, so that if I shift the terminal, sometimes power is
lost.
- there are a bunch of these terminals used by undergraduates in a
computer lab, and the mortality rate has been significant - maybe 15%
in a few months, so you might think twice about buying without local
service available. But they do seem to be well made on the whole,
and the quality control problems may go away in time.
Should anyone decide to get one of these, here is a termcap that
I have been using with success with vi; it is modified from some
termcaps on the net earlier, and is for 80 column TVI-925 mode.
The vertical organization is for readability -- no flames, please.
# Wyse 50 in TVI 925 mode, using Host Message line for Status Line
w5|w50|wy50|wyse50:\
:al=\EE:\
:am:\
:bs:\
:bt=\EI:\
:bw:\
:cd=\EY:\
:ce=\ET:\
:cl=^Z:\
:cm=\E=%+ %+ :\
:co#80:\
:ct=\E3:\
:dc=\EW:\
:dl=\ER:\
:do=^V:\
:ds=\EA31:\
:fs=\r:\
:ei=\Er:\
:ho=^^:\
:hs:\
:i2=\EA30:\
:ic=:\
:if=/usr/lib/tabset/std:\
:im=\Eq:\
:is=\E`\072\El:\
:kb=^H:\
:kd=^V:\
:kh=^^:\
:kl=^H:\
:kn#32:\
:ko=ic,al,dc,dl,ce,cd,ei,im,bt,ho:\
:kr=^L:\
:ku=^K:\
:li#24:\
:mi:\
:nd=^L:\
:pt:\
:se=\EG0:\
:sg=#1:\
:so=\EG4:\
:sr=\Ej:\
:st=\E1:\
:ts=\EF:\
:ue=\EG0:\
:ug#1:\
:ul:\
:up=^K:\
:us=\EG8:\
:vb=\E.8\E.9:
This got a little longer than I anticipated. Hope it's of value
to someone out there. If anyone has answers to some of my unanswered
questions about the Wyse 50, I'd love to see them.
Phil Shaffer (pls@ncsu)jwg@lanierrnd.UUCP (Joe Guthridge) (12/07/84)
Here, here! The Wyse 50 is a great terminal, I agree. It only has two drawbacks: 1. The "magic cookie" (as I saw it called here lately :-) for attribute changes. 2. THE WYSE 50 IS ***NOT*** FCC APPROVED, DESPITE THE LABEL ON THE BACK. Ask them why they can still use that label, and see what they tell YOU. They claim to be working toward approval, though. -- Joe Guthridge ..!akgua!lanierrnd!jwg
david@varian.UUCP (David Brown) (12/13/84)
We have been using Wyse 50 terminals here, and so far we are happy. We
have received 10 or 15 of them and have yet to receive a dud.
My terminal (which was the first received) did have a problem with the
flyback transformer making a high-pitched sound, but I gave it a whack
and it's been quiet ever since.
I have a few comments on what previous reviews have said, plus additional
comments:
1) function keys: each function key can only hold a maximum of 8 characters,
and will only remember 4 over a power-off. (If Phil Shaffer's Wyse can
store 8 characters per key over a power-off, then they've made some changes).
I find this limiting -- I use the function keys, but most things are aliases
to csh. The only keys that I've bothered to program are for readnews:
"n c/r", "e- c/r", and "N c/r".
2) FCC approval: I brought in a Walkman-type radio for a few days and noticed
that the Wyse generated much more interference than our TeleVideo 912's
and 925's.
3) Screen: I really like the 14" screen and find it very readable, even
at 132 columns; we had a Falco Fame II side-by-side with the Wyse when
we were evaluating terminals and the Wyse was much better at 132 columns.
I have set up some csh aliases which source command files to switch
between 80 and 132 columns, and also to split the screen in half. The
general form of the command files to switch to 132 column is:
Send the escape sequence to change the screen format
Reset TERM and TERMCAP (change co= 132, and also change
cm (cursor motion) string -- (at least in tvi912 emulation)
use: cm=\Ed%i%dR%dC)
Set the tabs
alias ls ls -w (I added a new flag to ls to use wide (132 columns
format; I believe newer versions of ls
look at termcap and decide what to use)
4) The Users Manual is very poor -- it's hard to find anything, and I
have found many errors (mostly having to do with escape sequences being
different for tvi912 emulation mode). We have ordered but yet to receive
the Reference Manual mentioned in the Users Manual.
I have yet to figure out how to set the function label fields by reading
the manual (most of what I've learned has been by trial and error and
I haven't gotten around to trying this).
5) The terminal has a monitor mode, but it is only settable from the
computer, not from the terminal setup (like a tvi925). Also, non-printable
characters which are also part of the graphics character set show up as
graphics characters rather than what you would expect from monitor mode.
6) There are 4 speeds of smooth scroll which look very nice; however,
I find I never use them, preferring the speed of jump mode.
7) The keyboard cord is heavy, which makes it a bit unwieldly, but also
feels very solid.
8) Sending a <control>X from the computer will lock up the terminal, and
the only way out I've found is to power off the terminal. (this is in
tvi912 mode, but I think it also happens in other modes; <control>X is
not documented to do anything in the manual (at least that I can find);
true TeleVideo terminals ignore it.
9) The Wyse has the magic cookie; the only way around that I've found is
to use protect (dim) mode, which doesn't eat up a space.
10) The keyboard is prone to repeat keys; I've developed a lighter touch,
but I notice that I still get repeat keys occasionally, especially on a
particular terminal.
--
David Brown (415) 945-2199
Varian Instruments 2700 Mitchell Dr. Walnut Creek, Ca. 94598
{zehntel,amd,fortune,resonex}!varian!daviddan@rna.UUCP (12/13/84)
x Does the Wyse 50 have a VT100 emulation or at least have the termcap CS capability (change scrolling regions) ? Having CS is essential for certain multiwindowing software. Can it really keep up with 38.4Kbaud without flow control ? Dan
broome@ucbvax.ARPA (Jonathan C. Broome) (12/14/84)
I also happen to be one of the people who *loves* the Wyse 50. especially the 14" screen. In addition, my Wyse cost nearly $200 less than comparable models that I looked at. A couple of comments on it: The switchable 80/132 columns is a nice feature, but when you have 132 columns on the screen readability deinitely suffers! (But the extra 52 columns *can* be nice for status info if you can hack your program/debugger to trace there) I had developed a problem with a bad "p" key after about two months of constant use, but the local Wyse people took care of it quickly. I have had (and still have) problems with programs that address the cursor quickly (as in several "high-speed" games) where an interrupt will cause the program to terminate but the cursor will jump around the screen from (for example) 1,1 to 10,40 to 22,60 and back again, occasionally causing my modem (Quibie Hayes clone) to hang up on me. Finally, I haven't been able to find any *good* documentation on the escape codes (that you can use the lower status line as one piece instead of separate key labels was news to me!!), but I guess that was to be expected... But in all, the Wyse people appear to have done well...