AUGUST%jpl-vlsi@sri-unix.UUCP (02/24/84)
From: Richard B. August <AUGUST@jpl-vlsi> THESE COMMENTS WERE GIVEN TO ME BY AN ASOCIATE OF MINE (S.A. TOWNES): I HAVE HAD MY RAINBOW 100 FOR ABOUT 9 MONTHS NOW AND I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE MACHINE FOR WHAT I DO WITH IT. I WOULDN'T MIND HAVING THE 100+ WITH THE HARD DISK. AS A BASIC OFFICE COMPUTER THE RAINBOW IS FINE. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WORD PROCESSING PROGRAMS AVAILABLE ( I USE WORDSTAR) AND THE ONES CONFIGURED FOR THE RAINBOW MAKE NICE USE OF THE EXTRA FUNCTION KEYS. IT SEEMD TO WORK WELL WITH VARIOUS CP/M-80 AND -86 VERSIONS OF BASIC, FORTRAN, PASCAL, AND C THAT ARE AROUND. FINALLY, IT MAKES A NICE VAX TERMINAL. THE ONE COMPLAINT THAT I HAVE IS THAT IT IS A DEC MACHINE. DEC SUPPORT FOR THE RAINBOW WAS LOUSY AT THE START ESPECIALLY DOCUMENTATION. THIS MADE IT HARD FOR ANYBODY OTHER THAT DEC TO PROVIDE HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE. THIS SEEMS TO BE CHANGING BUT DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH. IT YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED INSIDE THE RAINBOW IT WOULD BE AN ENLIGHTING EXPERIENCE. COMPARE HOW EXTRA BOARDS(MEMORY, ETC.) ARE ADDED WITH THE WAY ANYONE ELSE DOES IT (TAKE IBM). WHY DID DEC DO THIS? WHY DID DEC MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO UPGRADE THE 100 TO 100+? IF I WERE GOING TO BUY A MACHINE TO USE AT HOME OF IN THE LAB I WOULD PROBABLY GET AN IBM. THE MAIN REASON FOR THIS AT THIS TIME IS THE SHEER VOLUME OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR THE PC. THIS MAKES IT A MUCH MORE FLEXIBLE MACHINE. -------------------------------------------------------------------- REGARDS RAUGUST ------
LCAMPBELL%dec-marlboro@sri-unix.UUCP (02/27/84)
From: Larry Campbell <LCAMPBELL@dec-marlboro> "Why did DEC make it impossible to upgrade the 100 to a 100+?" Well, you can get pretty close. I have a Rainbow 100 with 512K RAM (Univation memory -- works fine), 10MB Winchester (DEC), and as far as I'm concerned it's a 100+ except I boot from the floppy instead of the Winchester. (I like the machine a lot -- but listing why would make this message too long.) - Larry --------