toml@xrxedds.UUCP (Tom Love) (02/13/90)
i've been keeping my eye on the laptop market pretty closely for some
time now. i want a machine to serve as a combination word processor,
personal info manager/daytimer, telecomm terminal, and general
computing home away from home (where home is a sun3 or sun4
workstation). i don't need a power machine, and i'm deferring on the
hard disk mostly to save weight and money.
my priorities are, in rough hi-lo order:
1. light weight/small size - the machine's usefulness to me will
depend on it being with me all the time.
2. reasonable cost - i have a skeptical wife.
3. good touch-type keyboard - atari portfolio is right out.
4. good display - i'm currently figuring rearlit, >CGA as a requirement.
5. safe storage - read that as a floppy - i don't trust battery-backed ram.
dos compatibility is not a requirement, although odd-ball machines for
which i cannot readily or cheaply get good software are automatically
penalized.
i was initially pretty interested in the cambridge z88, but it has too
many strikes against it - dinky display, expensive 3rd-party external
floppy, utterly nonstandard, ...
i'd go for a portable which runs mac software in a minute if i could
afford it and it weighed less than 8 lbs. wallaby?
i kind of like the poquet, but i'm very dubious of its keyboard, and
its price is way too high.
i've considered the nec ultralite. its price was a major barrier,
though that seems to be coming down some (they're even showing up used
occassionally now). is it rear-lit?
the tandy 1100 FD meets many of my criteria, but i have a lot of
psychological problems with buying a radio shack product. plus, it's
a fairly large machine, volumetrically; the display is 640x200, less
than ideal; and it's not rear-lit.
the toshiba t1000 is attractive primarily for reasons of price - i can
get a used one for $400-500, new for $595. the display is a major
turnoff, and (correct me if i'm wrong) i believe the battery is not
removable.
i'm generally settling in on the toshiba t1000se. it's a bit more
money than i really care to spend ($1150-1200 in the d.c. area), but
it seems to meet most of my criteria.
now, to the meat of my (many) questions: does anyone have any real
experience with the t1000se? i've read a few mini-reviews in
magazines, but nothing too substantive. i'm particularly interested
in the experience of anyone who's lugged the thing for a period of
time. how does it work for you? durability? warranty? batttery
life? keyboard feel? display quality? is it possible to hook up a
(non-toshiba) external hard drive, preferably homebrew? how about an
external monitor? is the battery removable (i believe i read that it
is)? how heavy/bulky is the charger? does auto-resume last across
battery changes or not? how does one properly make use of memory above
640K? any good leads on prices less than $1150? (i don't qualify for
student discounts.) any hidden disadvanges to this beast? any
pointers to reviews, pro or con? anyone care to suggest alternatives
machines?
i'm also curious about the general (subtle) bashing toshiba seems to
incur in this newsgroup. what is the problem? just pricing of
add-ons? i'll probably use an external modem, but will probably have
to bend over when it comes to additional ram.
copious questions... anyone out there with copious answers? i'm
interested in as much input as i can get. post or mail, though
responses may be of sufficient general interest for posting.
thanks in advance.
tom love
Xerox Engineering Design and Documentation Systems
607 Herndon Pkwy, Herndon, VA 22070 703-787-2027
ARPA: toml.herndon@xerox.com
XNS: toml:herndon:xerox
UUCP: uunet!xrxedds!toml
{sun|rlgvax|hadron}!sundc!ra!toml
GENIE: tomlove (infrequently used)
Disclaimer: they didn't do it, i did, so leave them alone.
--
tom love
Xerox Engineering Design and Documentation Systems
607 Herndon Pkwy, Herndon, VA 22070 703-787-2027
ARPA: toml.herndon@xerox.com
XNS: toml:herndon:xerox
UUCP: uunet!xrxedds!toml
{sun|rlgvax|hadron}!sundc!ra!toml
GENIE: tomlove (infrequently used)
Disclaimer: they didn't do it, i did, so leave them alone.marmen@bcara128.bnr.ca (Rob Marmen 1532773) (02/14/90)
I have replaced my Atari 1040st with the new T100SE, and have finally got my dining room back! I am using it as a home terminal. The communications package is procomm plus. I've just ordered a Megahertz MNP5 internal modem which just hit the market two weeks ago. It hasn't arrived yet. One disadvantage: Plan on purchasing a RAM card if you want to use ramdisk. PROCOMM PLUS fits on RAMDISK with only 30K left over. No complaints so far. I will try to respond to your letter via email so as not to tie up the net (or bore others ;-) ) regards, rob... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | Robert Marmen marmen@bnr.ca OR | | Bell Northern Research marmen%bnr.ca@cunyvm.cuny.edu | | (613) 763-8244 My opinions are my own, not BNRs |
perry@key.COM (Perry The Cynic) (02/15/90)
In article <TOML.90Feb12121853@nighthawk.xrxedds.UUCP> toml@xrxedds.UUCP (Tom Love) writes: > [...] > now, to the meat of my (many) questions: does anyone have any real > experience with the t1000se? i've read a few mini-reviews in > magazines, but nothing too substantive. i'm particularly interested > in the experience of anyone who's lugged the thing for a period of > time. how does it work for you? durability? warranty? batttery > life? keyboard feel? display quality? is it possible to hook up a > (non-toshiba) external hard drive, preferably homebrew? how about an > external monitor? is the battery removable (i believe i read that it > is)? how heavy/bulky is the charger? does auto-resume last across > battery changes or not? how does one properly make use of memory above > 640K? any good leads on prices less than $1150? (i don't qualify for > student discounts.) any hidden disadvanges to this beast? any > pointers to reviews, pro or con? anyone care to suggest alternatives > machines? Well, I don't have mine yet, but I will any day now (says my dealer :-). And of course, before I plunked down my money, I looked at it for some time. So, here is some information in no particular order: It's about 6lbs. I've worked with one for several hours on end (in the store), and I like its feel. The keyboard is reasonable for a laptop; the keys are full-travel with a gentle pressure point (and nary a click); it has a separate overlay-lock key (distinct from Num-Lock), and separate page-up/page-down/ home/end keys on the side. The F-keys are on top and smaller, but reasonably useful; if you're used to top-mounted function keys, you won't be surprised. The screen is - for a laptop - very good. It's 640x400, backlit, CGA, and much better than that of, say, the Compaq LTE. Also, besides standard CGA modes (4 blue-scales) with a better character matrix, it also supports the proprietary 640x400 graphic modes of the T3100 and AT&T-whatever (I forget). That MAY be a big win if your program knows about those modes. Framework III for example knows about the T3100 mode, and looks much better than in CGA mode (one of the main reasons why I bought the thing). The display has a reasonably wide viewing angle (for an LCD), and degrades gradually as you turn away. The contrast control is OK. The display panel tilts up to about 135 degrees, so you can't fold it flat (and thus, you can't read it well looked straight down on the computer). That's no problem for strict "lap" or table use though. Warranty/Service: 1 year warranty, with free "exceptional care" plan enrollment. That means that if it breaks within one year, you send it in and they send a replacement within 24 hours (you probably pay for premium shipment). The warranty is only good within the U.S., which I find disappointing esp. for a laptop. On the other hand, at least there ARE Toshiba dealers and shops around the world. The "exceptional care"/warranty can be extended (for pay). RAM: The T1000SE comes with 1MB. You can stick in 1 or 2 MB of extra RAM, but that RAM is in a new, "card" form factor that is extremely expensive. The 2MB upgrade is quoted at over $700. I consider that outrageous. Toshiba claims that the box has no space for conventional RAM cards (which I believe), and that making the RAM cards is very very expensive (which I'm not so sure I believe). Note that those "RAM cards" are normal RAM expansions; you can't take them out and keep the data on them. No matter how much RAM you have, you can split RAM over 640K at 64K-boundaries into "hard RAM" and EMS RAM. EMS is LIM3.2 standard, no problems. "Hard RAM" is a battery-backed RAM disk that stays around when you turn the machine off. In the standard model, that's 384K of RAM disk, not enough to put anything real on, but enough to keep some often-used documents and utilities. If you spring for the memory expansion, you may end up with up to 2.3MB of local disk (but see below for power!). Operating system: DOS3.3 is in ROM as drive C:, so it's always around at no charge, including the power management and configuration utilities (which are also available as TSR-style popups). There is a CONFIG.SYS file in ROM, but you can override it with your own version (up to 160 bytes) to be stored in nonvolatile RAM. Obscure but quite useful. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT is usually in Hard RAM. Power and battery: The charger fits into my hand (admittedly, I have large hands :-). I guess it's about 2-3lb, from memory. The battery pack is removable. An external charger is available (though outrageously expensive). The T1000SE actually has a second, back-up rechargeable battery that keeps memory alive when your main battery is exhausted. Only for a while, of course. Battery life is a good question. I've called up Toshiba tech support (surprisingly competent, actually). They claim that it, well, varies. Expect anything from 3 to 6 hours, depending on configuration. Using the internal modem is bad for battery life (unsurprisingly); there is a software control to turn off power to the modem and/or serial port if you like. The more RAM you have, the more power it draws. Feeding 2MB more RAM will cost you an hour or two per charge. Note also that Hard RAM gets fed (on standby) even if you turn the machine off. That means that eventually your box exhausts the battery even if it's turned off. With 384K of Hard RAM, that's weeks or months. With 2.3MB, it may be only days. I don't know about that part (I don't consider the RAM expansion to be viable right now). There's this feature called "Autoresume". If it's on, and you turn off the machine, it keeps all of memory alive. The net effect is that when you turn it back on later, it picks up where you stopped (inside your program). The price is, of course, that you consume some battery power even though the box is off. Eventually (after a few days on a full charge), the main battery goes low, autoresume turns off automatically, and you lose your saved state. This appears to happen somewhat before the battery runs totally out, which is nice because the same battery keeps your Hard RAM alive. Autoresume can of course be disabled; my cut is to keep it off for storage, and turn it on when I expect to do some serious work. If you recharge your machine every evening or two, it shouldn't matter. Oh yes, the internal backup battery keeps things alive while you change battery packs. I think (I'm not sure) the backup battery is actually charged from the main battery. If you have a sack full of extra batteries (under $60 a piece), you can string them along as much as you like. Takes about 20 seconds to switch, and with Autoresume you can do it while in the middle of a program. The floppy disk drive is for 1.44MB FDs, and for me is going to serve as the main storage medium. The drive has 94ms access time, which is pretty good for a floppy drive (it's faster than the original T3100 harddrive :-). It's clear that you're not racing along here, but if you organize your work reasonably, it's bearable. (Don't run data base programs here, kids.) Apropos speed: that's a 80C86 at about 10MHz. It's faster than an XT and slower than an AT, closer to the AT side. Unless you intend to crunch numbers, it's reasonably fast. There's no coprocessor socket. You can slow the processor down to 4.77MHz should you feel particularly masochistic, but I doubt that it will help you much to conserve power. There is no external monitor port. For me, that's not a great loss. Note that an external CGA-compatible monitor port would actually produce a worse picture (less resolution) than the LCD display. Ports: one serial (9-pin), one parallel (15-pin). The parallel port can be configured as a bidirectional expansion port (e.g. for an external floppy), T1000-style. You can stick an internal 2400bps modem in. Beyond that, there is absolutely no free space in it. There's no prayer for an internal harddrive (unless, maybe, they take out the floppy drive for it, but I doubt that would work). I've heard talk about an external battery-driven harddrive that attaches to the parallel port, but I'm waiting for more information right now. Preliminary quote on that one would be $500-$700 (unsure) for 40MB. Needless to say, that's not a Toshiba product, and it's anybody's guess what that would do to battery lifetime. The T1000SE doesn't come standard with a bag. The thing they sell as a bag is pretty flimsy (cloth); its main attraction is that it has a shoulder strap. If you carry a bag of reasonable size, you're probably better off putting the machine in there. Prices: I got mine for $1175. Please don't mortify me by mentioning better ones to me now :-). That's San Francisco Bay Area. Hidden disadvantages? Hm. Well, it's impossible to cut yourself on the Cutting Edge of technology with this box. It's a utility laptop without glamour, and I'm sure there's people out there calling it already obsolete. I sure didn't buy it because I think it's the most wonderful thing around; it's simply the best I want to afford. I ran it against the Compaq LTE (XT version), and it won, mostly because of its display (much better) and price (1/2). I can live without a harddrive (just barely :-), and will use mine as an "auxiliary" machine to augment my desktop "main" PC. I wouldn't recommend the T1000SE as anyone's "one and only" PC; for that, it's simply not adequate. Go for at least a T1200HB or Compaq LTE for that. I've seen a couple of reviews, but none that are particularly informative. Magazines tend to concentrate on the sexy high-powered or particularly odd models, which the T1000SE is not. BYTE ran a review a few months ago. I think I've rambled on long enough now. I hope all this helps you. If anybody is interested, I could come back and report on long-term experiences in a couple of weeks. If my dealer comes through :-). So long -- perry -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Perry The Cynic (Peter Kiehtreiber) perry@arkon.key.com ** What good signature isn't taken yet? ** ...!pacbell!key!perry
pwong@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Patrick Wong) (02/16/90)
In article <1454@key.COM> perry@arkon.key.COM (Perry The Cynic) writes: > >Ports: one serial (9-pin), one parallel (15-pin). The parallel port can be >configured as a bidirectional expansion port (e.g. for an external floppy), >T1000-style. You can stick an internal 2400bps modem in. Beyond that, there is >absolutely no free space in it. There's no prayer for an internal harddrive Don't forget to mention the expansion port, which is basically a 100-pin connector. Any expansion in the future will go thru this connector. I am hoping that the Toshiba engineers will consider the use of this connector for an external harddisk. I will hate myself if I have to buy the serial harddisk by Weltec in the future. As I always say to myself, 100 pins are a lot of pins ! Therefore, I think T1000SE has a lot of potential for expansion/upgrade ! Patrick Wong -----------------------------------pcw@squid.graphics.cornell.edu
wasg@oort.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) (02/17/90)
I'm thinking about getting one of these. Any pointers to the best dealer/price? I'm not sure about the net.etiquette of such a thing, but if you email me, I can either post a summary, or mail a summary to others interested in purchasing the machine. -- This is not a .signature line... Eric Salituro @ Rice University Houston TX 77251-1892 (713) 527-8101 x2474 Life is like a metaphor. INTERNET: wasg@rice.edu
wayne@csri.toronto.edu (Wayne Hayes) (02/18/90)
In article <869@bnrgate.bnr.ca> marmen@bcara128.bnr.ca (Rob Marmen 1532773) writes: >No complaints so far. I will try to respond to your letter via email so as >not to tie up the net (or bore others ;-) ) Please, bore us! :-) I don't find it boring, and I'm sure I'm not the only one hungry for information on this so-far-sounds-great machine! -- "C is a language that provides you plenty of rope. You will likely end up getting seriously tangled in it if you're not careful." -- CSRI C intro. Wayne Hayes INTERNET: wayne@csri.toronto.edu CompuServe: 72401,3525
pc@ukc.ac.uk (R.P.A.Collinson) (02/18/90)
In article <1990Feb17.234752.20884@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> wayne@csri.toronto.edu (Wayne Hayes) writes: >In article <869@bnrgate.bnr.ca> marmen@bcara128.bnr.ca >(Rob Marmen 1532773) writes: >>No complaints so far. I will try to respond to your letter via email so as >>not to tie up the net (or bore others ;-) ) > >Please, bore us! :-) > Yes, more please. It is just so hard to cut through sales hype and find out about these machines.