brian@NCoast.ORG (Brian Keith Gaiser) (04/02/91)
Hello , I am new to this news group so forgive me if this has been hashed over already :).....
I have a Sharp Wizard OZ-7000. (In fact I am an authorized Sharp Dealer).
Sharp has recently released their new OZ-8000 Wizard.
It has these features:
Up to 128K, QWERTY Keyboard, Built-in Scheduler, Calendar, Memo, World time zones, Outline maker, TERMINAL program, unit to unit xfer, PC xfer
and many option cards. The cards include: Spreadsheets, Speller/Thes.,
City guides, Time/expense managers, language translators, games, BASIC
and other RAM packs.
Very soon to come, they have the Holy Bible and more games as well as
other programming languages.
What I would like to know is how does this product stack up against
the ATARI Portfolio ? What RAM option cards does the Portfolio have?
How good is it as a terminal ? Does it have good general organizer
features ? How is it's calendar and spread sheet ? Is there good
stocks of info cards available such as CITY GUIDES and the BIBLE or
other reference material ? Is it easy to use ? Does it fit in one's
inner suit coat pocket ? How long do the batteries last? What
kind of PC upload/download capabilities does it have, what file formats
will it support ? Is there good OEM commitment to put popular
software and games on it ? What peripherals can you get and at what
retail cost ? How easy is the word processor, and can it be used with
Word Perfect or Professional Write on a PC host ?
Lastly I would like some ATARI phone numbers to get info on this unit,
and perhaps get the ability to distribute it.
My company caters to small business clients and many of the CEOs and
board members look to me for this kind of product.
Just FYI : Wizard OZ-7000 Retail=$299, My Price to you=$220
Wizard OZ-8000 Retail=$399, My Price to you=$318
Most option cards Retail $120-$200 Mine $98-$180
Any info will be much appreciated.
--
--------- THE GIZZ ----------
| |
| Brian Gaiser 216/292-0400 |
| x3471 |laird@think.com (Laird Popkin) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Apr2.034036.11439@NCoast.ORG> brian@NCoast.ORG (Brian Keith Gaiser) writes: > > > Hello , I am new to this news group so forgive me if this has been hashed over already :)..... > I will put Portfolio comments in-line with your description of the Wizard > I have a Sharp Wizard OZ-7000. (In fact I am an authorized Sharp Dealer). > Sharp has recently released their new OZ-8000 Wizard. > > It has these features: > > Up to 128K, QWERTY Keyboard, Built-in Scheduler, Calendar, Memo, World time zones, Outline maker, TERMINAL program, unit to unit xfer, PC xfer > and many option cards. The cards include: Spreadsheets, Speller/Thes., > City guides, Time/expense managers, language translators, games, BASIC > and other RAM packs. The Portfolio comes with 128K RAM, expandable to 640K of system memory (with a third party add-on) a 20 Mb hard drive. RAM cards (which are storage, not system RAM) are 32K, 64K, or 128K SRAM cards. It comes with an appointment book, address book, simple word processor, and Lotus 123 compatible spreadsheet. There are a half dozen or so ROM cards out for the PF, including a tutorial (bundled), DOS utilities, checkbook balancer, scientific calculator, etc. Aside from that, you can run DOS programs on the PF (if they are small) so you can run things like Turbo Pascal (1.0), a tiny BASIC interpreter (so you can write your own programs) and so on. > > Very soon to come, they have the Holy Bible and more games as well as > other programming languages. > > > What I would like to know is how does this product stack up against > the ATARI Portfolio ? What RAM option cards does the Portfolio have? > How good is it as a terminal ? Does it have good general organizer > features ? How is it's calendar and spread sheet ? Is there good > stocks of info cards available such as CITY GUIDES and the BIBLE or > other reference material ? Is it easy to use ? Does it fit in one's > inner suit coat pocket ? How long do the batteries last? What > kind of PC upload/download capabilities does it have, what file formats > will it support ? Is there good OEM commitment to put popular > software and games on it ? What peripherals can you get and at what > retail cost ? How easy is the word processor, and can it be used with > Word Perfect or Professional Write on a PC host ? It's a bit smaller than the largest Wizard I have seen, but not significantly so. The batteries last for months. Since it's DOS compatible it's trivial to "port" games and so on to it (i.e. copy them from your PC to a RAM card, stick the RAM card into the PF, run it). In terms of communication with PC's there are three ways to go. You can get a serial port. You can get a parallel port (which can transfer files with PC's). Or you can get a RAM card drive for you PC (I think it's about $100) so you can stick RAM cards into your PC as well as your PF, which makes transferring information trivial. The PF's main advantage is also it's main disadvantage. It's a tiny DOS-compatible PC, which gives you immense flexibility and expandability. But it also means that you could end up learning DOS. Of course, there's a friendly front end so you need never _see_ the C: prompt, but if you use the PF much you're likely to end up using DOS in addition to the built in applications. > > Lastly I would like some ATARI phone numbers to get info on this unit, > and perhaps get the ability to distribute it. Atari has an 800 number that they list in all their PF ads. I am sure that they'd be delighted in have you carry the PF. > > My company caters to small business clients and many of the CEOs and > board members look to me for this kind of product. > > > Just FYI : Wizard OZ-7000 Retail=$299, My Price to you=$220 > Wizard OZ-8000 Retail=$399, My Price to you=$318 > > Most option cards Retail $120-$200 Mine $98-$180 The Portfolio retails for $299 for the PF and the tutorial card, or $499 for the PF, a 32K RAM card, and the PC card drive. > > Any info will be much appreciated. > > >-- > --------- THE GIZZ ---------- >| | >| Brian Gaiser 216/292-0400 | >| x3471 | I don't work for Atari. I don't own a PF, actually -- I have just been researching them with an eye towards buying one. - Laird (internet: laird@think.com)
cloos@acsu.buffalo.edu (James H. Cloos) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Apr2.174452.1695@Think.COM> laird@think.com (Laird Popkin) writes: |[etc] |In terms of communication with PC's there are three ways to go. You can |get a serial port. You can get a parallel port (which can transfer files |with PC's). Or you can get a RAM card drive for you PC (I think it's about |$100) so you can stick RAM cards into your PC as well as your PF, which |makes transferring information trivial. |[etc] Anyone know if this ram-card drive could be used to write to /read from hp48 ram cards? (For $100, it'd be nice.) -JimC -- James H. Cloos, Jr. Phone: +1 716 673-1250 cloos@ACSU.Buffalo.EDU Snail: PersonalZipCode: 14048-0772, USA cloos@ub.UUCP Quote: <>
bdahlen@zephyr.cair.du.edu (Robert L. Dahlen - U. of Denver USA=) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Apr2.034036.11439@NCoast.ORG> brian@NCoast.ORG (Brian Keith Gaiser) writes: > What I would like to know is how does this product stack up against > the ATARI Portfolio ? What RAM option cards does the Portfolio have? > How good is it as a terminal ? Does it have good general organizer > features ? How is it's calendar and spread sheet ? Is there good > stocks of info cards available such as CITY GUIDES and the BIBLE or > other reference material ? Is it easy to use ? Does it fit in one's > inner suit coat pocket ? How long do the batteries last? What > kind of PC upload/download capabilities does it have, what file formats > will it support ? Is there good OEM commitment to put popular > software and games on it ? What peripherals can you get and at what > retail cost ? How easy is the word processor, and can it be used with > Word Perfect or Professional Write on a PC host ? I looked at the Sharp Wizard and the Casio Boss (top models) and compared them to the Pf. I like the Pf better. It is truely a IBM compatable in the sence that you can use normal PC compilers to write programs for it. No need to purchase programs from Atari, there are hundreds available from the Atari BBS and even more from Compuserve (GO ATARI), and there is an FTP site as well! The are Option cards available for the Pf but I don't know how many or prices, since I've downloaded such teriffic software. Plus I can actually write my own in Basic, pascal, C, etc. As far as a terminal, its as good as any computer with a 40x8 screen. Organizer and calender are a toss-up definately better on other units for some tasks. Alarm on Pf is too quite, but it will dial the phone for you if you hold it up to the speaker. I have heard that city/wine/etc cards are or will become available but I have not looked at them. Very easy to use. You'll need a suit coat pocket, just a tad too big. Batteries last 4-6 weeks, standard AA's. Up/download quite easy with optional parallel port. Good PD games. WP makes standard ascii files, and is good enough for the amount of time you might use it. downloaded such teriffic software -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert L. Dahlen - Director, Information Systems & Technology University of Denver - Denver, Colorado 80208 (303) 871-4385 INTERNET:bdahlen@du.edu BITNET:bdahlen@ducair
dan@i10s4.ira.uka.de (Dan mosedale) (04/08/91)
Where is the FTP site? -Dan dmose@bright.math.uoregon.edu
bdahlen@zephyr.cair.du.edu (Robert L. Dahlen - U. of Denver USA=) (04/09/91)
Places to get Atari Portfolio software: Atari BBS 408-745-5308 (Login once, access allowed after 24hrs) Atari FTP terminator.cc.umich.edu (anonymous/user@host) Atari on Compuserve GO ATARI -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert L. Dahlen - Director, Information Systems & Technology University of Denver - Denver, Colorado 80208 (303) 871-4385 INTERNET:bdahlen@du.edu BITNET:bdahlen@ducair