nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) (05/02/91)
I originally posted this to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware before I knew of this group. As a newcomeer to this group I apologize if this is a FAQ. I am looking at the NEC Notebook PC-17-2 which has as its mass storage device 2M of non-volatile RAM (this is the total ram on the system). All I/O is via modem or laplink (or keyboard). Does anyone have any experience about just how non-volatile the ram actually is. Would you trust this machine to keep two weeks worth of precious library notes until you got home. I would alos appreciate any other pros and cons on the machine. The size and weight are right and so is the price from DAK (about $900). Thanks in advance Neal -- Neal Beck Dept of Politcal Science, UCSD beck@ucsd.edu Dislaimer: The Regents pay me (a bit!) to distribute my opinions.
brian@king.csd.mot.com (05/03/91)
nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) writes: >I originally posted this to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware before I knew >of this group. As a newcomeer to this group I apologize if this is >a FAQ. It's becoming a FAQ I think... >I am looking at the NEC Notebook PC-17-2 which has as its mass >storage device 2M of non-volatile RAM (this is the total ram on the >system). All I/O is via modem or laplink (or keyboard). >Does anyone have any experience about just how non-volatile the ram >actually is. Would you trust this machine to keep two weeks worth of >precious library notes until you got home. The ramdisk operates off of a non-removable battery, and the rest of the machine runs off of a removable battery. The ramdisk battery needs to be hooked up to a charger every five days or so whether or not you're using the computer. I would trust the machine to keep precious notes just about as much as I would trust a laptop hard disk. In other words, I'd back it up as soon as I could. You can get an external 3.5" floppy for the UltraLite for $199. So far, I haven't heard of anyone losing any data from their ramdisk, though. >I would alos appreciate any other pros and cons on the machine. The >size and weight are right and so is the price from DAK (about $900). Funny you should ask. If you'd like to join a mailing list about the NEC UltraLite, aka PC1701 and PC1702, please send your request to ultralite-list-request@csd.mot.com. You'll get brought up to date with the forty or so postings which have traversed the list in the six weeks since the list was started. I think that it will answer most of your questions and give you a good forum in which to ask more! -- -Brian Smithson Motorola Inc., Computer Group, Commercial Systems Division 10700 N. De Anza Boulevard, Cupertino, CA 95014 USA, (408)366-4104 brian@csd.mot.com, {apple | pyramid}!motcsd!brian