mjm@cantor.UUCP (03/11/87)
References: Has anyone had experience with the Multispeed. A friend i considering the purchase of one. Any information, pro or con, on any compatible laptop would be appreciated. Thanks. Michael J. Markowitz Dept. of Math. Sciences Loyola Univ. of Chicago Chicago, IL 60626 (312) 508-3567 ihnp4!gargoyle!cantor!abel!mjm
zhahai@gaia.UUCP (03/14/87)
Some comments on the NEC Multispeed:
- Nice display, supertwisted blue like the Zenith 181 though not backlit
I found it quite readable.
- Very fast, with a 9.54 MHz V-30 (faster than 8086) it is the fastest
non-'286 laptop.
- Nice keyboard, with the numeric pad/cursor pad above the right end but
laid out normally (cross rather than inverted T, etc.). My favorite.
- Competitive on "basic" features built in: 2 720K microfloppies (std.
format), serial & parallel (printer) ports, option for internal modem,
640 K memory, emulates IBM CGA on LCD screen and has built in RGBI interface
for standard CGA style monitor.
- Decent battery life (not as much as IBM or Toshiba, better than Zenith).
- Has built in applications in ROM; I have not evaluated quality.
- Has 128K (of the 640K main) of "non-volatile" memory, with separate Nicad
to maintain memory even when main battery pack removed or dead. Could use
for ramdisk.
- No hard disk option; hardly unique in this.
- Transfer of programs and data to the 3.5" microfloppies is handled
differently: with an optional cable, the two floppy drives in the NEC can
be treated as if they were standalone drives attached to an IBM PC through
the external drive connector (the large DB-x connector on the back of an
IBM PC floppy drive controller). This way you treat them as C: & D:, or
D: & E: or whatever (at the end of your current drive list). This means
you can transfer files between hard disk and microfloppy even if they are
longer than 360K, and in one step - just use normal DOS utilities like copy.
Unfortunately this last is clever and useful for many people but is a major
disadvantage for me, as I would like to have a 5 1/4" portable drive (wall
power OK) external for use at a customer site; Many clones/compatibles and
even IBM AT's do not have an external floppy connector, and some customers
may not want me to temporalily install the device drivers to control the
microfloppies. If you do want this solution (treating the laptop's
microfloppy drives as external floppies to a desktop), there are programs
which will allow you to do this though the serial port, which is more
universal than external floppy connectors. If only NEC had connected the
floppy controller chip to the external port (allowing 5 1/4 drive external
to the MultiSpeed) rather than connecting the floppy drives to that port,
I would have bought one of these. If this does not matter to you, it may
be the best machine for you.
Oh, yes, when I looked, it was cheaper than the Toshiba and Zenith
competition. Toshiba has announced price reductions on the current
(crummy screen) version so it may be competative on price now, and
Zenith has announced a new version so they may reduce prices too.
I would be glad to hear from others regarding laptop experiences.
ALSO: Has anyone tried making their own external 5 1/4" floppy drives
for the Toshiba or Zenith? Get a simple $80-100 drive (360K), and
a $50 case with AC power supply, make up a cable? This should be
fairly straightforward and much cheaper than the $400-$500 external
drives offered by the Toshiba/Zenith if you don't need battery powered 5 1/4"
drives. Is there a gotcha? Do you have the pinouts for the cables?
~z~
--
Zhahai Stewart
{hao | nbires}!gaia!zhahaijons@islenet.UUCP (03/21/87)
In article <297@gaia.UUCP> zhahai@gaia.UUCP (Zhahai Stewart) writes: >ALSO: Has anyone tried making their own external 5 1/4" floppy drives >for the Toshiba or Zenith? Get a simple $80-100 drive (360K), and >a $50 case with AC power supply, make up a cable? This should be >fairly straightforward and much cheaper than the $400-$500 external >drives offered by the Toshiba/Zenith if you don't need battery powered 5 1/4" >drives. Is there a gotcha? Do you have the pinouts for the cables? >-- >Zhahai Stewart >{hao | nbires}!gaia!zhahai Works fine. The cable is the hardest part as Toshiba made the cable first and foremost a standard printer cable and then wired the floppy cable *around* it, so that the cable uses the unused pins from the parallel port. The pinouts I can post in interest is guaranteed. Aloha, Jonathan Spangler {ihnp4,vortex,dual}!islenet!jons OR jons@islenet.hawaii.edu
nather@ut-sally.UUCP (Ed Nather) (03/23/87)
In article <3177@islenet.UUCP>, jons@islenet.UUCP (Jonathan Spangler) writes: > In article <297@gaia.UUCP> zhahai@gaia.UUCP (Zhahai Stewart) writes: > >ALSO: Has anyone tried making their own external 5 1/4" floppy drives > >for the Toshiba or Zenith? Get a simple $80-100 drive (360K), and > >a $50 case with AC power supply, make up a cable? > > Works fine. The cable is the hardest part as Toshiba made the cable first and > foremost a standard printer cable and then wired the floppy cable *around* > it, so that the cable uses the unused pins from the parallel port. > > The pinouts I can post if interest is guaranteed. Interest is guaranteed. Please post them. -- Ed Nather Astronomy Dept, U of Texas @ Austin {allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!nather nather@astro.AS.UTEXAS.EDU
Isaac_K_Rabinovitch@cup.portal.com.UUCP (03/24/87)
People considering Toshiba laptops should note that the external
5-1/4 drive is *not* portable.
Also, my experience with their "exceptional care" program ("a replacement
overnight!") is unpleasant. It's a major hassle just getting in touch
with their support people (so what else is new?), and the turnaround is
more like a week. And I would rate their technicians as Barely Acceptable,
so don't bother with the Extended Exceptional Care contract.todd@uhccux.UUCP (03/28/87)
I bought an NEC Multispeed but still recommend the new Toshiba T-1100 Plus
with twisted crystal LCD display to some people. Here are some
features that differentiate the two machines in my mind:
Toshiba:
seems more ruggedly constructed than the NEC. Recommended for
people who need to take it out to the "field"
new LCD screen seems more readable than the NEC
appears to have greater compatibility with PC software than NEC does
smaller and lighter than the NEC
longer battery life per charge (7 for Toshiba vs. 5 for NEC)
NEC:
has a real numeric/cursor keypad. Essential for use with programs
that want a "real" keypad (e.g., WordPerfect)
simple to link NEC 3.5" drives as external drives on an IBM PC with
an external floppy disk controller port. Eliminates the
need for moving files via the serial port. No need
for a special floppy link "board" in the PC...
has a removable NiCad battery pack. Let's you carry spare
batteries for long haul situations
good screen tilt position mechanism
ROM firmware is useful and usable
faster CPU than Toshiba (9.54MHz vs. 7.??)
...todd
--
Todd Ogasawara, U. of Hawaii Computing Center
UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,ucbvax,dcdwest}!sdcsvax!nosc!uhccux!todd
ARPA: uhccux!todd@nosc.ARPA
INTERNET: todd@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU