Cheap Laptop Terminals
Samia Benidir
samia at violet.berkeley.edu
Fri Mar 25 19:32:13 AEST 1988
In article <32179 at auc.UUCP> tab at auc.UUCP (0-Terrence Brannon ) writes:
>What company makes the T1000? What is the price?
The T1000 laptop is a Toshiba DOS-based microcomputer.
It is very light, nice and cheap (I believe it is around $700 now).
I enquired about laptops recently. I ordered a Zenith Z183 because,
apart for the system which is comparable to the powerful laptops, it
has a nicer clear, backlit display, a better, light touch keyboard, and
a good educational discount. One drawback: it is heavier that the
Toshiba laptops; so, if you are planning to carry it around, get a
Toshiba 1000 or 2200.
The following are the messages I received when I asked for
recommendations of a good laptop:
(For more information, laptops have been reviewed in the latest issue
of "PC Magazine")
Samia
_______________________________________________
>From RON%PSUVM.BITNET at jade.berkeley.edu Thu Mar 3 08:24:43 1988
I replied to your inquiry about laptops yesterday and noted that my major
complaint with the Zenith 183-92 was the 10 meg harddisk. I have just
discovered that there is a new model, the Z183-93 which has a 20 meg
disk. Our University price for the 20 meg version is only $150 more than
the price for the 10meg version.
So I really have no complaints about the Z-183 except that I wish I
had the 20 meg disk version. Hopefully I will be able to upgrade!
__________________________________
>From NUZENITH%NDSUVM1.BITNET at jade.berkeley.edu Thu Mar 3 11:42:23 1988
I own a Zenith 181 laptop with ms-dos 3.2 and 3.5" drives. It's wonderful. I
use it mainly as a desktop computer becasue it doesn't take up my entire desk
top! It batteries are rechargable are runn from 2-4 hours ( from my experince)
depending on screen intensity, drive use, and modem use. I use a CGA color moni
tor when at home ( it has a built in RGB port) and it has an excellent LCD disp
lay ( it's great to work by but lacks the color that is am used to.)
I also have an external 5 1/4" drive which make sit easy to transfer between
media ansd it has a port for an external hard disk ( Zenith sells a 20 mg versi
on) , an internal 300/1200 or 300/1200/2400 modems are available.
Memory is a full 640K and it runs at 8/4.77 mhz cpu speed.
Weight is 12 lbs..........
oh it also has an 80287 chip socket ..
well i can't think of any thing else if you have any question fell free to dro
p a line.
John R. holand
____________________________________________________
>From sun!rayssd!turbo.RAY.COM!jim at ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU Thu Mar 3 13:25:30 1988
I have a friend who is using a Toshiba laptop on a similar
trip. He is also using a portable (battery powered) printer
made by Kodak. They both look like good machines.
_____________________________________________________
>From gatech!mcdchg!heiby at rutgers.edu Thu Mar 10 09:05:24 1988
I bought the Toshiba 1200 a few weeks ago and am very happy with it.
It has 640K of memory, plus additional memory (to complete 1Meg) that
can be partitioned into "Hard Ram" (a RAM disk that doesn't go away
on re-boot) and EMS 3.2 RAM. The keyboard has a nice feel. The screen
is quite readable. It has a built in serial and parallel port. Modem
expansion is available in its internal slot, although I will probably
go with one of the new "pocket" modems. It comes with MS-DOS 3.2 and
mine came with SideKick (maybe they all do). I bought at ElekTek in
the Chicago area. (I think they advertize in Byte.) I paid $2300 plus
tax. I walked out with the computer, two boxes of 3.5" floppies, and
a DB9->DB25 adapter for the RS-232 port, with tax for under $2500.
Oops. Forgot to mention that the 1200 has a 20Meg hard disk. There
are quite a few nice touches that Toshiba has added that make it a real
pleasure to use.
--
Ron Heiby, heiby at mcdchg.UUCP Moderator: comp.newprod & comp.unix
"Intel architectures build character."
____________________________________________________
>From agate!pasteur!ames!hao!gatech!ncsuvx!cscadm!mauney Thu Feb 25 02:13:12 PST 1988
Zenith has a very nice educational discount. My campus bookstore
sells the 183 for around $2000. Toshiba also has an educational discount.
Check it out before you buy.
Jon Mauney mauney at cscadm.ncsu.edu
______________________________________________________
From: isis!aburt (Andrew Burt)
I purchased a Toshiba T-1000 for my father-in-law last week and have
been very impressed with it so far. For the $800 price tag (mail order) it
is a fantastic unit. 6 lbs, very quiet, able to handle procomm at 19200 bps
between PC's (I don't have another unit with a 3.5" floppy). Nothing
abnormal about it (e.g., regular PC clock speed, all keys are on the keyboard
(even F11, F12, keypad-"+" and keypad-Enter via a special key, screen I/O isn't
too slow). It handles CGA graphics -- by representing all non-background
colors (or possibly it's non-black -- I haven't checked) as dark on the
light background; thus you can't distinguish colors, but you can see what
is going on. They keyboard has a layout I really like; nothing is in
an annoying place and it feels comfortable to type on.
It came with sidekick, if that interests you.
I would recommend getting two floppies if you don't mind the added weight.
Or a hard disk for that matter. Check into the full Toshiba line as they
have many between the T-1000 and the top model (5100 I think). You should
be able to get plenty of bang for the buck if you spend $3K.
My father-in-law's main criteria was weight, and this is one of the
lightest laptops around.
Their accessories seem vastly overpriced ($90 for a carrying case, when
the unit itself has a hard shell and handle!), $300 for an internal 1200
bps modem (I'd sooner get a pocket modem for ~ $150), $500 for an external
5.25" floppy, etc.
I'm tempted to get one of these for myself.
If you have any questions about it feel free to ask; I don't mind pestering
my father-in-law to play with it...
--
Andrew Burt isis!aburt
______________________________________________________
>From tim at ducat.caltech.edu Thu Feb 25 10:38:39 1988
Caltech has an agreement with Toshiba to get their laptops at reasonably
good prices. You might look into something similar.
Tim
________________________________________________________
>From ucsd!sdcc6.ucsd.edu!loral!jlh at ames.arc.nasa.gov Thu Feb 25 18:17:16 1988
I, too, am investigating laptops. As far as I'm concerned the only ones
worth looking at are the Toshiba, compaq, and grid. This is due to the
screen, compare the toshiba 3100 screen with something like an NEC and
you'll see what I mean. I had a toshiba for 3 weeks to evaluate and had
no problems with it. Unfortunately, our end customers are military
contracters and we're not sure how selling them toshiba anything will go
over after their russian sub propellor fiasco.
I'd appreciate it if you could forward any replies you get to me. Thanks.
Jim
--
Jim Harkins
Loral Instrumentation, San Diego
{ucbvax, ittvax!dcdwest, akgua, decvax, ihnp4}!sdcsvax!sdcc6!loral!jlh
_____________________________________________________
>From agate!ucbvax!decvax!purdue!gatech!rebel!george Tue Feb 16 13:37:11 PST 1988
Olivetti M10 Laptop (very similar to Radio Shack Model 100/102):
32K ROM plus 32K Non-volatile RAM, just over 4 lbs.
Runs off batteries for 20 hours (or AC with 6v adapter)
Separate, rechargeable battery for RAM refresh
8 line X 40 char tiltable LCD screen, adjustable contrast
Built in 300 baud modem, system clock, bar code reader port
Parallel and Serial ports (in addition to modem)
Expansion port (may be used for external disk drives)
Keyboard has nice feel, arrow & function keys
Built in ROM based software:
Microsoft BASIC, word processor, scheduler,
address book, communications program
Operations and quick reference manuals
Soft carrying case
Direct connect phone cable for modem
Cassette recorder interface cable for additional storage
Like new condition
$150 for everything (AC adapter is not included)
Perfect as portable terminal or for data entry/storage.
--
George M. Sipe, Phone: (404) 662-1533
Tolerant Systems, 6961 Peachtree Industrial, Norcross, GA 30071
UUCP: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,rutgers,seismo}!gatech!rebel!george
____________________________________________________
>From agate!ucbvax!husc6!hao!dinl!ericson Wed Feb 17 18:29:19 PST 1988
Date: 17 Feb 88 20:20:28 GMT
--- FOR SALE ---
IBM PC-compatible Portable Computer System
ASKING $800 FOR TOTAL PACKAGE
1 Otrona Portable Computer:
8 Pounds (without auxilliary monitor)
Includes both MS-DOS 2.2 & CPM 2.2
IBM PC (8086) co-processor card with 256K RAM
upgradeable to 640K RAM
2 360K, 5.25" floppy disk drives, NEW
Disk caching
2 Serial I/O ports
Built-in Monochrome Display
Hi-resolution CRT with graphics capability
80 columns x 24 lines
Auxilliary 13" Pi2 green-phosphor monitor
GPIB interface
110/220 power
Real-time Clock
Video output port
Video and I/O cables
Software, with documentation (too many to list, but includes:
Wordstar
MultiPlan
Condor DBMS
QMODEM
PROCOMM
MODEM7
MS-BASIC
BDS C
Or make me an offer.
Eric Ericson (...!hao!dinl!ericson) 303-977-0325 / 303-681-2313
_____________________________________________________
>From agate!ucbvax!hplabs!cae780!tektronix!tekcrl!jans Tue Feb 23 23:28:25 PST 1988
Date: 19 Feb 88 16:24:11 GMT
Phoenix Leasing is doing it again -- selling factory reconditioned GRiD
portable computers at about 1/3 of list price -- only this time, they are the
current, battery operable, IBM-compatible GRiDCase line rather than the
obsolete Compass line.
The basic machine has either an LCD or plasma screen, 80C86, 512k RAM, 720k 3
1/2 inch floppy, 4 ROM sockets, RS-232 and Centronics ports, external keyboard
connector, clock/calendar, internal/external power supply, DC power jack, and
speaker, all in a rugged, die-cast magnesium case. The GRiDCase Plus adds a
larger keyboard, EMS RAM capability, and a Pocket Floppy port. A number of
options can be ordered, and will be factory installed and tested during
reconditioning.
Price Model Description
$995 1250 GRiDCase 1: LCD display.
$1075 1252 GRiDCase 2: nnhanced, supertwist LCD display.
$1500 1260 GRiDCase 3: plasma display.
$1350 1253 GRiDCase 2 Plus: enhanced LCD, 71 keys.
$1700 1263 GRiDCase 3 Plus: plasma, 71 keys.
add $300 for internal 10MB disk instead of floppy.
add $175 for internal 1200/300 modem.
add $150 for 8087 numeric processor.
add $150 for RGB color video output port.
There are also a few of the Compass computers left, from $350, and some
software, mostly for GRiD-OS -- call for details.
Contact Patti Rossi at Phoenix Leasing, 800/227-2626, for more information.
I have no connection with Phoenix, other than that of a satisfied customer. I
purchased 3 of the Compass computers last time around, and a bunch of software.
:::::: Software Productivity Technologies --- Smalltalk Project ::::::
:::::: Jan Steinman N7JDB Box 500, MS 50-470 (w)503/627-5881 ::::::
:::::: jans at tekcrl.TEK.COM Beaverton, OR 97077 (h)503/657-7703 ::::::
________________________________________________________
>From RON%PSUVM.BITNET at jade.berkeley.edu Tue Mar 1 09:06:14 1988
I am using a Zenith 183 laptop. It has a 10 meg hard disk, 3.5 floppy,
builtin modem, 640k memory and numeric co-processor. I love it. My only
2 complaints are that the disk is only 10 meg (but i think there will
be a 20 meg version soon- the manual is writtenm as if there already
was a 20 meg version but i was told not) and the speaker is very tiny
so speaker oriented programs (music generators and such) don't sound too
great.
The display is quite easy on the eyes (for a laptop). There is an rgb
jack and I often use a color monitor instead of the lcd display but
the lcd display is quite readable. It runs off of battery or ac. I also
have a great companion program for it, if you need to get files from
other machines. The program is called LAP-LINK. You connect the two
machines via the serial ports (using the 4 headed cable supplied)
and run laplink on both machines. The screen is split into two windows
one showing remote files, the other showing local files. You can then
transfer files between the two machines at 115K baud. Works great. All
in all the 183 is a great deal. We paid about $2,000.00 for our setup.
(That includes a hefty university discount)
Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you.
Ron McCarty
Behrend College
Station Rd
Erie PA 16563
814-8986252
___________________________________________________
>From moore at ncsc.ARPA Tue Mar 1 16:04:20 1988
I don't have any experience personally, but the newest issue of PC Magazine
has an article on them...(Power to Go, Vol 7 No 6).
Jim
________________________________________________________
>From alex at CS.UCLA.EDU Tue Mar 8 16:14:08 1988
I just bought a Zenith 183.
It comes with a 20mb hard disk and one 3 1/2 floppy drive.
I wouldn't buy a laptop without a hard disk. I played around
with a Toshiba 1100, a laptop with two floppies, but it was way
too slow, and it was a real pain to manipulate floppies when travelling.
The Zenith has a wonderful backlit screen. The bright blue is
easy on the eyes, and the screen doesn't have the usual
headache-inducing flicker so common in the first round of laptops.
But if the screen isn't good enough for you, there's a slot for an
optional monitor.
I also bought an 2400 baud internal modem card to go with it.
The cost:
$1999 for the 183
$359 for the modem
$154 for tax
-----
$2512
This was a special price through UCLA, but it might be available
to you UCB people as well. The modem price is on the high side,
but the convenience of an internal modem is worth it.
Let me know what other responses you got. I'm curious as to
just how good a deal got. I'm pretty happy with it now, but...
Alex
______________________________________________
>From NUZENITH%NDSUVM1.BITNET at jade.berkeley.edu Tue Mar 8 19:10:53 1988
ZENITH LAPTOPS:
The Zenith 183 is an excellent choice...but if this gentle man is associated wi
th a Unversity/college.. Zenith has an educational discount program.
I am a Zenith rep. on campus her at NDSU in Fargo ND. and Zenith has a price
of $1,799 for a Z-183, internal 1200 modems are about $240.00 and they have a
2400 baud version available also.
The Zenith laptop is the best i've used ( of which include the Z-170 . blech.
. the IBM convertible, NEC's, Toshiba ( although this is very good also))
I would reccomend the Z-183 or the Toshiba. The Toshiba has a lot a good perfor
mance reports but I prefer the Zenith laptop displays over the toshiba and this
is important to me. Also the Zenith has a 9 pin RGB port to used an external
monitor at the office.
If Contact your University Computer Center to see if the have an Educ. Discou
nt program , if not get back to me and I can ask some ppl. and see if you can
save some money.
John R. Holand
NuZenith @ NdsuVm1.Bitnet
____________________________________________________________
____________________
Tahia | ((( __/\__ |
El Djazair | ((( \ / |
Samia Benidir | ((( /_/\_\ |
samia at violet.berkeley.edu |_________|__________|
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