estes@tty3b.UUCP (estes) (12/16/83)
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I contacted the people in Texas who make the Dimension (I forget the name),
and asked for some info. It took 2 1/2 weeks to get a promo blub from them.
What I saw, however, was interesting.
The basic machine has 128Kb RAM, and two mini-floppies (400Kb each), parallel
printer port (Centronics type), and RS232 interface. Included is a keyboard
which looks much like that on an IBM-PC. The 68000 is running at 8 MHz.
No monitor, though. All for just under $4000. The graphics left a little
to be desired. (RGB interface.) They mentioned that a higher resolution
color display is in the works.
The software compatibility with Apple, IBM, TRS, et. al. is achieved with
"emulator boards" with an appropriate microprocessor. The boards are about
$500 each, and come with $100 worth of emulation software (whatever that is).
The system needs 256Kb of RAM to run the emulation software.
An article I read (in MISweek or EETimes) said the manufacturer is claiming
to be able to run 90-95% of all software available for the emulated machines.
The article also states that the company has substantial financial backing.
That's all I know. I am interested in buying one of these, but plan to wait
a bit to find more about peripheral, software (they offer CP/M 68K, Unix
look-a-like to come), etc.
Ted Estes
AT&T Teletype Corp.
{we13, mhtsa, ihnp4}!tty3b!estes