Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!dino!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!oakhill!jbudet
From: jbudet@oakhill.UUCP (Jim Budet)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy
Subject: Re: 1000TL W/ Windows or DESQview
Keywords: 1000TL EMS Windows DESQview
Message-ID: <3007@pooh.oakhill.UUCP>
Date: 22 Feb 90 20:54:07 GMT
References: <1990Feb19.051532.22981@Neon.Stanford.EDU> <7923@inco.UUCP>
Organization: Motorola Inc. Austin, Tx
Lines: 69

newman@inco.UUCP (Bo Newman) writes:

>I have a TANDY 1000TL and am considering going to either a WINDOWS
>or DESQView environment supported by EMS 4.0 memory.  I am
>currently running with a TANDY CGA monitor and the standard
>internal Tandy CGA adaptor that came on the machine.  My questions
>are:

>1)	Which EMS 4.0 boards are compatible with (and will fit) the
>       1000TL?

The only expanded memory board for the 1000 series is made by a company
called Micro Mainframe.  This is the same one Radio Shack sells in
their catalog.  You can order it through RS (I did), I seem to remember
that it was overpriced and didn't come populated with any RAM.  It can
hold up to 2 Megs (4 Megs with optional daughter board).  It came with
LIM 3.2 emulation SW but I was able to upgrade (from Micro Mainframe)
to version 4.0 for about $40. I would assume that all new boards are
being shipped with the LIM 4.0 driver.

The board works fine.  I have used it with PC Tool's PC-CACHE, VDISK,
and Microsoft's SmartDrv.  NOTE:  You do not need any EMS memory to
run windows on the 1000TL.  In fact I have not personally noticed
any benefits in using expanded memory with Windows.


>2)	Are there any limitations or problems in running either of
>       these packages on the 1000TL?

Yes.  The Tandy Graphics Adapter (TGA) is pitiful for something like
windows.  It will run and it will run in color but it will look
terrible and be very difficult to read.  You will need the 128k video
memory upgrade to the 1000TL before windows will boot.  Apparently
there is not enough memory availble without the upgrade.  NOTE:  The
upgrade is necessary even if you are not using the TGA since it
consumes RAM whether it is used or not.


>3)	Are either of these packages designed to run well under the
>       TANDY CGA implementation or do they require higher resolution
>       graphics capabilities?

As I said above, it looks terrible on the TGA.  I have used a Paradise
VGA Plus and now an ATI VGA Wonder and it looks very good.  These video
boards also allow for SVGA resolutions.


>Any additional comments or experiences you might be able to relate
>will be appreciated.

Alas, I have given up on running windows on the 1000TL.  Windows is a
memory hog and is slow.  I have tried using my (1 Meg.) expanded memory
as a swap disk, SmartDrv RAM disk, and as plain expanded memory.
Nothing seems to seed up windows.  If you really want to run windows I
believe that you have the wrong machine.  IMHO the only feasible
configurations seem to be Windows/386 (on a 386 machine with lots of
RAM) or the upcomming Windows 3.0 (on either a 286 or 386 with lots of
RAM, not expanded).  I am currently looking into switching programs
such as Software Carousel and Headroom to replace windows.



===============================================================================
 Jim Budet                                Usenet: oakhill!jbudet@cs.utexas.edu
 Motorola Microprocessor Products Group   Compuserve: 73177,171
 Austin, Texas                            Phone: (512) 891-3175
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 Motorola does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in this message.
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