XC60039@PORTLAND.BITNET (Douglas Howell) (08/25/89)
It's been a long while since Applied Engineering's IBM card for the Apple ][ line came out and I was wondering if there is anyone out there who could tell me how good or bad these type of cards are? I've debated for the past couple of years over getting one of these boards, but now I'm in the siduation where either I have to purchase the card or buy a real Ibmpc. How are the AE Ibm card in relation to compatibility to the real thing (Apple/Ibm)? I'd have to doing work in Dbase IV and transfer all programs an output to an Ibmpc, so I'd like to know if there might be any incompatibility between the Card's emulation and the real thing. Doug Howell Xc60039@Portland.Bitnet
2014_5001@uwovax.uwo.ca (08/29/89)
In article <8908250056.aa03322@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>, XC60039@PORTLAND.BITNET (Douglas Howell) writes: > It's been a long while since Applied Engineering's IBM card for the > Apple ][ line came out and I was wondering if there is anyone out there > who could tell me how good or bad these type of cards are? I've debated > for the past couple of years over getting one of these boards, but now > I'm in the siduation where either I have to purchase the card or buy > a real Ibmpc. How are the AE Ibm card in relation to compatibility to > the real thing (Apple/Ibm)? I'd have to doing work in Dbase IV and > transfer all programs an output to an Ibmpc, so I'd like to know if there > might be any incompatibility between the Card's emulation and the real thing. I have been using a PC Transporter board in my Apple //e for about six months now. I am a hacker type, so have been `pushing it' a bit, to see how much works, and how much doesn't. Frankly, I'm very impressed with the card itself. I have had NO emulation problems at all, even with copy protected games. Everything seems to run just like on a real PC XT except faster (because of the NEC V30 chip). All my Apple peripherals work great (even my mouse !!), just as advertised. To tell the truth, I was skeptical, but with the 30-day money-back guarantee I felt I could at least see how good it was. Now I love it! My only problems to date have been: 1. Hard disk access is slow because it goes through ProDOS 2. Screen I/O is a bit weird - it all works, but scrolling, etc. in some programs is slow, presumably because of the custom AE bios (In fact using DIRECTVIDEO in the Turbo languages actually makes things slower, not faster ....) 3. Sound doesn't work properly in some programs, and all you get is white noise. I haven't been able to figure why yet - some things work great, but some give only fuzz (mostly games).... 4. The faster speed is sometimes a hazard with games, but a friend has written a slowdown program which works with most things to slow them down to a reasonable pace. (I never thought I'd complain a computer was too fast...) 5. AE is very reluctant and unhelpful when it comes to technical info. They're great if you can't figure how to plug wire A into socket B, but they refuse to give out any techical info (they wouldn't tell me the RGB monitor pinouts for instance, but I found out with an oscilloscope so if anyone wants to know ....). This wouldn't be a problem for the basic user though. (If anyone wants to swap stuff they've found out, I'd be happy to hear from you). Basically, if you need to use a PC or just want a really fun card to play with, I highly recommend the transporter card. It's really neat to be able to move files back and forth, processing them with your different Apple and IBM utils. All your Apple stuff you can keep and still use, and you don't need more desk space. As well, you get a 768K Apple RamDisk when not using the Transporter (its so fun to see 600+K free in AppleWorks!!). If you've got any specific questions, please ask. I haven't used DBase, but all the other applications I've run (Symphony, Manuscript, ChiWriter, Kermit, etc.) have all worked fine. -- Patrick Surry (Mayhem @ Uwovax.uwo.ca), c/o: Alexander Pruss, at one of: Department of Applied Mathematics, Astronomy, Mathematics, or Physics University of Western Ontario pruss@uwovax.uwo.ca pruss@uwovax.BITNET A5001@nve.uwo.ca