STERNLIGHT@usc-ecl.arpa (04/09/83)
I bought a model 100 from Radio Shack last week. It performs as advertised, even to automatically dialing up other computers and logging on. I have used it successfully with USC-ECL, Compuserve, Dow Jones, etc. It can (and does) dial Dow Jones, log in, ask for particular stock quotations, save them and log off, all automatically by pressing one soft key (sample program for this supplied in the user's manual; it's quite short). There are already a number of nice utilities for the machine on Compuserve, including an alarm clock, several flavors of memory dump, an ascii file down- and up- loader, and others. (The machine comes with built-in downloading and uploading capability in ROM, but it takes three keystrokes plus the file name; the utilities take one keystroke (ah, the perils of the modern world). I have transferred Microsoft basic programs from my CP/M system directly, using a null modem between the RS-232C ports on the Mod 100 and my machine, and the CP/M 'modem' program on my machine with no difficulty, at 1200 baud and up. I have transferred a standard MBASIC program from my CP/M machine to the Mod 100 and it ran correctly with no modifications. I brought the 24K model I bought in to Radio Shack and had them upgrade it to 32K. It only takes a few moments once the technician is available if you have a R.S. Computer Center with techs on-site. The only comment is that it is a a'bit' pricey. With the 32K upgrade it is about $1100 or 1200. But it does the job well, and is ideal for travel; make sure you buy the optional extra cassette and telephone port (a separate port in addition to the standard RS-232C connector) cables. It reads and writes to a standard cassette recorder just fine for program and data storage and retrieval; a nice compact (if a bit slow) way of getting mass program storage while traveling. The telephone cable allows you to connect the 100 to the modular socket in the back of a standard phone, and connect the plug you removed from the phone to a jack on the cable, getting access to the line for the model 100 without losing your phone service when you aren't using the 100 online. An acoustic coupler (for phones hard-wired to the network or for pay phones) is soon to be available. So, I infer, are plug in rom modules with additional software. Maybe even CP/M someday (I made that up; there's no evidence for it right now). --david-- -------