Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!samsung!olivea!oliveb!amdahl!rtech!wrs!jerry
From: jerry@wrs.com (Jerry Fiddler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
Subject: Re: Toshiba T1000 - Help!
Keywords: toshiba
Message-ID: <1437@wrs.wrs.com>
Date: 9 May 91 18:18:38 GMT
References: <8853@idunno.Princeton.EDU>
Sender: news@wrs.wrs.com
Organization: Wind River Systems, Inc.
Lines: 65

In article <8853@idunno.Princeton.EDU> joes@phoenix.princeton.edu writes:
>Hi.
>
> I just bought myself a T1000 laptop. "Why?", I hear you asking. "$275" I

I have one, and I like it fine as a portable, except that the screen is
horrible in airplane lighting and its kind of big.  But I still use it
and carry it ALOT. 

> Q. What is the battery life on this thing? How long do I need to charge it,
>while it's on/while it's off? I'm taking the precaution of 'burning in' on my
>first charge for 24 hours; hope this doesn't bother the NiCad battery which I
>suspect is inside.

Like any NiCad, drain it completely before recharging it.  I think it takes
about six hours to charge completely, but 24 won't hurt it.  Battery life is
4-5 hours - a bit less if you use the floppy much.

> Q. Where is the battery? It doesn't seem to be the type which you can remove.
>Does one plug a spare battery into one of the many cryptic ports in this thing?

It's inside, and you can't replace it.

> Q. Where can I find the fabled "768K memory expansion", which I am told is
>must-have accessory (it can act as a RAM disk, I guess - does it have a low
>power mode so that the data survives while the power is off?)

It IS a "must-have".  It can be configured in various ways - as EMS memory,
as RAM disk, or as a combination of the above.  The usual is to devote 126K
of it to bring main memory up to 640K (from 512K) and use the rest as
a RAM-Disk.  And yes, it is nonvolatile, unless your battery goes dead.
I got mine from the dealer when I bought it, but I have no idea if its
still available.

> Q. How about the modem? *Is* there some internal modem for this thing? What
>does it weigh? Am I better off just dragging my Zoom 2400 box around?

Yes, there are several available, including one from Toshiba, unless they
have been discontinued by now.  Just flip through Computer Shopper.
However, any internal modem reduces the battery life by at least 30 minutes
WHETHER YOU USE IT OR NOT!  Therefore, I use a Bell 2400 baud pocket modem.
It only uses battery when I plug it in.  This is important to me cause I
do a lot of long plane flights, and I use the 4-5 hour battery life to the
max.

> Q. Software. The screen is CGA, right? (well, without the color...<grin>) Is

Yes.

>Is there a good, small comm program I can use that will let me dial up my
>friendly neighborhood Unix host and do VT100 with it?

I use Microsoft Works for most everything.  Its got a word processor,
spreadsheet, comm package, and database, all available from a common shell.
They're all very wimpy, but entirely adequate for what I usually do with my
laptop.  It all fits into the RAM-disk, which is really convenient.  The
comm program, though, is pretty slow, so I sometimes use Pro-Comm 2 if
I'm logging on for a long time.  The works comm program has vt100, but
its far from perfect.  Pro-comm 2 emulates everything.

Good luck.
-- 
Jerry Fiddler
Wind River Systems
jerry@wrs.COM   uunet!wrs!jerry