Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!van-bc!dscheidt From: dscheidt@van-bc.UUCP (Daniel Scheidt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Portfolio Keywords: I got one... Message-ID: <12@van-bc.UUCP> Date: 2 Oct 89 02:23:13 GMT Organization: Wimsey Associates, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 34 I was able to buy one here in Vancouver last Friday ($550 Canadian - so much for Free Trade). I got one of two left after the salespeople grabbed them all up. So far it's great. It conforms to the article in the October STart, except it's not MS-DOS it's DIP-DOS which appears to be much the same thing. I thought I would be the last person to buy an MS-DOS compatible machine, but fortunately ram-disk based .BAT files work almost like an alias file - I have ls, rm, cp, pwd, etc. now so I feel more at home. Yes, the keyboard is small (as is the whole machine - fits in the breast pocket of a suit jacket) but it is just fine for my 4 fingers+thumb style of typing. The space bar seems low due to a ridge around the edge of the keyboard, but I can live with that. The good part is the ROM-based applications - they provide a completely integrated environment with text editor, calculator, spreadsheet, database and appointment calendar. The user interface includes windows, menues, and single-stroke command keys - all on an 40x8 screen. It's really quite remarkable for such a tiny machine. And, if you can believe it, ATARI actually provides a complete and comprehensive manual (249 pages). So... why did I buy it? Now I can finally get my address book "on-line" where I can back it up - no more fear of loosing that precious little black book. And now I have a calender and appointment book that doesn't end at the end of December (at least not until December 2049). These may seem like trivial reasons (I still working on convincing my wife that they are not), but I expect I will use this little box every day for the next few years at least. And it really does come with batteries included... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Daniel Scheidt Computed Music Systems djs@scheidt.wimsey.bc.ca Vancouver, BC, Canada ...uunet!van-bc!scheidt!djs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -