Message-ID: <820@houxf.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Nov-84 16:17:25 EST
Article-I.D.: houxf.820
Posted: Mon Nov 26 16:17:25 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Nov-84 04:34:34 EST
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Freehold NJ
Lines: 81

Several weeks ago I asked for owner feedback on the usefulness, 
reliability, etc. of the PCjr. Here are the only responses I received.
Thanks to you who responded.

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I have a PCjr. extended model (128K and diskette drive) with a 128K add-on
unit on the side, which I'm quite happy with.  I use it as a terminal and
for some local editing.  (I use Kermit for terminal emulation and file
transfer.)

With two exceptions, reliability has been good.  The day after I bought
it, the diskette drive shorted out.  They replaced it the next day.
The new type-writer style keyboard leaves a little to be desired.  It seems
to miss characters about 10% of the time, especially the space bar.  I
haven't taken it in for replacement so I don't know whether my keyboard is
standard or defective.

I have Personal Editor.  It's pretty good.  (I use emacs on my school's
Unix system, so I'm spoiled.  Personal Editor is command driven, using lots
of function keys and PF keys.  Maybe Professional Editor would be better for
your family, it's menu driven.  I edit program text, mostly.

Microsoft has a clock-calendar-RAM unit you can add on.  I haven't seen it
yet, but it might be worthwhile.  Since the PC only has one disk drive, I
like to put stuff in a RAM disk.  Having extra memory is nice.  To get more
than 256K with the IBM add-on's, you have to buy a power supply add-on, but
Microsoft's unit (PCjr. Booster, I think it's called) uses built-in batteries.

The Basic provided with the machine doesn't have a lot of the things that the
cartridge Basic has (e.g., ability to write on disk, advanced graphics).

IBM sells two color monitors.  The one for the PCjr. has half the resolution
of the regular PC one.  I think you can attach either one.

I also have Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.  It's very impressive.   If you
are interested in flying, I recommend it.

**********************************************************************

I recently bought a PCjr for general use. With the recent upgrades IBM
made to it, it can do everything a PC can, though one has to go to
other parties if one wants to add a hard disk (IBM does not support
one) or expand to 640K (IBM only supports expansion up to 512K).  

I can't say much about reliability, except to say I've had no problems
with it during the first two months.  I have something called a "PCjr
Color Dislay" which is quite satisfactory (though there is some
noticable barrel distortion which you wouldn't get with a dedicated
text display or a more expensive RGB display).  Included with the
package I got was what they call "Cartridge Basic", and it is quite
good, especially in its support of the PCjr's graphics.  Finally, as
far as educational software, I wouldn't know.

**********************************************************************


I have a PCJr and I love it.  In fact, I'm using it right now
as a home terminal.  I think it is a wonderful machine to have
at home--powerful enough to run most PC programs, but affordable.

I got mine at a Sears Business Systems Center.  They have been having a
very good sale on a package deal which includes a Tecmar Jr. Captain
add-on board, a device which adds 128K extra memory, a parallel port
and a clock calendar, and either the Sears TV/RGB monitor or the
PCJr monitor.  I have the Sears unit, and it is great--80 col RGB,
composite video and a TV, all for less a list price than the PCJr
monitor.  The dot pitch of the Sears unit is smaller than the IBM PCJr
monitor--this means characters (which are rarely as good on a RGB
monitor as on a monochrome monitor) are sharper.  One problem with the
Sears--it can't sit directly on top of the PCJr--it seems to give the
drive read errors.  Placing it atop a stand 3" above the PCJr works fine.

If you have any further questions feel free to ask.  And I hope you'll
summarize to the net--the PCJr is an undervalued gem.
  
*************************************************************************


                                                 Fred Klein
                                                 houxf!cfk