7GMADISO@POMONA.BITNET.UUCP (03/03/87)
Kevin J. Belles made some rather mis-informed comments about the Tandy model 4 recently. While it is true that for some time the standard configuration of a Model 4 was SS drives, the CURRENT machines from Tandy have DS drives; also, many if not most of the used machines have been upgraded by their previous owner to DS drives. The 'BIOS' code is easily available in commented assembly listings from Misosys, Inc. The banks switching is 'weird', you say?? It is simply controlled by 4 bits in $OPREG (the Option Register), which is directly linked to CPU port 84H. It's more complex to explain than it is to use. Further, as I said in my previous post, there is NO Z-80 assembler I have seen that can compare to Pro-MRAS by Misosys. If you want a comprehensive list of its many features, I'll post one. As regards the Kaypro; the Monezeuma Micro version of CP/M is much superior to anything I've seen on the Kaypro. Using the extended RAM available in the 4, MM CP/M automatically provides a 64k RAMdisk; the memory can also be used by programs like Monte's Window, which is similar to SideKick, and VERY useful (the TRSDOS 6.3 equivalent is called Pro-WAM). Further, there is a utility available which will make the memory drive the SYSTEM drive, and so on. The Model 4 is not JUST a CP/M machine, it is much MORE. I don't deny that it has its quirks -- no machine lacks them. However, I DO assert that it is distinctly superior to machines like the Kaypro, which are virtually being ignored by Kaypro. The 4 is no longer Tandy's showpiece, but it is still supported. George Madison (7GMADISO@POMONA.BITNET)
victoro@crash.UUCP (03/03/87)
In article <8703022358.AA23688@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 7GMADISO@POMONA.BITNET writes: > >Kevin J. Belles made some rather mis-informed comments about the >Tandy model 4 recently. While it is true that for some time the >standard configuration of a Model 4 was SS drives, the CURRENT >machines from Tandy have DS drives; also, many if not most of the >used machines have been upgraded by their previous owner to >DS drives. Quite correct. In fact, that was my immediate responce to Kevin when I saw his first posting. (If you'll note we are both on the same Unix box..) I am currently using my Tandy 4p with MM CP/M with the extra 64K of memory. I have not yet saved sufficently to upgrade my drives to DSDD, but it should be noted that the MM Config file allows the current hardware to run SSSD SSDD DSDD DSQD and 8" formats. I have also been told that 3.5" drives are available that are electrically identical to 5.25" drives.. > >The banks switching is 'weird', you say?? It is simply controlled >by 4 bits in $OPREG (the Option Register), which is directly linked >to CPU port 84H. It's more complex to explain than it is to use. > There are also expansion kits to add 1 Meg of memory to the 4/4p/4D. There are also speedup kits to 6 and 8 Mhz, and a daughter board that runs that new Hitachi chip and 256K of memory directly addressed. (There have been postings here on it...) > >The Model 4 is not JUST a CP/M machine, it is much MORE. I don't >deny that it has its quirks -- no machine lacks them. However, I >DO assert that it is distinctly superior to machines like the >Kaypro, which are virtually being ignored by Kaypro. The 4 is no >longer Tandy's showpiece, but it is still supported. > > George Madison (7GMADISO@POMONA.BITNET) -- Victor O'Rear {hplabs!hp-sdd, akgua, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!victoro ARPA: crash!victoro@nosc and the Byte Information eXchange [victoro] Whizbang Enterprises - Pride, heritage, and the highest employee mortality rate of any free world corporation.
harris@dg_rtp.UUCP (Mark Harris) (03/17/87)
In article <8703022358.AA23688@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 7GMADISO@POMONA.BITNET writes: > > >Further, as I said in my previous post, there is NO Z-80 assembler >I have seen that can compare to Pro-MRAS by Misosys. If you want a >comprehensive list of its many features, I'll post one. I'll make the same comment for the C compiler PRO-MC.