Pascale@OFFICE-8 (01/12/85)
GENTLEPEOPLE:
I AM INTERESTED IN OBTAINING AN IBM COMPATIBLE MACHINE (PRICE IS A
CONSIDERATION). I SAUNTERED INTO MY LOCAL & FRIENDLY (HA) COMPUTERLAND
STORE AND GOT TURNED ON BY THE COMPAQ DESKPRO. IT'S AN 8086 BASED
MACHINE RUNNING AT 7 PLUS MHZ WHICH MAKES IT VERY FAST. IT ALSO HAS
MANY OTHER FEATURES THAT ARE EXCELLENT. MY QUESTIONS ARE:
1. HOW COMPATIBLE IS IT WITH THE IBM?
(IT DIDNT SEEM TO RUN FLIGHT SIMULATOR. HOWEVER, THE
SALESMAN ADMITTED HE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT HOW TO RUN IT
AND NEITHER DID I.)
2. WILL IT ACCEPT ALL (MOST) OF THE BOARDS AVAILABLE FOR THE IBM?
3. HOW ABOUT SOFTWARE? THE BROCHURE SAYS IT RUNS ALL THE
POPULAR PROGRAMS. (AN ESOTERIC STATEMENT OF SORTS.)
4. HOW STABLE IS THIS COMPANY WITH BIG BLUE BURYING THEIR
COMPETITION ON A DAILY BASIS?
5. HOW RELIABLE IS THE HARDWARE? IT SHOULD BE EASILY
FIXED IF COMPUTERLAND IS MARKETING IT.
OH I FORGOT - IT HAS A SENSOR OF SORTS THAT IS SUPPOSED TO SENSE TIMING
REQUIREMENTS AND SLOW DOWN TO 4 PLUS MHZ FOR COMPATIBILITY. IF ANYONE HAS
EXPERIENCE WITH THIS MACHINE I WOULD APPRECIATE A SUMMARY. I ALSO WILL
SUMMARIZE RESPONSES TO THE NET IF SUFFICIENT INTEREST.
THANKS MUCHLY IN ADVANCE.
RESPONSES TO PASCALE AT OFFICE-8.mlsmith@NADC (01/12/85)
We are buying Compaq's just as if they are PC's. I understand they
have some kind of liscencing agreement with IBM to use PC ROM's and
are therefore much more compatible than other clones. Some info-micro
message traffic indicated that Flight Simulator _d_i_d_ work on the
Compaq, but the software was configured for the portable {whatever
that means}. What with the portability problems between PC, XT, and
_AT_, It is a good idea to bring in your Compaq to the computer store,
and make them show you that the software works!
...and it has a handle!
mlsmith@nadc.ARPAjose rodriguez <jrodrig@MITRE-GATEWAY> (01/12/85)
Re: compatibility problems: The XT and the regular PC have compatibility problems? Could someone enlighten me on this. We have XT's and never bothered checking out something like that. I remain informed on such things and never have heard of compatibilty problems between them. Jose jrodrig@mitre-gw
mlsmith@NADC (01/14/85)
I don't personally know of PC/XT compatibility problems, but AT/PC yes. Some of this may be growing pains. Anyways I am putting a PC serial I/F into the AT I ordered because of problems I have heard about the AT serial. mlsmith@NADC.ARPA
ybg7805@acf4.UUCP (Yves-Alain Gonnet) (01/15/85)
To pascale at Office-8 I may have the answer to your problem give me a call at (212)683-5025. Ask for Yves.
dgary@ecsvax.UUCP (D Gary Grady) (01/17/85)
<> > We are buying Compaq's just as if they are PC's. I understand they > have some kind of liscencing agreement with IBM to use PC ROM's and > are therefore much more compatible than other clones. I don't believe that this is true. I own a Compaq portable and I've encountered numerous BIOS differences. The most annoying one was one that I discovered before I bought a printer. Hitting Shift-PrtSc causes the Compaq to attempt to print the screen. It tries for 16 seconds ON EACH CHARACTER ON THE SCREEN. There is no way to stop it without rebooting. So if one is in the middle of editing a long document (as I was) and hasn't saved it recently (yup), one has to just go away for 8 hours or so. The keyboard scan codes on the Compaq portable are different from those on the PC. In particular the PgUp and left-arrow keys seem to be reversed, as are PgDn and right arrow (this is based on my experience with PC-Write, which makes heavy use of scan codes). Compaq also seems to have problems with diskette drive quality assurance. Several friends with Compaqs have had drive failures. (I, however, have been lucky so far.) On the other hand, the Compaq is faster in screen i/o, even on the portable, thanks to better BIOS code and no need to wait for horizontal retrace. I think it's a pretty nice machine overall. I'm certainly not disappointed that I own one. You might take a look at the Zenith Z-150 and Z-160. While not as fast as the Deskpro, these are good PC compatibles which are at least as compatible as the Compaq. In addition, they have a better keyboard layout (but complete scan code compatibility), a monitor ROM, the capability to boot from either drive, a more complete version of DOS, and a number of other advantages. Those concerned about the future solvency of micro manufacturers may find Zenith particularly attractive because (1) Zenith makes a lot more than micros and (2) Zenith is the main micro supplier to the DoD. So Zenith is unlikely to hit financial problems unless the Defense Department suddenly runs into severe budget cuts. Finally, the machines are available as kits from Heath, so you know they have to be fairly easy to work on. -- D Gary Grady Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC 27706 (919) 684-3695 USENET: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary