Kling.UCI-20B@Rand-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (08/13/83)
From: Rob-Kling <Kling.UCI-20B@Rand-Relay> Like many others I've been searching for a board which will drive hi-res graphics and sharp characters jointly. There are offerings in the market by Hercules, USI, Amdek and Tecmar all of which differ in alleged capabilities. The Hercules board and the Tecmar board are the only two which are supposed to drive the IBM Monochrome Monitor with hi-res graphics and characters. Dave Farber won't print his comments re the Hercules board in this BB. The Newport Beach Computerland manager refuses to sell it, but will order it at buyers risk if they absolutely insist. The people at Hercules say (by phone) that they know of no problems with their board. Which may mean that currently known problems will not be rapidly fixed. However, currently Lotus 1-2-3 is organized to work only with the Hercules board, not the Tecmar board, as alternatives to the standard separate mono or graphics board. I called Lotus this week and a spokeman says they have announced no plans to support other boards as of this time. The Tecmar board board has been advertised for several months with nice full page color ads on the back outside cover of PC magazine. Hard to miss. The specs claim hi-res graphics. The August issue advertizes a "new, improved!!!" board. I can't find anyone who has used the old, unimproved board. Tecmar treats Photo and Sound in San Fransisco and Costa Mesa as their California dealers. (These are basicly video shops with an add-on computer section). They have not seen the board. The Newport Beach Computerland is back ordered about 6 weeks on the Tecmar graphics board. Rob Kling