HARDY%USC-ISI@sri-unix.UUCP (12/16/83)
Santa Clara Systems has come out with a strip down PC compatible. They call it the PCterminal. The PCterminal uses PCnet a local area network for the IBM PC. It specifications are: Height: 15", Width: 18.5", Depth: 14" Processor: Intel 16 bit 8088 microprocessor 4.773 MHz clock rate Memory: Eprom 24K, Standard 64K RAM expandable to 256K Peripheral Interfaces: Serial interface RS-232, Band rates 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 Parallel printer port 4 channel DMA controller Built-in PCnet interface 8 level priority interrupt controller 3 Channel controller/timer 4 IBM PC hardware compatible expansion slots Integral monochrome CRT controller Keyboard: IBM compatible, 83-key, full sized, detachable with typewriter layout, 10-key keypad, 10 software program- mable function keys. Display: 25 lines x 80 characters, tiltable monitor, 12" diagonal, non-glare green phosphor. Disk Storage: Optional 5.25 half-height double-sided floppy disk drive providing 320K bytes of formatted storage with 512 bytes per sector and 8 sectors per track. Cost: $1295. What interests me is that it is designed as an add on to the PC or XT. You cable PCterminal to one or more (up to 64000 !) IBM PCs or PCterminals, and PCterminal boots from one of the PC/XTs with DOS running and shares any or all peripheral devices connected to the network. With it, you can, on one terminal, run a command on another PC as if the command had been entered on the second computer's keyboard. The claim to handle device sharing and do printer spooling. Has anyone had hands-on experience with PCterminal ? Santa Clara Systems 1860 Hartog Dr. San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 287-4640. Richard Hardy