doc@ecsvax.UUCP (05/28/84)
Refers to: (houxk.270) net.micro.pc : PC versus DisplayWriter what is the difference between an IBMPC and and IBMDisplay writer? in particular: 1. cost The PC is less expensive. Typically $5K vs $7-12K. 2. execution rate Similar. Displaywriter is faster with it's Textpack 4 than the PC is with the equivalent DisplayWrite 2 program. XT would probably reverse that. 3. native cpu PC - 8088, Displaywriter - 8086 4. amount main memory Both vary with $ paid. Displaywriter with Textpack 4 needs 256K. 5. amount disk (floppy or hard) Displaywriter functional min is 2 single sided 8" floppies. It also supports double sided- double density floppies, but no hard disk. 6. operating system Displaywriter - proprietary. UCSD P-System is available, but I don't like it. PC - PC-DOS, usually. 7. inter-PC or inter-DisplayWriter communications (is there rs232, proprietary LAN) Displaywriter - RS232 async and bisync both available. Async software is glass tty (e.g. no screen control) and is minimally adequate. It strips off the formatting control codes and does funny things with backspaces. Bisync allows the Displaywriter to talk to the IBM 5520, the System 370 mainframes, etc. IBM-PC - RS232, bisync, SNA, LAN all available with a variety of software. 8. are they object code compatible? Maybe. The Displaywriter's wordprocessing system doesn't work too well with anything else -- due to the operating system and no real documentation of the "hooks" (unless you want to read the microcode, which is published). 9. can they talk to each other? Yes. By RS232, Async and bisync. IBM has announced programs for document exchange between the PC and the Displaywriter with bisync comm. Come August, you can also attach a PC directly to a Displaywriter for printer sharing. their application is primarily inter-city database and mail for the appeals level of the state court system. the database is LEXUS. is one a clear winner over the other?? To access LEXUS, the PC is the machine of choice. For straight word processing, the Displaywriter is the winner. For combined use, the PC with a good communications program (I think LEXUS even sells one that is custom fitted to their database) and IBM's DisplayWrite 2 software is a good choice. DisplayWrite 2 has a legal dictionary available as an option. IBM has announced the features for up to 4 IBM-PC's to share a Displaywriter's printer. This is important, as the Displaywriter has one of the strongest and best featured letter quality printers on the market. Lawyers, like doctors, generally feel that fully formed characters for letter quality print is the **only** acceptable form of printed output and the printer is generally the weakest link in the PC system for the office. Doc Muhlbaier Duke University Medical Center Biometry mcnc!ecsvax!doc