Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252) (12/01/89)
Folks, I finally got to see one. At our Macintosh User's Group
meeting, a Macintosh representative brought a Mac laptop in and I thought
that I'd share a few impressions...specifically, with the Stacey in mind.
Right off, the much-hyped LCD display was a disappointment to me. Recall
that Apple spent a small fortune in giving an easy to read and FAST LCD.
It is also larger than the standard 9 inch Mac screen. Refresh is
incredibly fast, no lag at all. But the let down for me was the dimness
and restrictive viewing angle. Other than screen refresh speed, I see
no improvement at all over the bluish SuperTwist displays used by the
IBMish laptops. If the Stacey ever makes it to market and it sports the
SuperTwist, then we will be in good shape.
The much-hyped case was also a disappointment. Advertisements have it
that the laptop uses the same plastic as that of motorcyle helmets. Maybe
so, but I could flex the case. It creaked and would squeak. It did not
have the same tightness as commercial-grade portable electronic typewriters
and their construction.
Positive features were noted, i.e., configurable keyboard (you can swap
the roller ball and keys, or install a ten keypad [very nice]). "Third Party"
circuits (also known as 'cartridges') plug in a yawning space located
within the case. In other words, these do not hang off the side as they
do for the Stacey. Oh, how I wish that cartridges could be mounted likewise
on the ST in a manner sort of similar to that of the ATari 800.
This particular laptop had a 40 meg hard drive mounted inside. It
was the quietest that I have ever heard. Indeed, I never heard it.
After examining the laptop carefully (yep, the rep allowed us to take
the case off and poke inside), I'm convinced that ATari is correct in
holding production until everything is RIGHT. When examining the Mac Lap,
it is obvious that a lot of pain was involved. Regarding the STacey,
delays are unfortunate, particularly in a marketting-point of view, but
the STacey needs to be RIGHT before it enters the consumers' hands.
With the heavy weight, the physical integrity of the box is going to
have to be secure. Apple paid dearly for their design and I'm convinced
after handling their expensive laptop that Atari is going to pull a major
coup with the STacey (price in mind).
Larry Rymal: |East Texas Atari 68NNNers| <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>rwa@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Ross Alexander) (12/08/89)
Larry Rymal, Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252) writes: (speaking of the laptop Mac) >that the laptop uses the same plastic as that of motorcyle helmets. Maybe >so, but I could flex the case. It creaked and would squeak. It did not As a motorcyclist of long standing, I would have to say that this claim is nonsense. Many, many different plastics are used in mc helmets, with varying degrees of flexibility, strength, shatter resistance, hysteresis, and what have you. If they meant lexan, or one of the engineering thermosetting compounds, then my reaction is "Ho Hum". That's what your description sounds like. They are used in bottom-of-the-line stuff. Middle-of-the-line is usually fibreglass/expoxy; top-of-the-line is generally kevlar/expoxy, and can be very expensive (I paid $440 for my kevlar/epoxy full coverage hat). Ross
dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) (12/10/89)
I'm writing this on a Stacy - 4 (4 mb RAM / 40 meg hard disk) in Mac mode, using a Spectre GCR. Good News! FCC has approved Stacy, Atari announced Wednesday night online. While I am under nondisclosure and must limit what I say, I think it's safe to say that Atari has really pushed hard to get Stacy out the door and in a good, usable form. Atari has also done things to help us here at Gadgets ensure that all is well with the GCR on Stacy, up to & including the Tramiels. THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PRICE, AND DON'T SAY I SAID SO, but I was told the pricing on a 4/40 unit, like this one, might be $2500. You can do the math yourself to figure how many Stacys you can buy for one Mac portable. I also have to say that as cynical as I am, after years of Atari- watching, that there have been good things happening there that I wouldn't have dreamed of happening even six months ago. Yes, there are problems and weak points. However, there are good things happening as well, which to me show signs of maturity and acknowledgement that US software developers are essential to Atari's future. We could be witnessing the end of Atari's troubled adolescence. On the Stacy: I find the screen very nice to work with. The much overhyped "mouse movement" stuff is no big deal; it just takes getting used to, just like getting used to a mouse in the first place. The Conner hard disk is very fast indeed, and the machine seems 100% compatible with everything. Obviously, this is a musician's dream for MIDI applications. I found it *highly* entertaining that Apple put up very bright tracklights above their Mac Portable display at Comdex. Anyone who's tried it in normal to dim light knows why. Atari made the right move offering backlighting; as a Toshiba 1200 HB owner, I'm hooked. Apple went for a meg of static RAM(!) (!!!!!!!), whereas Atari uses the more power-hungry dynamic RAMs, which cost a heck of a lot less. The down side, of course, is reduced battery life. After testing, I do not recommend batteries for a 4 meg / hard disk unit *at all*; those d-rams pull some kinda amps. (Maybe a Gates lead-acid battery would be up to it?) I'd expect the 1-meg floppy units to do pretty well. But look, I almost always use this thing where AC is available, just like one of the higher powered Toshiba units; the advantage is portability. No monitor to lug, no drives to lug, cables, etc. If you want a battery-portable, go 1 meg /floppy; if you want what I've got, go 4 meg/hard disk. The price is *really* right. Atari has also announced that developers get a 50% discount. This is beginning to look like one of the great deals in computerdom. I expect that *very shortly* we'll get the T-16 accelerator on this, so we can get around true 12 mhz throughput; we'll get pc-Ditto or PC-Speed; and then we have a killer laptop. Good job, Atari. Keep it up! -- thanks, Dave / Gadgets p.s. I want to publicly deny the rumour that Ken Badertscher is planning on asking out Cindy Claveran (now back with Atari for a bit (!!) ). (hi ken!)