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From: gcw20877@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (George Wang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
Subject: Re: Dataworld LP-320 analysis
Message-ID: <1990Dec6.164923.5100@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 6 Dec 90 16:49:23 GMT
References: <1990Dec4.223137.23174@aeras.uucp>
Sender: news@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 61

In article <1990Dec4.223137.23174@aeras.uucp> andrew@aeras.uucp (Andrew Ward) writes:
>In response to the inquiries on the Dataworld LP-320 laptop, I have
>the  following comments:
>
>It does not run Windows 3.0 exactly properly.  For one, it absolutely
>does NOT run any background processes. Data World confirms this,
>and blames it on the VGA bios they used a consultant to develop. 
>They say they may try to fix it in the future, but not in the near future. 
>It also seems to lock up occasionally when running other applications
>in the foreground 
>
I am just wondering what VGA bios is in your machine.. The Zeos
386-DX20 appears to be the SAME exact machine as the dataworld
and the zeos comes with a CIRRUS LOGIC STINGRAY 4+ VGA BIOS version
1.10 I believe.. What version is yours? When I tried windows 3.0
on my machine I think a lot of programs (such as PROCOMM) appeared
on the screen as BLANK.. I tried messsing with the advanced PIF
options such as EMULATE TEXT mode and I think then Procomm worked...
But I'm not sure about other programs... And yes, it did seem
that programs didn't work in the background... Could you explain
exactly what you meant when you said it doesn't work? Does the
machine lock up or does the display go blank?


>The anomalies are why a 16 Mhz 386 has a higher compute index
>than a 20 Mhz 386, and why there was an increase in performance
>in one of the CI results on the LP-320.
I too have noticed this!! I suspect that the internal bus may
be limited somehow in the laptop.. I think the motherboard may
have been designed non-optimally.. I've got a 5.25" 1.2 meg drive
attached externally and based on FASTBACK transfer rates the
external floppy iS REALLY SLOW!! (about 1 MB/MIN) while the internal
3.5" gives a transfer rate of about 2-3MB/MIN !!... Norton's Advanced
4.5 only gave me a SI index of 19.4 (though I run a PD program
called SPEEER which lowers refresh rate to give a SI index of 21.5 !!)
I think other clone 386-dx20 desktop motherboards gives SI
index of 21-23 right??

>
>A couple weird things: The power switch on the rear is a rocker
>switch. If you set it down on a non-flat surface, the PC can easily be
>turned on inside the case!  Solution: I carry it sideways, with the side
>pointing down.  The power connector is weird and if you want to
>provide a special power supply, you'll need this connector and 3
>Amps @ 15 volts.  The keyboard is kind of cheap; the space key fell
>out at the beginning, but once I reinstalled it, never a problem again,
>though I mostly plug in a separate keyboard.  There is no audible
>beep at low battery, just 15 minutes (yes: 15!) of flashing red LED.
>
I've also noticed that too! My machine one time just went on when
I put the machine in it's carry case flat on the ground.. The rocker
switch just turned on!!

George

--
George Wang
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
(217) 332-4019
INTERNET: gcw20877@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
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