Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!well!dsmall
From: dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: THE MAC LAPTOP and STacey
Message-ID: <14885@well.UUCP>
Date: 9 Dec 89 23:59:34 GMT
References: <891201.08100897.017890@SFA.CP6>
Reply-To: dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small)
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 59


I'm writing this on a Stacy - 4 (4 mb RAM / 40 meg hard disk) in Mac
mode, using a Spectre GCR.

	Good News! FCC has approved Stacy, Atari announced Wednesday night
online. While I am under nondisclosure and must limit what I say, I think
it's safe to say that Atari has really pushed hard to get Stacy out the door
and in a good, usable form. Atari has also done things to help us here
at Gadgets ensure that all is well with the GCR on Stacy, up to & including
the Tramiels.

	THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PRICE, AND DON'T SAY I SAID SO, but I was
told the pricing on a 4/40 unit, like this one, might be $2500. You can do
the math yourself to figure how many Stacys you can buy for one Mac portable.

	I also have to say that as cynical as I am, after years of Atari-
watching, that there have been good things happening there that I wouldn't
have dreamed of happening even six months ago. Yes, there are problems and
weak points. However, there are good things happening as well, which to me
show signs of maturity and acknowledgement that US software developers are
essential to Atari's future. We could be witnessing the end of Atari's
troubled adolescence.

	On the Stacy: I find the screen very nice to work with. The much
overhyped "mouse movement" stuff is no big deal; it just takes getting used
to, just like getting used to a mouse in the first place. The Conner hard
disk is very fast indeed, and the machine seems 100% compatible with
everything.
Obviously, this is a musician's dream for MIDI applications.

	I found it *highly* entertaining that Apple put up very bright
tracklights above their Mac Portable display at Comdex. Anyone who's tried
it in normal to dim light knows why. Atari made the right move offering
backlighting; as a Toshiba 1200 HB owner, I'm hooked.

	Apple went for a meg of static RAM(!) (!!!!!!!), whereas Atari
uses the more power-hungry dynamic RAMs, which cost a heck of a lot less.
The down side, of course, is reduced battery life. After testing, I do not
recommend batteries for a 4 meg / hard disk unit *at all*; those d-rams
pull some kinda amps. (Maybe a Gates lead-acid battery would be up to it?)
I'd expect the 1-meg floppy units to do pretty well.  But look, I almost
always use this thing where AC is available, just like one of the higher
powered Toshiba units; the advantage is portability. No monitor to lug, no
drives to lug, cables, etc. If you want a battery-portable, go 1 meg /floppy;
if you want what I've got, go 4 meg/hard disk. The price is *really* right.

	Atari has also announced that developers get a 50% discount.

	This is beginning to look like one of the great deals in computerdom.
I expect that *very shortly* we'll get the T-16 accelerator on this, so
we can get around true 12 mhz throughput; we'll get pc-Ditto or PC-Speed;
and then we have a killer laptop.
	
	Good job, Atari. Keep it up!

	-- thanks, Dave / Gadgets

p.s. I want to publicly deny the rumour that Ken Badertscher is planning on
asking out Cindy Claveran (now back with Atari for a bit (!!) ). (hi ken!)