ppicot@irus.rri.uwo.ca (Paul Picot) (02/05/91)
After a five month search for the perfect laptop, I finally found
a satisfactory one. First, my search criteria:
- 286 or 386 processor
- Backlit VGA strongly preferred, EGA acceptable
- minimum 2 hour battery life, field-replaceable
- minimum 20 MB hard disk and 1.44 MB floppy
- minimum 1.0 MB memory
- minimum 1 serial, 1 parallel port
- less than 8 pounds and must fit in my backpack
- price not stratospheric (ie, not Compaq)
Five months ago, the total number of portables that fit the bill
(and were shipping) was zero. Now there are about six. Rather
than waste bandwidth on detailing the faults in all the machines I
looked at, here is a mini-review of the one I finally chose and
bought.
The Panasonic CF-270 Notebook Computer: First Looks.
This notebook seems to have been overlooked in recent reviews of
laptops in BYTE and PC Magazine. That may be because of its recent
arrival on the market (mid-December), or Panasonic's less-than-
enthusiastic ad campaign. In any event, the omission is unjust, as
this is a fine machine, and at a price that is sure to cause some
worry at Zeos and Toshiba.
Basic Specifications:
Processor: 80C286, 16 MHz, Optional 80C287 is user installable
Memory: 1,3 or 5 MB (user installable in 2MB increments)
Size: System: 12.2 x 10.0 x 1.73 in. (310 x 254 x 44 mm)
Charger: 3.75x2.4x1.4 in. (95x60x35 mm), 6ft (182cm) cord
Weights: System with battery: 6.5 lb (2.95 Kg)
Battery: 12 oz (340g)
Charger: 9 oz (260g)
Keyboard: 84 keys, 3.5mm travel, external keyboard jack
Display: 7.6x4.6 in. (192x116 mm) 640x480 pixel VGA, fluorescent
sidelit, 32 grey scale, external monitor jack
Drives: 20 MB hard disk (19 ms) and 1.44 MB 3.25 in. floppy
Battery: 12V, 1.4AH NiCad, 3 Hr rated life, 2 Hr charge time
Ports: 1 serial, 1 parallel, keyboard, monitor, power in
Expansion: 4 SIMM sockets, Modem port, 80C287 socket, all user-
installable
Performance:
Norton SI(v4.5): CPU: 15.6, Disk: 5.5, PI: 12.2
Norton SI(v5.0): CPU: 7.6, Disk: 5.5, Overall:6.8, disk is
15.6 ms random, 3.7 ms track-track, 480 kB/s throughput
A user's opinions:
The first questions asked about laptops are: What is the price?,
How is the screen?, and, How is the keyboard? I don't know the US
list price for the CF-270, but in Canada it is C$2995. I got mine
at Computer Discount Warehouse (CDW) in Illinois for US$1879. With
a spare battery, shipping, duty, and taxes, it came to C$2600. CDW
was very efficient and prompt with my order.
The sidelit screen on the CF-270 is sharp and easy to read. The
lighting is very uniform, if somewhat dim under office lighting.
A switch on the left side of the machine selects one of three
brightness levels. Under bright light (outdoors), the display
looks very much like the Mac portable's (non-backlit) LCD. Under
incandescent light (at home), the lower brightness settings are
useful. The VGA screen is a boon to anyone needing to do graphics
work, although the non-standard aspect ratio may be annoying to
some. CGA graphics gets remapped to fill 400 of the 480 screen
lines, and EGA 350 and 400 line modes similarly fill only part of
the screen.
The keyboard feel is good - the key travel (3.5 mm) is less than
a normal desktop keyboard, but considerably better than the NEC
Ultralight 286V or the Sharp 6220 (and its cousins). To those of
us accustomed to an AT, the layout is good: Esc in the top left,
backslash above the return key, an inverted T cursor pad at the
bottom right, and the inclusion of F11, F12, and Pause. The
keyboard is fairly quiet, at least compared to my TRS-80 Model 100
(which has provoked fellow library patrons to throw french fries at
the user in an attempt to quiet it). An additional Fn key permits
the use of an embedded keypad and various power-management
functions.
The charger shipped with the CF-270 is a welcome surprise: it is
the lightest one I have ever seen (9 oz), yet it will charge the
battery in less than two hours with the computer off, and in less
than four with it on. The battery life is as advertised: with
medium intensity backlighting and the hard disk running 10% of the
time, you can just get three hours out of a battery. I have been
getting about two hours with the disk running almost constantly and
the backlight on full. The battery is very easy to replace: it
slides off the back of the machine after sliding a release catch
aside, a one-hand operation. A variety of power-management tricks
are used to extend battery life: the disks, LCD, serial port and
modem can each be switched off manually or automatically (after a
user-definable time interval). A Toshiba-style resume mode allows
the computer to be turned off in the middle of an application, and
turned on to resume where you left off. The automatic power
management will also enter resume mode after a user-defined length
of time. When the battery has about five minutes of life left in
it, the battery light begins to blink, along with a corresponding
beep. As the voltage drops, the beeps get longer and closer
together. When the beep is continuous, about two minutes remain
before the computer automatically enters resume mode. The speaker
can be shut off at any time by Fn-F5 to kill the beeps. While in
resume mode, a battery may be replaced. With a fully charged
battery, resume mode will keep the machine state for about four
weeks.
In Short:
The GOOD:
- a solid machine, well designed, with good power management
techniques and a sharp display. For a user who needs a 286 VGA
laptop with a floppy, this machine is certainly worthy of
consideration.
The BAD:
- The screen is not as bright as one might wish, and the non-
standard aspect ratio may be annoying to some.
- It doesn't have a handle.
The UGLY:
- It is Mac beige.
I hope this helps some people in their choice of laptop.
Although I have tried to keep this review uncolored by the gee-
whiz-look-at-my-new-toy syndrome, I have to admit a certain bias in
favour of this machine. Feel free to mail me if you have any
questions. I expect to do a full power usage analysis soon, and
will post the results if interest warrants.
(Late breaking news: The Tandy 2810 is the same as the CF-270)
Paul Picot (ppicot@irus.rri.uwo.ca)
Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada