wolpert@hpisla.UUCP (wolpert) (12/12/84)
re: Sanyo PC
a friend of mine bought a Sanyo instead of a Morrow, because he
was able to get a better price. He is very satisfied with the
reliability, functionality, etc.
however...if you are buying it for "IBM Compatibility", be
aware that it is not very compatible. I hear that Sanyo is
offering a new display board that makes it more compatible,
so that may be a good deal.
David Wolpert
Instrument Systems Lab
P O Box 301
Loveland, CO 80539 (US Mail)
{ihnp4!}hpfcla!hpisla!wolpert (unix)
667-3533 (TelNet)
/HP0900/EM (HPDESK)drick@hplvle.UUCP (12/20/84)
re: Morrow vs. Sanyo 1. There is actually more good software for the Morrow than for the Sanyo. That's because the Sanyo is not remotely IBM compatible, while the Morrow will run almost all CP/M software. 2. At least here in Colorado, Morrow has a decent dealer network, while Sanyo has nothing. 3. For word processing, my impression is that the Morrow is a far better machine. A good terminal is far nicer to type on than the sort of keyboard you're likely to find on the Sanyo. The Morrow disks hold more, which is a big advantage when doing a thesis. 4. Your basenote makes me think you have tried WordStar and don't like it. I don't blame you a bit, BUT WordStar can rival dedicated word processors such as NBI and CPT machines if you turn off all the menus and use a terminal with dedicated WordStar keys. The WYSE WY-50 and WY-100 terminals come in WordStar versions and there's a WordStar ROM available for the Televideo 950. I set up a word processing station for my wife using the WY-100 terminal with WordStar option and she *loves* it. She's never had to learn the WordStar control sequences. 5. At least on the Morrow MD-11, the operating system supports function and cursor key redefinitions for the Morrow MDT 50 and 60 terminals, so you can get somewhat the same effect as with the dedicated WordStar terminals. You get fewer function keys, but they can be redefined for other software, unlike on the dedicated terminals. I don't know if redefinition is supported on the MD-3 or not. 6. Believe it or not, WordStar probably runs faster on the Morrow than the Sanyo. The Z80 version of WordStar is *very* carefully optimized. 7. The software bundled with the Morrow machine is far superior to that bundled with the Sanyo. Note that the Morrow comes with NewWord, a WordStar clone with some real improvements such as an undo key. The Sanyo comes a whole slew of Micropro software, including WordStar. Unfortunately, WordStar is the only decent piece of software Micropro publishes. CalcStar and all the rest are horrible. 8. If you absolutely MUST have on-screen graphics, the Sanyo is your only choice. There are some graphics packages such as Graphtalk available under CP/M that don't need screen display to work and can drive a plotter like the HP 7470. Designing charts with nothing but hardcopy is laborious, but can be done. 9. Technical word processing is difficult. WordStar doesn't work well for this. There are some technical word processors that run on the IBM PC, but they won't work on the Sanyo, since the video is different. I'm told that they are all expensive, slow, and use LOTS of memory. There are one or two technical editor/formatter combinations that run under CP/M, but I know little about them. Also, there is a technical text formatter in the public domain. It's called ROFF4. It allows superscipting, subscripting, supports greek characters and can be configured for various printers. It's available on one of the SIG/M disks (I think), but these are 8" disks, so you might have to pay someone to convert to 5-1/4". 10. I can't help you with terminal emulation, but maybe someone else on the net can. In summary, I strongly recommend the Morrow over the Sanyo. The MD-11 hard disk system is an excellent buy. If you can't afford that, then the MD-3 will meet your needs well. Good luck. David L. Rick hplabs!hplvla!drick "Opinions expressed here are definitely my own. I don't know who else's they may be, but they're undoubtedly not my employer's."
indra@utai.UUCP (Indra Laksono) (12/23/84)
[] > From utcsrgv!utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!hp-pcd!hplvle!drick Wed Dec 19 22:46:00 1984 > Relay-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utai.UUCP > Posting-Version: notesfiles > re: Morrow vs. Sanyo > > 1. There is actually more good software for the Morrow than for > the Sanyo. That's because the Sanyo is not remotely IBM compatible, > while the Morrow will run almost all CP/M software. Let me guess. You have a Morrow right? Actually, the only place where sanyo is not compatible with the ibm is [1] location of screen memory. Sanyo's is positined top of ram no matter how much memory there is. ibm has it somewhere else. [2] Cannot generate [shift] [alt] and a few other obscure keys. [3] Cannot run self-booting programs. [4] Differs in two or three INT 10H, but all cursor, Reverse video etc are the same. I have many friends who own sanyos and they told me that mince dBASE II, all the compilers (no UCSD PASCAL because of [3]), will work on the sanyo. TURBO pascal v2.0 will work with no sound, graphics. Sanyo now has a video card that is supposed to run LOTUS 123 and microsoft flight simulator. This should make it 80% compatible, quite far from remote. This video card comes with msdos 2.11, GW BASIC and sells for US$200. As for me, I find that sanyo is compatible enough for me, but then, I don't play games all the time. (games will not work). There are also good programs for the sanyo only. Games also look better than anything ibm has (including the chef chased by pickles etc). An example is a full scrolling game called Time PAtrol by Michtron. > > 2. At least here in Colorado, Morrow has a decent dealer network, while > Sanyo has nothing. I have a subscription to soft sector, the sanyo 555 user's mag. By randomly flipping through the pages, I see about 40 or so stores selling sanyo. But they are mostly in NY, California, Kentucky, you are right, there's no colorado. But, out of the 45 user's groups in the states, 3 are in colorado. Refere to <Soft sector Dec 84>. > > 3. For word processing, my impression is that the Morrow is a far > better machine. A good terminal is far nicer to type on than > the sort of keyboard you're likely to find on the Sanyo. The Morrow > disks hold more, which is a big advantage when doing a thesis. > The sanyo can use DSDD disks at 360K each for a max of 4 disks. It can also use DSQD disk drives at 800 K each for a max of 4 disks. It can also use 10 meg to 40 meg hard disks. The costs for the drives should include the cost of the various dos's needed to run it. There are 3 companies making 2-4 versions each for different combinations. Morrow disks hold more? (Scrooge :"humbug"). > 4. Your basenote makes me think you have tried WordStar and don't > like it. I don't blame you a bit, BUT WordStar can rival dedicated > word processors such as NBI and CPT machines if you turn off all > the menus and use a terminal with dedicated WordStar keys. The WYSE > WY-50 and WY-100 terminals come in WordStar versions and there's a > WordStar ROM available for the Televideo 950. I set up a word > processing station for my wife using the WY-100 terminal with > WordStar option and she *loves* it. She's never had to learn the > WordStar control sequences. > > 5. At least on the Morrow MD-11, the operating system supports function > and cursor key redefinitions for the Morrow MDT 50 and 60 terminals, > so you can get somewhat the same effect as with the dedicated > WordStar terminals. You get fewer function keys, but they > can be redefined for other software, unlike on the dedicated > terminals. I don't know if redefinition is supported on the > MD-3 or not. > The sanyo can redefine any number of keys on the keyboard. (some 60+ or so, but I'm sure you don't want to make your (abc's as ^KB ^KD ^QA). This can be done via a software purchase (about $29.00) or you can write one yourself. > 6. Believe it or not, WordStar probably runs faster on the Morrow than > the Sanyo. The Z80 version of WordStar is *very* carefully > optimized. > This is true. Wordstar also runs faster on morrow than ibm. Besides, who cares. I don't use wordstar. > 7. The software bundled with the Morrow machine is far superior to > that bundled with the Sanyo. Note that the Morrow comes with > NewWord, a WordStar clone with some real improvements such as an > undo key. The Sanyo comes a whole slew of Micropro software, > including WordStar. Unfortunately, WordStar is the only decent > piece of software Micropro publishes. CalcStar and all the > rest are horrible. > I can't say, I haven't seen NewWord. But sanyo also comes with IUS softwares. > 8. If you absolutely MUST have on-screen graphics, the Sanyo is your > only choice. There are some graphics packages such as Graphtalk > available under CP/M that don't need screen display to work and > can drive a plotter like the HP 7470. Designing charts with > nothing but hardcopy is laborious, but can be done. > One of the first programs I purchased was PICASSO from MIchtron. This program is almost identical to PC-DRAW. It also looks suspiciously like MacPaint (or MacDraw?) in colour. > 9. Technical word processing is difficult. WordStar doesn't work > well for this. There are some technical word processors that run > on the IBM PC, but they won't work on the Sanyo, since the video > is different. I'm told that they are all expensive, slow, and > use LOTS of memory. There are one or two technical editor/formatter > combinations that run under CP/M, but I know little about them. > Also, there is a technical text formatter in the public domain. > It's called ROFF4. It allows superscipting, subscripting, supports > greek characters and can be configured for various printers. It's > available on one of the SIG/M disks (I think), but these are 8" > disks, so you might have to pay someone to convert to 5-1/4". > You're probably right. > 10. I can't help you with terminal emulation, but maybe someone else > on the net can. > There are at least six modem programs selling for the sanyo. The three major ones are : [1] Copylink US Digital VT100 emulation with fcn keys defn. [2] MiTerm Michtron (?) [3] Intellicom THE computer toolbox. VT52, VT100, Televideo 912/920, Televideo 910, ADM 3A, dumb tty These are specifically for the sanyo, it won't run on ibm as the address of the serial port is different. For addresses : Michtron : 576 S. Telegraph Pontiac, Michigan 48053 US DIGITAL Corp : 5687-H S.E. International Way, Portland oregon 97222 Telex 888521 The computer toolbox : 1325 East Main Street - Waterbury, Conn, 06705 The other's do not have fancy ads so I can't mention them. > In summary, I strongly recommend the Morrow over the Sanyo. The MD-11 > hard disk system is an excellent buy. If you can't afford that, then > the MD-3 will meet your needs well. Good luck. > In summary, I strongly recommend the Sanyo over the Morrow. The various hard disks are excellent buys at $1200+ for 10meg. (There are 4 or 5 people who have designed hard disks for the sanyo). If you can't afford that, then get 4 DSQD for 3.2 meg. If you still want compatibility with pcdos, then get a combination of QD and DD drives. Good luck. > David L. Rick > hplabs!hplvla!drick > > "Opinions expressed here are definitely my own. I don't know who > else's they may be, but they're undoubtedly not my employer's." > > Indra Laksono {allegra cornell decvax ihnp4 linus utzoo}!utcsrgv!utai!indra "Opinions expressed here are definitely my own. I don't know who else's they may be, but they're undoubtedly not my instructor's" I am also slightly biased, but everything can be confirmed in <Soft Sector - December 1984> Ps : I own a sanyo 555.