Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!sri-unix!rutgers!mcnc!ece-csc!ncrcae!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpcea!hpsrla!hpsrlc!waynec
From: waynec@hpsrlc.HP.COM (Wayne Cannon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: How IBM-compatible is the HP 150?
Message-ID: <3590008@hpsrlc.HP.COM>
Date: Sat, 17-Oct-87 07:23:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpsrlc.3590008
Posted: Sat Oct 17 07:23:45 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Oct-87 23:47:52 EDT
References: <1768@ho95e.ATT.COM>
Organization: HP Network Measurements Div - Santa Rosa, CA
Lines: 27

As a 150 user of the last 4 years:

The 150 is one of the nicest terminals available, including graphics and
a very nice font.  It does require a computer with drivers that
understand how to talk to HP terminals.

As a computer, I have been very happy with the 150, but more and more
programs take advantage of and require absolute IBM compatibility.  All
well-behaved programs using straight DOS calls work fine.  Programs that
use graphics, full-screen manipulation, or that bang the hardware
directly will not work.  There is a very good public domain BIOS
emulator that improves compatibility significantly.  There is also a
pretty extensive library of popular programs specifically for the 150
(e.g. 1-2-3), however, they are beginning to suffer from lack of current
updates.

Micro-discs are only compatible with IBM if you have the latest (3.2)
version of DOS and HP's double-sided disc drives.  5 1/4 are IBM
compatible, including formatting, if you have the HP 9127 drive.

The 150A comes with two serial ports, one HP-IB (IEEE-488), and no
parallel ports standard, and the two board slots will support such
boards as EMM, Centronics, HP-HIL (for HP mice), HP-IL for low-cost
peripherals and HP portable inteface.  The base machine is quite
flexible in assigning serial ports for MODEM or peripheral use, even
without any DOS or discs (it defaults to a full-featured HP2623 graphics
terminal).