MSER001@ECNCDC.BITNET (02/10/89)
For those that have never heard of a Basis 108...you probably dont want to look at one..pretty ugly! They have a cast iron case, weigh in at a lively 25lbs or more..kludged up hardware..slow keyboard..no cpm card, but z80 build into the main logic board(still like motherboard better!), along with a 6502. 80 columns simular to Apples 80 column card, but sort of kludged onto the mother board. It was the first machine to steal Apple ROMS from software. It used a pascal program to take some stuff off the pascal directory of the old 3.2 Boot disk. I dont know if they ever got in trouble for it like franklin( but franklin had a chance to pay apple under the table for the roms..per machine, but choose not too..to bad, would have been cheaper for them!), but should have! Keyboard...slowest keyboard I have ever seen! Have to pound the sucker to get anything out of it! It was fun to play around with, memory i/o to turn on z80 and back to 6502. So..you could write some 6502 code...soft switch the z80 in gear..and have a small amount of z80 code..not quite that easy... Also came with 128k...not bad for the time, since apple was still producing the 64k Apple II+. But...a normal user couldnt use the extra memory. The Basis Rep( I think he was owner or part owner..?) had the nerve to say that Apple Stole the 80column card concept from them! Ahh..what goes on when people are starting up. ( I think that apple and basis came out with the 80col card around the same time..close to it). I have great Franklin stories..and basis stories..must be a war pup eh?
lwv@n8emr.UUCP (Larry W. Virden) (02/14/89)
I first saw a Basis at the 2nd ever Boston Applefest. It was their premier showing from what I remember. I fell in love with the machine at once. Why? Well, while the original poster called teh casing ugly cast ir0on, I found it to be the most attractive casing I had ever (or may ever) seen in a computer. This was back in the Apple II+ days remember. Then, to see built in 64k, 80 col card (before a IIe remember), coming with a Z80 card and CP/M (just at the beginning of the Z80 cards for the II series), Upper and Lower case keyboard (before the II had anything other than the kludgy shift key modification), 128k of memory, built in ports for several things, and I seem to remember either it coming with a clock built in or the folks at the booth saying that this would be an option. Ah, it was the ULTIMATE Apple II machine - what Apple should have made. Unfortunately the rumors of the IIe were flying and sales were not great. Then the IIe came out and they didnt try to upgrade to be compatible. Finally, it went the way of all the other Apple clones (Einstein, Franklin, etc). Anyone have a complete list of machines attempting Apple compatibility? -- Larry W. Virden 674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 (614) 864-8817 75046,606 (CIS) ; LVirden (ALPE) ; osu-cis!n8emr!lwv (UUCP) osu-cis!n8emr!lwv@TUT.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (INTERNET) The world's not inherited from our parents, but borrowed from our children.