skr@floyd.bellcore.com (Steve Reinhardt) (05/11/89)
I just talked to my wife and she said that the Service Merchandise catalog we got today has the Canon Cat for only $350 _including_ a daisy-wheel printer. I went to a presentation given by Jef Whats-his-name (sorry, I really don't remember: you know who I mean, the Mac guy that designed it) when the Cat first came out, and the few details I remember (perhaps incorrectly) are: - 68000 CPU - bit-map screen - weird but interesting "mode-less" interface - built-in modem - built-in Forth interpreter that the system runs on, you can get at it, but maybe it's not really documented, or something like that - listed for something like $1200 originally So the question is, are other hackers out there using this thing? If so, do you like it? My actual home computing needs are pretty limited (address list, budget tracking, dial-up terminal, occasional business-like letter) (of course my perceived needs are a different matter); does it suffice for this sort of thing? The blurb in the catalog says 80x22 (yes, 22) screen, does this cause problems? Is there a termcap good enough to run vi? (Not that it would be fun at 1200 baud.) I'd appreciate any facts or opinions from anyone who actually uses one of these, particularly anyone who's done any Forth programming on it... for $350 I can live with some limitations, but I don't want to throw the money away either. Thanks, Steve nvuxh!skr@bellcore.bellcore.com