[net.micro.6809] portable os-9 system?

andree@uokvax.UUCP (01/28/84)

#N:uokvax:3500028:000:5133
uokvax!andree    Jan 26 21:31:00 1984

Here's a good, cheap way to get a portable os-9 system.

/***** uokvax:net.micro / sri-arpa!Blackwell@cmu-ri-rover /  9:37 pm  Jan 21, 1984 */
>From the Jan 16 1984 Electronic Engineering Times:

			Sinclair Announces PC

	68008-Based $499 Computer Called A `Quantum Leap' In Performance
			by Richard Doherty

LONDON - Sinclair Research Ltd. last week announced what its founder Sir
Clive Sinclair called a "quantum leap in computer performance" - a 68008
based, multi-tasking professional computer for less than $500 called the
Sinclair QL system.

Sir Clive said that he expects the computer, which comes equipped with 128
kbytes of RAM, four integrated software functions and dual 100-kbyte
microdrives, to set new price/performance standards for the entire industry.

Comparing the machine, which was announced last week near the company's
London offices, with systems in the $2500 to $7500 range, Clive Sinclair
said the machine was "the company's most important contribution to personal
computing since breaking the 100-pound sterling barrier with the ZX-80."

The QL system is Sinclair's fourth computer introduction in as many years,
and is the first capable of being targeted at business and professional
markets. Traditionally, Sinclair has catered to the home market exclusively.

Weighing just over 3 pounds, the 5-3/8 x 1-3/4 x 18 inch machine features
dual microdrives for program storage and retreival. These endless loop
cassette drives access user programs and files in under 3-1/2 seconds, with
15-kbyte/s data-transfer speeds. While just over 200k can be stored on the
two standard microdrives, an additional six drives can be added to the QL,
for a total of 800 kbytes of online data.

The software was designed by Psion Ltd., designers of many of the 5000
programs available for Sinclair's Spectrum computer. Psion has developed the
four integrated packages that come bundled with the QL.

Software Available
These include Quill for word processing; Abacus, which is a spreadsheet;
Archive, a relational database and Easel, a drawing and graphics package.

All the modules are supplied on microdrive cassettes, and require a total of
320 kbytes of code space. Each program shares data with the other, and makes
full use of the 7.5 MHz 68008-generated screen graphics capabilities.
Four-color graphics are supported in a 512 x 256 pixel mode (red-green-blue
video) and 256 x 256 pixel eight color graphics in a 40 column "TV" format,
allowing RF modulator use.

Sinclair is offering two operating systems with the $499 QL system. QDOS is
a multitasking operating system with windowing capabilities. The window
placement is totally under user control, and resembles Microsoft Corp.'s
system only as far as it uses a "tiling" display technique. There are no
overlapping display areas (as in VisiCorp's VisiOn package) unless the
programmer wants them. More than 20 windows, representing the status of over
20 simultaneously running programs, can be displayed at one time.

Sinclair also bundles what it calls SuperBasic in a standard 32-kbyte ROM.
This multitasking operating system "opens new vistas in Basic's performance
and utility for programmers," according to Nigel Searle, manager for
Sinclair's Cambridge Research Center. "It puts right all the things that
programmers never had in Basic," said Searle.

Most Of ROM Available
Some of these corrected areas include the capability for procedure-oriented
statements and Pascal-like structures. The SuperBasic also accesses a
256-user local-area-network (LAN) capability of the QL system.

Searle said that most of the standard 128 kbyte RAM is available to users.
That RAM can be expanded outside the machine to a total of 680 kbytes.

The QL system also features a 65-key full travel keyboard, two RS-232 ports,
joystick inputs and video and sound outputs. A second 8049 processor handles
much of this I/O. Cost reductions in the QL evolution were effected by
several custom LSI chips, from Ferranti Electronics Ltd and NCR Corp.

A 256-user capability LAN is supported by the QL, so that the data can share
mutual communications and hardcopy devices.

The Nucleus
Sinclair said that the QL machine would be "the nucleus for more powerful
systems to come." A Winchester drive interface is in the works, as well as
Pascal, C compilers, terminal emulation and IEEE-488 capabilities.

Sinclair intends to ship the forst machines in the United Kingdom early next
month. By summer, the company expects to have FCC approval for sale in the
United States. Here, mail-order sales will preceed retail distribution
channels. QL customers will receive updates through the newly founded
Sinclair Qlub user's group.

Searle said that the QL system would not fall under the consumer retail
agreements the company has with Timex in the United States.

Production is already under way at Thorn EMI's Datatech facility in Feltham,
where 20000 machines a month are planned by summer. Sinclair said that Timex
(in Dundee, Scotland) is a logical second source.
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Sounds hot! Maybe I should wait just a little longer to buy a micro for my
home!
		-m-
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