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From: zaphod@madnix.UUCP (Ron Bean)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: Atari Portfolio (summary) : More Opinions
Message-ID: <1632@madnix.UUCP>
Date: 24 Nov 90 13:18:19 GMT
References: <701@spinifex.eecs.unsw.oz>
Distribution: comp
Organization: MADNIX, operated by: ARP Software  Madison WI
Lines: 70


In Article <701@spinifex.eecs.unsw.oz>, ashley@usage.csd.oz (Ashley Aitken)
writes:
 
>        Keyboard seemed ok
 
   My only complaint is that it's hard to hit the spacebar due to the way
the case is designed. I've found that touch-typists are actually slower
than fast two- or four-finger typists, because they insist on trying to use
all ten fingers. (Note I didn't say "hunt and peck"; I don't have to hunt).
 
>        Display was very disappointing! Only 4 lines of 40 or so chars in
>        the usual display mode (ie with border). I thought this was the
>        biggest negative. I want to see at least 8 lines of 80 characters
>        or about a paragraph of text. Yes, I know it scrolls etc.
 
   You don't need the border. F5 toggles it on and off. When I was using a
Tandy Model 100, I would have preferred 40x16 (like the old Tandy 200) over
80x8, assuming I was going to reformat it later. But the M100 was extremely
slow at scrolling the display; the Portfolio is fast.
 
>        RAM is too expensive!
 
    *NOTE*: The "RAM cards" work like "disks", not "RAM". Your program and
data must still fit in about 100K of system memory (depending on the size
of the "C:" RAMdisk), unless your program is in ROM. And as you pointed
out, you can only have one card in the machine at a time.
 
>        It would of been great if they had also built into ROM a version
>        of BASIC (or some other interpreter).
 
    Unfortunately, Tandy's experience with the M100 showed that "most"
users (ie, non-programmers) preferred a spreadsheet over a programming
language. You can think of a spreadsheet as a type of interpreter...
 
>        MAC connection seemed (from what I could work out from the glossies)
>        to be only a second-rate connection compared with the PC connection.
>        The PC was parallel etc and could even control the Portfolio's
>        operation, whereas the MAC was via the normal serial type connection
>        etc. Pity they didn't make connecting simpler...
 
  The PC connection uses a SERIAL protocol over the parallel port, so it's
not very fast. The pity is that the ROM software doesn't support the serial
port, so you need some way to load the serial-transfer program. Or that
Apple decided the Mac didn't need a parallel port...
 
   If you're going to use the parallel port, you might also order a
DB25-male=>Centronics-female adapter so you can use your existing printer
cable for data transfer instead of buying a separate one (very few computer
stores stock this adapter, but some mail order places have them).
 
>                Could I effectively take notes in a lecture or meeting with
>                it?
 
   Probably not, but I suppose it would depend on how fast *you* can type
on it (not how fast someone else can or can't do it). Taking notes in the
library is a different matter; that's mostly what I bought mine for. I also
considered the Cambridge laptop (Z88?), but I didn't like the form-factor
for carrying (big and flat instead of compact like the Portfolio).
 
>                Will RAM prices come down real-soon-now?
 
   I doubt it... THERE IS NO STANDARD FOR RAM CARDS :-( Even though they've
been using them in synthesizers and such for several years now. If the
Portfolio sells well enough, there may be some 3rd-party competition, or
there may not. But check with the big mail-order companies.
 
==================
zaphod@madnix.UUCP (Ron Bean)
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