Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!ames!lll-winken!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!Richard_Allen_Bretschneider From: Richard_Allen_Bretschneider@cup.portal.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Cambridge Z88 'MacLite' Portable Message-ID: <17629@cup.portal.com> Date: 26 Apr 89 14:58:24 GMT References: <8055@pucc.Princeton.EDU> Organization: The Portal System (TM) Lines: 56 > I must sadly admit that the need for a portable has hit me before Apple's own > is available. I need something in the sub-$1000 dollar range. A disk drive > is not essential. Plain text WP is fine. Speed is not a problem. > > All of this has led me to consider the Cambridge Z88 'MacLite' deal. Does > anyone out there have any experience with this package? Any better suggestions? I love my MacLite. I bought it at the MacWorld price of $650, which included the transfer cable/software and 128k RAM, and some fairly useless Hypercard software (before anyone flames, I am a Hypercard buff!) The main software is a program called Pipedream, which can be either a spreadsheet, or word document, or a mix! This is cute, but in practical transfering to and from the Macintosh, it's better to keep your documents one type or the other. The transfer utility also does conversions, so Pipedream documents can be translated on the fly (between the ML and Mac) to or from WKS (a format which both Excel and Full Impact support) or MacWrite 4.5 (Which both Word and Full Write support) format. This means that the same program that moves your files to and from your Mac also does the conversion. Makes for very clean operations. The keyboard is rubberized, and the keys don't "travel" the way most keyboards do. You have to get used to it, but it doesn't take long. An optional keyboard click sound makes this work easier, but you'll probably turn it off once you've gotten used to the keyboard. The screen is a very readable supertwist lcd. Six lines by about 9 1/2 inches wide (this is space used by a menu and an image of the document) sounds like it's cramped but works nicely. System operation is helped by a number of built in "pop up" utilities (read Desk Accessories.) There's an Index, which shows you active, but suspended, documents. These can be activated and moved in and out of in a couple of keystrokes. A filer lets you manage (copy, rename, delete, etc.) your files in memory. There are also scheduler, diary, calculator, terminal, alarm, BASIC, and a couple of other random utility programs included in ROM. I'm a professional writer and my use of the machine is specifically for writing. I use a Casio SF 7500 for most of my scheduling, and personal information management, so I can't speak to the usefulness of these utilities. I have a friend who also has a MacLite who keeps his life in it, and is very happy with its performance. I believe that Cambridge gives you 60 days to try the unit out, so your risk is low. My only advice would be to write every transaction you have with them down, as they aren't very organized. It was very helpful to me to be able to tell them exactly who I spoke with and when I placed my order each of the three times I had to call before I got my computer. (In all fairness, I ordered the machine the week they were moving, and during a period of time when they claim the machine was backordered.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ric "To know him was to love him and to Bretschneider love him was to know him." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------