teach@tc.fluke.COM (Dick Beier) (03/13/90)
Okay! I give up!
I just finished reading the great tome in the March 13th issue of PC Mag.
on high end laptops and portables. Now I a really undecided!
Can anyone add credence or experience to what this article said?
I am looking for a replacement for my rusty old XT style clone (V20)
machine at home. It's been a good machine for me. I have no complaints
other than the keyboard which I replaced with a Northgate 101 about three
years ago. However, it is equipped with only 640KB of RAM, two 40MB hard
disks and a couple of slow 360KB floppies. The video is Herculese
compatable. It still is a good machine for Word Processing, General data
base stuff and home accounting. The problem is that my children (ages 14
to 6, all 6 of them) have discover games, and homework help (in that order)
and I have discovered that in my extensive travels for the company that I
can't be fully alive without a keyboard (i.e. my hand writing is s__t). I
am also getting deeper and deeper into graphics, desktop publishing, heavy
spreadsheets, and telecommuting. All this adds up to a real need for a
protable/laptop that is both rugged and powerful.
I am well aware of the volatility of the PC market at this time. It
doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out that a bad decission now can cost
you plenty later. Since I have a big family, I can't afford any of the
pitfalls.
I know that within a few years there will be vertually no software
available that will run on anything less than a fast 286 with a lot of
available RAM and Hard Disk. I also believe that the 386sx is a ploy that
Intel is using to dump 16 bit chip sets befor comming out with a really
nice and reasonable 32 bit set. There is no love lost between me and IBM,
in particular when it comes to MCA, but I love their keyboards. I need a
lot of disk space now! The programs I now use are heady and slow on the
old machine and my AT-339 at work is not much better.
So . . . What do I do? I am willing to go into debt to buy the best
bang for the buck I can get, but I cannot make a mistake by purchasing a
machine the is going to be history in five years. Am I asking too much?
I'll listen to anybody with experience and a better crystal ball than mine.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vax4/usr2/teach MS# 239-D Ph: x5908
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Dick Beier . . . aka: Dicky-Poo . . . that's Mr. Poo to my enemies. B-{)
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vax4/usr2/teach MS# 239-D Ph: x5908
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Dick Beier . . . aka: Dicky-Poo . . . that's Mr. Poo to my enemies. B-{)frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick) (03/14/90)
In article <1990Mar13.134717.19807@tc.fluke.COM> teach@tc.fluke.COM (Dick Beier) writes: > >Okay! I give up! > >I just finished reading the great tome in the March 13th issue of PC Mag. >on high end laptops and portables. Now I a really undecided! > >Can anyone add credence or experience to what this article said? > ... Well, I'm very satisfied with my Toshiba 3200SX. I needed a system that was at least as powerful as what I use in the office (a '286 and a real '386) for development. My primary criteria were screen and keyboard usability (I'm developping windowing stuff, which is certainly one way of exercising a machine :-) So the first point comes down to whether you like plasma screens -- people seem to love them or hate them. For me, it was much better than any LCD I've seen. This one's big, displays shades of grey, VGA, and has a contrast control (essential, IMHO).The keyboard is full AT-style, with real keypad an decent feel. Comes with a fast 40MB disk. Doesn't have a battery, but you might consider the 3100SX if you need one (in which case you get a smaller screen and keyboard, no contrast control (I think), *and* Toshiba-only expansion slots. The 3200SX has two real PC slots, which I need for a LAN card). Going up a notch (and about $5K), the 5200 is a 386 machine with 100MB disk, and otherwise the same features as the 3200, as far as I can tell (one company I'm associated with has standardized on these). I've added a 2400 baud internal modem and a 2MB RAM card to my machine, making it useable just about anywhere I care/need to go. (Sorry for the terse description. Feel free to ask me questions.) -- Frank Kolnick, Basis Computer Systems Inc. UUCP: {allegra, linus}!utzoo!mnetor!frank