STORK@Mit-Mc.ARPA (05/25/84)
From: Eric Stork <STORK@Mit-Mc.ARPA>
Cavet Emptor, potential KAYPRO buyers. If you're not
careful (I wasn't!) you won't get what you pay for!
I have had KAYPROs in the family for almost two years now,
and have been much impressed with them. But recently, my
son in law bought a KP-10 for his wife, and I picked up a
KP-2 as a spare unit. We both bought the latest models,
i.e., equipped with KP's CP/M2.2G. That, it turns out, may
have been a big mistake.
Both the KP-10 and the KP-2 came without MOVCPM.COM. True,
many people don't know what MOVCPM is and won't miss it, but
most users who may read this warning would not want to be
deprived of that essential utility.
. I called KP's Software support about the omission,
and learned that they had trouble getting CP/M2.2G to
work right and had for that reason failed to include
MOVCPM on the system disk.
. Not liking that answer a whole lot, I wrote to KP and
eventually got a phone call telling me that they
MIGHT later make MOVCPM available with their CP/M2.2G
tinker kit, but I'd have to buy it for about $100.
. Wrote again about 3 weeks ago, this time to their
software chief (a Mr. Gilbert Ohnysty), and also
called again -- but now they won't even bother to
answer.
It's a real pity that the KP people, who made such a fine
product and provided good support for about two years, seem
to have so badly screwed up the BIOS for the KP-10 in their
current CP/M2.2G (won't run KP's own games, and won't run
MDM7xx right even though MDM7xx does run on the new KP-2)
that they failed to make MOVCPM available as they should
have (as I understand it, when one buys CP/M, one pays for a
matched MOVCPM -- and of course, since MOVCPM is
serial-number matched to the system, one can't use MOVCPM
from a previous version).
I'll continue to try to get KP to do what's right, i.e., to
provide the MOVCPM that I bought and paid for. If I get it,
I'll send a follow-up message.
But for the time being, potential KP buyers, Caveat Emptor
is the word of the day.
Eric.