Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!portal!atari!trh
From: trh@atari.UUCP (T R Hall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Two New Computer Announcements - CeBIT
Message-ID: <2885@atari.UUCP>
Date: 27 Mar 91 19:23:29 GMT
References: <1991Mar14.033302.10763@udcps3.cps.udayton.edu> <1991Mar17.095612.26923@ariel.unm.edu>, 	<2867@atari.UUCP> <gbux2Yy00WC0ImXbxT@andrew.cmu.edu>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 77

mc4c+@andrew.cmu.edu (Mark Choi) writes:

>> As the designer of said notebook-ST(e), I have held off introducing
>> the subject, but as long as you brought it up ...
>> ...
>Hey, guy, good work!
>	But... Why no monitor port, I want colour graphics!	(1)
>....And a floppy drive
>is a must. almost all PC notebooks got 'em, and if Atari ever wants to
>sell to anyone other than current atari faithful, they had better follow
>the competition.						(2)

> ....DS/DD is archaic! We need 1.44 meg, not just for this
>notebook, but for all ST/TT's.					(3)
> ....Also, without a cartridge port,
>unless D.Small makes his internal emulator, there will be no Mac market.
>This is too bad.						(4)

> ....I write this in the hope that enough			(5)
>external pressure will force a redesign.

	Hopefully, if I post this I won't have to repeat it too often:

     1) I didn't include a monitor port for a couple of reasons:
	A) Power
	    The graphics shifter/video drive circuitry uses almost as much
	    power as the rest of the system put together. Since the machine
            is specifically designed for PORTABLE usage, I made the (fairly
            reasonable) assumption that you aren't going to carry a color/mono
            monitor around with you.
	B) Space
	    Hey, I tossed out ANYTHING I didn't feel was required in a PORTABLE
	    machine, to make the machine as small as possible.

     2) If you look at the so-called competition (Intel-based machines) I think
        you will find that the "note-book" sized units include EITHER a floppy
        or a hard disk, but not both. Since this machine was mosty intended to
        allow desktop-ATARI users to take specific data/applications with them
        on the road, I felt that loading data/programs into the internal Hard
	Drive would not be a hardship. Would you rather carry a hard-drive
	machine, or a floppy machine with a bunch of floppies that you have to
	swap in-and-out?
	As far as data transfer, both the Notebook and Pad versions of the
	machines will include file-transfer software in the ROMS, transfering
	over parallel-ports to other ST's, and serial ports to non-ATARI
	machines (hopefuly with an existing protocol, so Atari won't have to
	write [shudder!!] MS-DOS software).

     3) Look for high-density floppies, both in desktop machines and in an
	external (probably battery-operated) floppy drive for the ST notebook
	(or whatever its final name is). We may be slow, but we ain't
	Blind/Dumb.

     4) Both the STPad and STBook have an "expansion" port that includes all
	address and data lines, bus control lines, R/W and a number of ROM
	select lines. ALL of the signals needed for the "cartridge port" are
	present on "expansion port", so a conversion device need only consist
	of two connectors, a PC-board, and a housing. I'm sure some
	enterprising developer will make such available at a reasonable price.
	Even better, maybe "cartridges" will be upgraded to take advantage of
	new features.

     5) Maybe we should take a vote: Should we let everybody add their 2 cents
	to the design, increase the size of the machine, delay it a few months/
	years, increase the price, etc? :) :) :) :) :) 8) 8) 8) 8^) 8^) 8^)


	Oh, incidently, in the reprint from Tom Harker (ICD) he mentions that
the note-book machine has JEIDA cards. He was a little confused; The note-book
machine has the hard-drive as storage, the PAD machine has JEIDA cards, but NO
hard-drive (the pad is intended to be hand-held; one twist and BOOM! the
hard-drive would crash).

						TRH

[PLEEEEAAAASSSEE note the smileys above! don't send me votes/suggestions/etc;
it's hard ENOUGH to get through my mail/news each morning.]