VT100 emulators

[Dave Haynie]

in article <3014 at ihlpe.ATT.COM>, stuart at ihlpe.ATT.COM (S. D. Ericson) says:
> Keywords: VT100, emulation
> Summary: Cheap Toshiba Portable
> Xref: cbmvax comp.sys.misc:1618 comp.unix.questions:8368

> In article <10383 at udenva.cair.du.edu>, R. Neitzel writes:
>> Due to a small windfall, I am now able to afford a small computer.
>> I want to be able to use the system to access the UNIX machines at
>> school. My budget limit is about $800-900, so I figure on looking at
>> the following systems: C64, C128, Apple IIx. My question is: what
>> VT100 emulations are available if any for these machines? If not a
>> VT100, what about other common terminals? Will they give true 80x24
>> lines? 

The C64 won't give you a real 80 column display; it's only capable of doing 
320x200 pixels, so you're stuck with a maximum of 40x25 using 8x8 characters, 
though some terminal emulators give you 80x24 or 80x25 by creating very thin
characters.  Not something I'd recommend for long term use.

The C128 has a built-in 80 column display that'll give you nominally 80x25
characters using an 8x8 cell.  It hooks up to a standard IBM style RGBI 
(4 bit digital --> 16 colors) color monitor or a monochrome composite monitor.  
Some folks have managed to squeeze 760x600 or so pixels out of the C128 80 column
display in interlace mode, but that's too flickery for normal telecom use.

The C128 and C64 have the advantage of being able to use the dirt cheap Commodore
1670 1200 baud modem.  This comes with a VT100 emulator for the C128 which isn't
perfect, but is currently being fixed at Commodore.  The disadvantage of 
either machine is that they don't work well beyond 1200 baud; the C128 might
do 2400 OK with the right terminal emulator, but the C64 can just about handle 1200.

I don't know much about the Apple II series these days, though you can get real
close to an Amiga500 + Monitor + Modem for around $1000.  It can use just about
any monitor and any RS-232 modem.  There are at least two freely-redistributable
VT100 emulators which are good enough to run GNUmacs, uEmacs, VN, and CCalc
without a hitch.  I think the one called HandShake passes the complete VT100
test suite that was posted hereabouts a year or two ago.  All Amigas can give
you a fair 80-90 column display, which 25 lines non-interlaced or 50 lines
interlaced (some folks don't mind this interlace flicker, some do).  There are also
more sophisticated and free telecom tools for the Amiga, like a VT200 emulator
and some serial-line networking tools.  

-- 
Dave Haynie  "The 32 Bit Guy"     Commodore-Amiga  "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {ihnp4|uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: D-DAVE H     BIX: hazy
		"I can't relax, 'cause I'm a Boinger!"