ssay@nvuxk.UUCP (H S Say) (12/03/88)
Does anyone know if any of the LAPTOP PC's accept GPIB cards, or asking the other way, if a GPIB card is built for any of the LAPTOPs. We are looking for a portable equipment controller, and GPIB interface is a must. (Do not tell me I should buy HP) Thanks in advance... SABIT bellcore!ssay
sigcen@smoke.BRL.MIL (Mr. Tracy Wood ) (12/06/88)
Laptop PC Users:
I want to add an external hard drive to an IBM Convertible laptop
computer (also known as the "Clamshell"). The machine is a "model 2"
with 640K RAM, serial & parallel slice, supertwist LCD screen.
I have found many vendors of both internal and external drives for
more popular laptops (e.g. Toshiba, NEC, Zenith). However, I have only
identified one external drive vendor for the Convertible. The company
wanted about $900 for a 20 megabyte external drive (with 65ms access
time).
To cut costs, I would like to build my own external drive from
inexpensive common components, e.g. Seagate drive, case, power supply,
etc. Hopefully, I could address the drive through the serial or
parallel ports. I want to avoid having ribbon cables coming out the CPU
box.
Here are some questions maybe you hardware specialists or Convertible
users could answer for me:
1) Is the project feasible, especially addressing a hard disk
through the existing serial/parallel port?
2) Could I keep the total price under $500?
3) Would new system ROMs be required?
4) Has IBM produced a Convertible ROM update lately supporting
hard drives?
5) Does IBM sell an external hard drive kit for the Convertible?
6) Are there alternate ways of going about this effort?
Please E-mail all responses directly to me at the address below. Thank
you for your assistance.
(Mr.) Tracy Wood
Analyst,
US Army Signal Center
E-mail : sigcen@smoke.brl.mil
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer : These opinions do not necessarily represent those of the
DOD, Dept of the Army, US Army Signal Center, and/or its employees.
-------------------------------------------------------------------