holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Holtz) (10/16/90)
Hi. I'm looking to get a handheld or notebook computer for
text and outline processing, terminal emulation, and file transfer.
Specifically, I require
* full QWERTY keyboard for touch-typing
* reliable file storage on removable media
* >= 2400 baud internal modem
* 24x80-character display
* software available for:
* vt100 emulation w/ file transfer
* text processor (read/write ASCII) w/ WYSIWYG-style line-wrapping
* outline processing
Within these requirements, I want to minimize size, weight, and price,
and I don't care about processing speed, having a hard disk, or
operating system type.
I'm looking at the following candidates; any price info, pics, pans,
etc. would be appreciated.
* Psion MC200/MC400
* Is the software I want available?
* What's a "Quad modem"?
* Is flash eprom more rugged technology than mag disk, as would
seem likely? Is the flash eprom "drive" solid state?
* NEC UltraLite
* What's a "Silicon Disk"? Is it non-volatile? Removable? Solid
state?
* Toshiba T1000/T1000SE
* With HardRAM, can I boot, run, and shutdown without ever
spinning up the floppy drive?
* Can a SparcStation read/write its floppies?
* Panasonic CF-150
* Just a Tandy 1100 FD without DeskMate?
* Tandy 1100/1500
* Are these discounted at all?
* Does the DeskMate suite meet my software requirements?
* Can a SparcStation read/write its floppies?
--
Brian Holtz (holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM)taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com (Dave Taylor) (10/17/90)
Brian Holtz asks, in part: >* Toshiba T1000/T1000SE > * With HardRAM, can I boot, run, and shutdown without ever > spinning up the floppy drive? Yes. I rarely even have a floppy disk in the drive... > * Can a SparcStation read/write its floppies? My colleague in crime, Martin Hall, informs me that he can indeed transfer data between his T1000 (well, he has a T1200 I think. I have a T1000) and his SPARCstation... I would recommend that you check the "Portable Computing" magazine issue of about three months ago -- they have a large comparison of dozens upon dozens of laptops that you might well find interesting. A final note: I talked with Toshiba at great length a few weeks ago and they told me all about their new T1000LE that's schedule to hit during COMDEX (mid November). It's going to be, basically, a T1000SE coupled with a T1000XE; it'll have a 20MB hard disk and a 3.5" floppy drive. Of course, I forgot to ask what the retail would be on the product, but I surmise that it'll be circa $1800 and that they'll either discontinue or lower the price on their existing models. Me? I'm trading my SE in for an LE as soon as they arrive at the Toshiba PR office! :-) [Note: the T1000SE has a 3.5" floppy drive, and the T1000XE has a 20MB hard disk. Until the release of the LE, the 1000 series hasn't a machine that has, built in, both a hard disk and floppy disk, though third parties can 'make it so' for relatively vast amounts of money.] -- Dave Taylor Intuitive Systems Mountain View, California taylor@limbo.intuitive.com or {uunet!}{decwrl,apple}!limbo!taylor
emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti) (10/17/90)
In article <1420@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Holtz) writes:
* Toshiba T1000/T1000SE
* With HardRAM, can I boot, run, and shutdown without ever
spinning up the floppy drive?
yes. in fact you don't even boot, when you power up you are right
back where you started from when you powered down.
* Can a SparcStation read/write its floppies?
yes. I have done it before. use 'sparc-mtools' from comp.sources.misc.
--Ed
Edward Vielmetti, U of Michigan math dept <emv@math.lsa.umich.edu>
moderator, comp.archiveskroe@sbstaff2.cs.sunysb.edu (KiYun Roe) (10/17/90)
In article <1420@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Holtz) writes: >Hi. I'm looking to get a handheld or notebook computer for >text and outline processing, terminal emulation, and file transfer. > ... >* Toshiba T1000/T1000SE > * With HardRAM, can I boot, run, and shutdown without ever > spinning up the floppy drive? > * Can a SparcStation read/write its floppies? I think the T1000SE would make an excellent choice. Yes, you can live entirely within the HardRAM and not touch the floppy drive (although you would probably want to get the 1MB or 2MB expansion to get a decent-sized HardRAM). More importantly, Toshiba laptops come with a feature called Auto-Resume, so the state of the machine is saved when you turn it off. Thus, you don't have to wait for the machine to boot up when you turn it back on. The T1000SE has a very nice keyboard, and a relatively nice display (among the low-end of laptops, the display is quite good). Unfortunately, I don't know if a SparcStation can read/write its floppies. I can tell you that the drive is a standard DOS 1.44MB one which can also read/write DOS 720K floppies. -- KiYun Roe kroe@sbcs.sunysb.edu Department of Computer Science SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794-4400 (516) 632-7675
gt5302b@prism.gatech.EDU (R. Steve Walker) (10/25/90)
The Toshiba 1000SE has everything that you need. As you can tell, I use one. As a matter of fact, I'm typing this message on it over a 9600 baud serial line in VT100 mode. I use a 2.4MB hardRAM drive. It's handy to have in meetings because it doesn't make any noise. Although it beeps on power-off, that can be fixed by disconnecting the speaker wire inside. (the 1000SE is easy to take apart!) Although I probably couldn't live w/o the instant on/off hardRAM drive, I certainly couldn't get along w/o PC Tools deluxe. It does almost everything I ever need. I rarely use the desktop machine anymore (except to answer to phone). If you buy a laptop, buy PC Tools. If you don't, buy it anyway. If you buy PC Tools, use the Macro features. You can really do amazing things with them. i.e. At 9 each night, tomorrow's schedule is printed even though I'm running voice mail. It's great. Good luck.