haar%gmr.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA (10/01/85)
Have any of you used the 256K S-100 Solid State Disk Simulator (ramdisk)
from Digital Research Computers ? If so, I would like to hear your comments.
I am thinking about getting one since the price has dropped to less than $200.
They provide BIOS code for CP/M 2.2. Does anyone have a CP/M Plus version?
Is it really S-100 (IEEE 696) compatible? Is it reliable?
I would appreciate any advice on this product/company.
thanks,
Bob Haarjp@lanl.ARPA (10/02/85)
I don't know about their RAM boards, but their ZRT-80 board is pretty good.
I don't know if the same person that designed the ZRT-80 (Bill White) did
the RAM boards or not. But, if so, the RAM boards are probably pretty solid.
I have built three ZRT-80's from kits. It's not a problem for someone
who has built similar boards before, but the manuals are definitely not
in the same category as those from Heathkit. The instructions for the
ZRT-80 kit are three pages long.
One of the things I like about dealing with DRC is that, in the case of the
ZRT-80 board, they make the software source code available on a disk for
a reasonable price. Also, the manual includes a nice writeup on how to
use it and how it works.
My only beef is that they always quote 2 weeks delivery, and they mean it.
I don't know if they sit on the orders for two weeks or if they are always
two weeks behind, but they deinitely do not ship your order the next day.
(maybe they are just very organized?)
If DRC had something that I wanted I would definitely give them an order.
Jim Potter jp@lanl.arpaKushall.henr@XEROX.ARPA (10/02/85)
I haven't used there RAM disk board, but have used other boards from them S-100 static RAM and ROM boards all with no problems, these boards seemed well designed and the PWB was of good quality. The instructions were good(I built mine from the bare boards) PS: Digital Research Computers brought out a single board computer called "Big Board", Xerox later based the 820 on this design. ED
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (10/03/85)
[No amount of incanting will entice my mailer to accept your address so we go to plan B, the news route. ] > Have any of you used the 256K S-100 Solid State Disk Simulator (ramdisk) > from Digital Research Computers ? If so, I would like to hear your comments. > I am thinking about getting one since the price has dropped to less than $200. > > They provide BIOS code for CP/M 2.2. Does anyone have a CP/M Plus version? > Is it really S-100 (IEEE 696) compatible? Is it reliable? > > I would appreciate any advice on this product/company. > > thanks, > > Bob Haar I have dealt with Digital Research Computers (of Texas) a couple of times and had good results. The lab where I worked bought a bunch of their ZRT-80 boards to upgrade some otherwise scrap terminals. The only difficulty was in teaching them to handle a P.O. (they wanted to know how to "cash" it) The boards worked fine on power-up so I can't say how they would handle a service call. As for the RAM disk I keep seeing it and wondering if I should risk it. If you do get one please post your experiences with it to the net. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}