beckman@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Peter Beckman) (01/20/91)
It seems that there is race to get 386SX notebooks out. I've heard a
lot of different reports and promises for when products would be
ready. A Zeos salesperson told me their company was the ONLY 386SX
notebook now shipping (I don't believe him). Here are the companies I
know have 386SX notebooks:
Zeos: 20Meg version
AST: 20 & 40Meg version
ALR: 20?
Austin: 20 Meg version
Compaq: Who cares? they cost more than a Yugo.
Everex: 20 Meg?
I think if they don't have a 40 Meg version, most companies have one
in the works. Are there any others that can be added to the list? It
seems most machines are $2300-3000, 6-9 lbs, 20-40Meg HD, 8.5"-10" VGA
display, 3.5" floppy, and about a 3 hour battery. Has there been a
comprehensive review recently of these notebooks?
Memory seems to be one place that companies can REALLY take your
money. Most companies require you to purchase their special
proprietary memory at $200-$300 for an additional 2 Meg. AST seems to
be an exception. They use standards SIMMs, although their literature
seemed a little ambiguous as to whether you need to purchase a special
part for the first upgrade. Why don't all companies just use SIMMs?
Dumb question.
Unfortunately the AST only has a 8.5" screen. Pretty wimpy. The 10"
screens may be heavier and use more power, but they look great. Has
anyone seen the 8.5" screens? How do they look?
Does anyone who has one of these machines, or has seen a demo care to
give their review?
-Petemvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (01/20/91)
Have briefly played with a colleague's 386SX Zeos. Excellent VGA screen (demo'd Harvard Graphics), great price ($2295 w/1 meg ram and 20 M HD and 1.44 FD) -- Michael Volow, Psychiatry, Durham VA Med Center, Durham NC 27712 919 286 0411 Ext 6933 mvolo@ecsvax.edu
jdg00@ccc.amdahl.com (Josh Grosse) (01/21/91)
I hear that the 4.4 lb 286/VGA notebook marketed by TI/Sharp/Compuadd will have a 386 out in just two or three months. It is supposed to have a 40 Mbyte drive as compared to the 20 Mbyte the 286 has. I assume it is a 2.5" Conner, just like the current model. This information comes to me 2nd hand and not from any representative of the vendors. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Grosse jdg00@amail.amdahl.com Amdahl Corp. 313-358-4440 Southfield, Michigan
shwake@raysnec.UUCP (Ray Shwake) (01/23/91)
beckman@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Peter Beckman) writes: >I think if they don't have a 40 Meg version, most companies have one >in the works. Are there any others that can be added to the list? It >seems most machines are $2300-3000, 6-9 lbs, 20-40Meg HD, 8.5"-10" VGA >display, 3.5" floppy, and about a 3 hour battery. Has there been a >comprehensive review recently of these notebooks? Your list could be expanded to include the TI (also sold as the CompuAdd) and the Toshiba. Don't know what's currently available, but your description of the typical configuration is on target, though some (like the TI and Compaq) are much pricier. I believe TI offers one model going up to 60 MB, the highest I've heard for 2-1/2" drives. >Memory seems to be one place that companies can REALLY take your >money. Most companies require you to purchase their special >proprietary memory at $200-$300 for an additional 2 Meg. AST seems to >be an exception. They use standards SIMMs, although their literature >seemed a little ambiguous as to whether you need to purchase a special >part for the first upgrade. Why don't all companies just use SIMMs? Memory is another of the hidden costs one must beware of. Some companies are worse than others in this regard. Another item distinguishing one from another might be *simultaneous* support for laptop screen and external VGA monitor; most run one or the other. Another (he said hopefully) might be support for an *internal* charger allowing one to use a simple power connection (like we do with our rechargeable shavers) rather than those awful power cubes. ---------------------- uunet!media!ka3ovk!raysnec!shwake shwake@rsxtech
tim@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Tim Lowery) (01/23/91)
In <b2tn02fN04Vk01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> jdg00@ccc.amdahl.com (Josh Grosse) writes:
]I hear that the 4.4 lb 286/VGA notebook marketed by TI/Sharp/Compuadd
]will have a 386 out in just two or three months. It is supposed to have
]a 40 Mbyte drive as compared to the 20 Mbyte the 286 has. I assume it is
]a 2.5" Conner, just like the current model. This information comes to me
]2nd hand and not from any representative of the vendors.
I remember seeing a "pre-production" review of the 386SX model
about a month ago. As I recall, this unit would list for around $5500.
Are these guys trying to compete with Compaq for the title of most expensive
computers, or what?
Tim
--
tim.lowery@SanDiego.NCR.COMed@hpfcmgw.HP.COM (Ed Arnold) (02/08/91)
> It seems that there is race to get 386SX notebooks out. I've heard a > lot of different reports and promises for when products would be > ready. A Zeos salesperson told me their company was the ONLY 386SX > notebook now shipping (I don't believe him). I don't know if Zeos is the only company shipping systems, but they are definitely shipping. I know because I'm writing this response to you from one in a hotel in LA. I LOVE IT! It's powerful and light and the price was better than the other vendors when I did my comparison. When I called Zeos to order my unit, they said they had a 3 week back-order, I ordered the unit and three weeks later (to the day) it was on my doorstep. I also ordered the 2400 baud modem and an extra battery-pack, it's very powerful. Ed Arnold (ed@hpfcla.hp.com)
mto@gte.com (Tamer Ozsu) (02/13/91)
In article <8700001@hpfcmgw.HP.COM> ed@hpfcmgw.HP.COM (Ed Arnold) writes: >> It seems that there is race to get 386SX notebooks out. I've heard a >> lot of different reports and promises for when products would be >> ready. A Zeos salesperson told me their company was the ONLY 386SX >> notebook now shipping (I don't believe him). > >I don't know if Zeos is the only company shipping systems, but they are >definitely shipping. I know because I'm writing this response to you from one >in a hotel in LA. I LOVE IT! It's powerful and light and the price was better >than the other vendors when I did my comparison. When I called Zeos to order >my unit, they said they had a 3 week back-order, I ordered the unit and three >weeks later (to the day) it was on my doorstep. I also ordered the 2400 baud >modem and an extra battery-pack, it's very powerful. Let me add my vote in support of Zeos 386SX as a machine which has excellent price/performance characteristics. I received my machine yesterday and even though I have not done a full test on it, the machine seems very solid. It is light and fast and will fit on my shoulder tote (which is very important). It was delivered in exactly 3 weeks, without any hassle (except that the recharger and the spare battery pack is backordered). I had asked for additional memory and the internal modem to be installed and they were. Everything seems to work without any problems. I tried the backlighting under various light conditions and the screen is very readable. I have to get used to the keyboard, but that's to be expected. Actually, there was a review of the Zeos 286 in the last issue of Byte where it was chosen as the machine with the best price/performance characteristics. So I was expecting to be very satisfied with 386 version as well. I don't think I will be disappointed. ==Tamer -- M. Tamer Ozsu Telephone: (617) 466-2098 GTE Laboratories Fax: (617) 290-0628 40 Sylvan Road Internet: mto@gte.com Waltham, MA 02254