mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink) (03/24/86)
> I would like to put together a proposal for using a laptop computer to > run automated tests. The basic setup would be the PC sending commands > and recieving data over a RS232 port and either sending results over > another RS232 port or logging it to some mass storage. The RS232 port > should be capable of at least 9600 baud, and the mass storage writable > with at least 100k bytes free. The Zenith Z-171 is a 15-lb portable with a back-lit LCD display and two 5 1/4-inch floppies and an 80C88 running MS-DOS. I looked at one over the weekend and it looks pretty good. For about $2000, discounted, you get a parallel and a serial interface and 256K. It can be expanded to 640K and a board can be added to support a color monitor. Zenith also makes a diskless true laptop which looks pretty nice. The Sharp PC-7000 is a bit heavier, but otherwise similar to the Z-171, but it costs about $500 less. I hope to look at one later this week. If anyone on the net has had experience with either of these computers, I would like to hear of their experiences. The IRS is buying 30-50,000 Z-171's, so they should be around for awhile. The March "Mini-Micro Systems" magazine has an article which tabulates the currently available portables, though there is more information in the ads. The Quadram Datavue (also mentioned in the April Byte) looks interesting but only has a single disk drive. HELP: Does anybody have schematics or a service manual for a Columbia (rest in peace) VP luggable PC clone. While unsuccessfully trying to install an expansion board in mine, I munged something, possibly only the (undocumented) sense switches on the mother board. An EE friend with PC experience has volunteered to look at it, but I'd like to be able to provide him with some graphical aids. I know the VP is not quite the same as the desktop Columbias. -Doug Mink Harvard-Smihsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge Massachusetts UUCP: mink@cfa.UUCP or {seismo|ihnp4|cmc12}!harvard!talcott!cfa!mink ARPA: mink%cfa.UUCP@harvard.ARPA or mink%cfa.UUCP@harvard.HARVARD.EDU voice: (617)495-7408 or FTS 830-7408
emv@ccunix.UUCP (Edward Vielmetti) (03/27/86)
I have had a Sharp PC-7000 on loan from Ulrich's Electronics in Ann Arbor for the MicroGroup's "Clone Day". Here's some impressions. Weight: more portable than luggable, but not light enough (or small enough) to carry around on a bicycle. (The Z-171 could be carried that way. Compatibility: ran most things, but dBase III and Fansi-console put garbage characters on the screen. Fansi locked up the machine completely. (It does that for a lot of machines, for that matter.) Keyboard: nice, full-size layout (AT-style, function keys on the top.) Touch was a bit soft, but miles ahead of the Z-171. Full numeric keypad. Video: readable, but S*L*O*W. PC-Outline slowed to a crawl with the slow screen updating; Sidekick worked ok, but the screen was updated quite irregularly (looked like garbage, then fixed.) I noticed the same sort of video behavior with Sidekick and a PC emulator card on a Z-100. Portability: needs a plug, no batter available. This takes the machine out of the Z-171 class and puts it in the Compaq class, with the advantage of smalller size and the big disadvantages of slow video and lack of regular expansion slots. Recommendations: take a look at it, then try real hard to justify getting a battery-powered machine or a bigger portable. I really don't see the Sharp filling much of a niche in the current marketplace. Disclaimer: these are my opinions, and although I'm going to have some say in the report we prepare, by no means are these opinions held by everyone. Edward Vielmetti, Computing Center MicroGroup, Ann Arbor MI 48109 Edward_Vielmetti%UMich-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-Multics.ARPA emv@madvax.uucp (via ihnp4)