[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] Olivetti M15 - Summary

kstock@isfrance.encore.fr (Kevin Stock,MIS,346,) (05/03/91)

A few weeks ago, I wrote:
>
> A friend who lives in England has offered me an Olivetti M15 computer
> for 150 pounds (about $250). His description of it was:
> 
> 	512 K RAM
> 	2 x 720 K disks
> 	portable
> 	AZERTY keyboard (ie French)
> 
> I've asked him to give me a bit more information, but I'd like to know
> if anyone knows anything about the machine, what software is available,
> how compatible it is with anything else, etc.

I've received a couple of replies, so here's the summary.

Firstly, I got in touch with my friend, who padded out the desciption with
the following information:

	RAM not expandable
	one serial and one parallel port
	port for an external floppy drive
	no problems running any software that he's tried [including graphics]
	DOS not included [which will effectively increase the price a bit]

Roberto Divia` (divia@vxdcj1.cern.ch) said that he believed the machine to
be 100% MS-DOS compatible. Robert Carter (rjc@oghma.ocunix.on.ca) was a
little more cautious: "regarding compatibility, it basically is, but it
isn't".

Robert also warned about the keyboard and the display adaptor. The keyboard
is apparently not of particularly good construction, and the display is
some kind of cross between MCGA/CGA/Hi-res CGA that not all programs can
cope with.

Russel Herman (...!lsuc!ontmoh!rwh) simply asked:

        The M20 was a dog.  What would that make an M15?

[a puppy?]

I've written directly to Olivetti in the US and the UK, but not had any
response so far.

If you can pad out this description a bit, I'd be grateful for any more
information you can give me. I'm going to buy the machine (the price is too
good to miss) and my sister will bring it over to me at the end of May, so
I need all the information I can get!


--
  ,---------------.
,-+-------------. |    Kevin Stock
| | E N C O R E | |    kstock@gouldfr.encore.fr
| `-------------+-'
`---------------'

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