cje@elbereth.RUTGERS.EDU (Ernst ) (12/03/86)
I'd like people's opinions on the (two that I know of) TeX
implementations for the IBM PC. I'd heard that either version
(MicroTeX or PCTeX) is painfully slow on the XT. Now I hear
of a product called the TinyTurbo 286 board, which is supposed
to make the XT run faster than the AT.
I'd especially like to hear experiences with a TeX on an XT using this
board, but I'll be grateful for:
A. any experiences with this board
B. any experiences with either TeX version, on either XT or AT
Thanks in advance,
--
Chris Jarocha-Ernst
UUCP: {allegra, seismo, ihnp4}!rutgers!elbereth!cje
ARPA: JAROCHA-ERNST@BLUE.RUTGERS.EDU (until 12/31/86)tla@kaiser.UUCP (T Anderson) (12/08/86)
I use PC TeX (Personal TeX) on an AT&T 6300 and I am quite satisfied with the speed. The 8 MHz 8086 of course makes it run 2-3 times faster than on a PC or XT. The 80286 should run about 50-100% yet by my experience. The primary speed problem is printing speed and this has little to do with the computer but depends on the speed of your printer in graphics mode. I highly recommend a 24 pin printer that can print good graphics in one pass. I use an Epson LQ1500 (the LQ800 & 1000 are only a little slower), it runs nearly 6 times faster than an Epson FX80 or similar 9 pin printer. A full page prints in about 30 sec compared to nearly 3 min on the 9-pin printers I've tested. I have not used micro TeX from Addison-Wesley but the reviews I've read have all indicated that the speeds were very close to the same. -- Terry L Anderson AT&T Bell Laboratories -- Liberty Corners UUCP: ...!ihnp4!daimler!kaiser!tla TeleMail: Terry.Anderson (201) 580-4428