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From: apratt@iuvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Offhand comments on the QL - (nf)
Message-ID: <1471@pur-ee.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Jan-84 08:23:53 EST
Article-I.D.: pur-ee.1471
Posted: Thu Jan 26 08:23:53 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jan-84 05:36:28 EST
Sender: notes@pur-ee.UUCP
Organization: Electrical Engineering Department , Purdue University
Lines: 25

#N:iuvax:400005:000:1235
iuvax!apratt    Jan 26 00:56:00 1984

~~~~~~~ Cute message goes here ~~~~~~~

	Offhand, I have some comments about the Sinclair Quantum Leap. It
sounds fabulous at $500, but I wouldn't buy it. The main reason is the memory.
Has anybody ever heard of "on-line storage capacity"? That's the amount of
memory in RAM/DISK/TAPE (actually mounted tape) a system has at a given time.
Looks like the $499.99 model is going to have 128K+100K+100K = 328K online
storage. Compare that to a basic-model IBM with 128K+190K+190K = 448K. While
you're at it, think back to the Osborne and remember how hopelessly inadequate
the little disk drives were. The CP/M utility programs (the operating system,
really) couldn't all fit on one diskette. When I use an IBM to write/debug
C programs, I use (all of) two disk drives and 640K RAM.  I don't think
this little baby is going to make it. Note how Uncle Clive saves money: he
cuts the cost of things which end up counting most. "Who needs a real key-
board? That's just one of the high-ticket items on most computers." This time,
it's "Who needs disk drives?" I may not want to buy one, but I might buy
stock in a company selling high-capacity mass storage devices for them...

----
					-- Allan Pratt
			...decvax!ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!apratt