[comp.sys.atari.st] Richard, Richard, Richard!

steve@thelake.UUCP (Steve Yelvington) (12/04/89)

In article <472ae52a.14a1f@force.UUCP>,
     covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) describes a friend ... 

> ... He has a stock 1040ST ...

Then he says...

> ... Anyway, there he is sitting with a 2.5 meg 1040ST ... 

He quotes kbad@atari ...

>> if you hang anything but ROM's out there, you're asking for trouble.  It was
>> _designed_ this way, the intent of the cart port is to provide ROM space,
>> nothing else.

Immediately followed by...

> Ken, WHY was the cart port designed that way?? ...

Of course, there's ...

> ... I sold my SLM804 and am buying a Panasonic KX-P4450 laser printer. 
> Much faster (11 ppm vs, 8 ppm for the SLM) ...

followed by ...

> ... I know that the slm804 is faster than any other
> printer ...

But my very favorite is ...

> ... that is ONE reason why I refuse to buy the new TT. 

and 

>I am staying with the ST, and will try to buy a TT/p as a Registered Developer

Ieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

-- Steve Yelvington, up at the (frozen) lake in Minnesota        
   UUCP: ... pwcs.StPaul.GOV!stag!thelake!steve

PS: If you would fix your postnews and/or install a .sig file with a valid
mail address, maybe people would razz you without posting it to the entire
flipping planet.

covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (12/06/89)

In article <1104890110363128@thelake.UUCP>, steve@thelake.UUCP (Steve Yelvington) writes:

Steve, if you want to pull individual statements out of context than most
posts will look confusing. I was simply trying to point out how the KXP4450
laser printer is better suited, for *MY* application.

You see Steve, my point about the SLM804 is that for what it does, the SLM804 
does EXCELLENTLY. but what it doesn't do, it fails miserably. For strictly ST
work, the SLM804 is a great, but OVERpriced, laser printer. But, I wanted to
use my laser printer, at a full 300 dpi, with my Spectre cartridge, which I
can't do without resorting to buying the $500 UltraScript package (US plus
its fonts). So, while it isn't Atari's fault that I can't print under Spectre,
it is still a shortcoming. Also, the SLM804 doesn't emulate an Epson printer,
so a lot of goofy little programs like AwardMaker won't print to the SLM804.
My friend has tried using LaserBrain with the SLM804 since he bought theSLM
from me. He reports that word processors fail when he tries to use specials
features like italics or bold. So, LaserBrain doesn't emulate the Epson very
well. And we all know about the buggy Diablo 630 emulator. so, I was simply 
getting tired of working around the defiencies of the SLM and when I had an
oppportunity to sell my SLM I did. But, my experiences may be different from
yours. My needs may be different from yours. And for strictly, narrow, ST
work the SLM is great. The SLM is just not as versatile as say a HP Laser Jet
or the Panasonic KXP4450. I *KNOW* that I can use my KXP4450 laser printer
on a REAL Mac or a REAL IBM, so I canuse it with my Spectre and with pc ditto
II straight away. You can't do that with a SLM804 printer.

As far as my waffling between *LIKING* the TT/p and *DISLIKING* the TT/p,
I am still undecided. I LIKE my ST, but I really dislike the SLM804 laser printer.
I like programming on my Mega ST much more than on a Mac, but I like some of
the Mac programs that don't have equivalents on the ST. OK, I would like a 
computer whose software is as good as the Mac's but whose price was like
an Atari. I do know that both the Mac and the ST beat *ANY* IBM PC that I
have investigated. I dislike the MicroSoft WINDOWS for the PC and since
UNIX/X Windows hasn't made it big in the PC world yet, it looks like either
a Mac IICi or a NeXT or an Atari TT/x for me.

As far as the TT/p goes, I am expressing serious doubts about it based upon my
7 years plus experience with Atari products. And based upon first hand accounts from
my friends who have used STs for years. The example I gave about the friend
who bought my SLM804 and than couldn't get it to work on his *STOCK* 1040ST
and Atari hard drive is typical of the problems faced every day by Atari ST
owners. My friend has a 100% Atari ST system that wouldn't boot his Atari
hard drive with the Atari SLM804 laser printer attached. He had to replace 
the ATARI hard drive interface with an ICD (Hurray for ICD, I own 2 of their
fine host adpaters) Host Adapter in order to get his Atari hard drive to
boot with the Atari SLM804 laser printer. I won't have that problem with the
Panasonic KXP4450 laser printer!

As far as the response to Ken B. from Atari goes, I was simply expressing
the concern about the TT/p's expandability. If Atari has *NEVER* made an
expandable computer in the past, and that is a true statement, than *WHY*
should we expect the TT/p to be expandable. Heck, even the Mega ST2, the 
Business Computer from Atari, can't be expanded to 4 megabytes, according
to Ken B. from Atari.
> 
> Ieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
> 
> -- Steve Yelvington, up at the (frozen) lake in Minnesota        
>    UUCP: ... pwcs.StPaul.GOV!stag!thelake!steve
> 
> PS: If you would fix your postnews and/or install a .sig file with a valid
> mail address, maybe people would razz you without posting it to the entire
> flipping planet.

Steve, I did fix my .sig and now you can email to me directly. OK?

Folks, I am trying not to dwell on the negatives. I bought the KXP4450 simply
so I could use more software (Mac, IBM, and ST) than I could with my SLM804.
I don't know how well Atari will support the TT/p or even if it will be
as described. I just *HOPE* that it is a little more expandable and reliable
than the Megas or the other STs. I also hope that Atari does something to
help both Atari Dealers and Atari USA magazines survive. I still like my MegaST4,
and hope that the TT/x will persuade me to buy a TT. But, I have serious doubts,
and it may well turn out that the ST will be the *LAST* Atari computer sold
in the USA. Other computers have died, and there is no reason to believe that 
the Atari can't die either. So, I muddle along with my Mark Williams C
compiler and my Flight Simulator!!




-- 
 Richard E. Covert (covertr@gtephx) 
  (602) - 581-4652 
|  AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ   |
 UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!covertr

dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) (12/12/89)

Steve, I know what you mean. I've found a solution in a shell script
that's run by my cron process after UUCP and UUXQT have done their thing
in the middle of the night. (Since this is a single-user 7300, it's not
like censorship or anything...)

	Try:

cd /usr/spool/news/comp/sys/atari/st		(get to ST notes storage)
rm `grep -il "covert" *` 			(remove all covert notes)

	Put that into an executable shell script (remove.sh?, say, with the
execute bit set), then add a crontab entry to call it once after the night's
downloads are done. Be sure to allow plenty of time for UUXQT to unpack all
the
individual notes.

	The "-i" option makes it ignore upper/lower case, and the "-l"
option makes it generate a list of filenames, which in turn are fed to rm.
	Note the symbols around the expression are not single quotes...

	-- Hope this helps, Dave Small / Gadgets by Small, Ink.

p.s. This note should only be read with tongue firmly planted in cheek.