Message-ID: <8800@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 1-Mar-85 00:15:09 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.8800
Posted: Fri Mar  1 00:15:09 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 4-Mar-85 05:45:36 EST
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	According to a recent InfoWorld and/or Byte (I get my
magazines mixed up: all the information just clumps together), the new
HP computer is a Unix portable. It has a 25 X 80 LCD screen, along
with Unix "artfully compressed" into 256K of ROM. It comes with a 3.5
inch floppy, but no hard disk. Supposedly, there is some neat
windowing software. Sounds wierd, but maybe good, although the ideas
of Unix being compressed into 256K and having no hard disk scare me.

ARPA: BRAIL@RU-BLUE.ARPA
UUCP: ..(ihnp4!ut-sally, allegra!packard, seismo)!topaz!ru-blue!brail
-------

Message-ID: <429@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Mar-85 12:24:30 EST
Article-I.D.: vax2.429
Posted: Tue Mar  5 12:24:30 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Mar-85 04:50:16 EST
References: <8800@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Lines: 53

> 
> 	According to a recent InfoWorld and/or Byte (I get my
> magazines mixed up: all the information just clumps together), the new
> HP computer is a Unix portable. It has a 25 X 80 LCD screen, along
> with Unix "artfully compressed" into 256K of ROM. It comes with a 3.5
> inch floppy, but no hard disk. Supposedly, there is some neat
> windowing software. Sounds wierd, but maybe good, although the ideas
> of Unix being compressed into 256K and having no hard disk scare me.
> 
> ARPA: BRAIL@RU-BLUE.ARPA
> UUCP: ..(ihnp4!ut-sally, allegra!packard, seismo)!topaz!ru-blue!brail
> -------

I had a chance to play with one of these (I'm assuming you're talking about
the "Integral" computer) and was impressed with what I saw.

The screen is not LCD, it is electroluminescent (EL).  It is an amber color.
The dot grid is identically spaced vertically and horizontially (rather than
being compressed in the horizontal dimension as is a CRT) which results in
an aspect ratio of about 3:1 instead of the usual 5:3 (?) of a CRT.  At first
the display seems small and strangely shaped, but as I began to use it I
found that the clarity of the EL display made it very comfortable to use.

The package is neat!  The top is hinged to fold back exposing the think jet
printer, the screen is hinged so that it may be adjusted up and down for the
most comfortable viewing angle, and the detached keyboard latches in place to
form a front cover.  The whole thing is quite compact and easily transportable.

Oh yes, it also has a mouse and comes with a visual shell called PAM (I think
that was Personal Application Manager, or some such) and you can direct your
commands by using the mouse.  I found PAM to be a bother and I did not figure
out how to defeat it so that I could just type in commands in the few minutes
that I had to play with it.  There was also a MacPaint-type program included
which, while not as nice as MacPaint, did demonstrate that the machine has
some powerful graphics capabilities.

As for hard disk, there is a HPIB connector on the box and I'm sure that it
knows how to talk to HP hard disks.  I haven't any idea what it would cost to
add one.  I did notice that floppy access time was not unreasonable.

The "Unix" version on this box is HPUX, HP's own, which is supposed to be a
mix of the best of both Bell (ATT?) and Berkley.  

Overall, I was very impressed.  I only spent about 15 minutes playing with the
machine and I felt very good about it.  I'd recommend that you check it out
when you get the chance.


	Craig Johnson			uw-beaver!	\
	John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.	decvax!microsof!  \
	Everett, Washington		ucbvax!lbl-csam!    >  fluke!vince
					allegra!	  /
					ssc-vax!	/

Message-ID: <202@zaphod.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 7-Mar-85 10:59:53 EST
Article-I.D.: zaphod.202
Posted: Thu Mar  7 10:59:53 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 07:00:53 EST
References: <8800@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: Develcon Electronics, Saskatoon, SK
Lines: 58

>                        ........ It has a 25 X 80 LCD screen, along
> with Unix "artfully compressed" into 256K of ROM. It comes with a 3.5
> inch floppy, but no hard disk. Supposedly, there is some neat
> windowing software. Sounds wierd, but maybe good, although the ideas
> of Unix being compressed into 256K and having no hard disk scare me.
> 
Our local H-P Office has loaned us one of their new Integrated Personal
Computers.  This is the one with the unix based OS. 

The screen is "Electroluminescent" (Plasma Panel).  I'm not sure of the
exact number of pixels, but the resolution is incredibly fine.

The unix version is supposedly system 3, which is layered under (or
maybe around is a better word) the standard H-P micro OS, including
P.A.M. and other goodies.  Although I haven't tried them, I understand
that the currently or soon to be released languages include C, Basic,
Pascal, Fortran and others.

The windowing features, from what I have seen are fairly powerful.  One
can have multiple simultaneous windows, and activate any, switch windows
at will except where prohibited by specific sftw, etc.

An interesting item to note is that the root filesystem is resident in
ROM, device drivers, basic fonts, etc reside there also in appropriate
directories.  As diskettes are swapped, the system updates its knowledge
of what is available and automatically "mounts" the new filesystem under
/.   Since / resides on the ROM, and since there is RAM-DISC, it is very
easy to move applications from floppy into RAM.  This means much greater
flexibility and ease of use.

One disappointment I had was that I managed to scrub one of the
apllication diskettes provided with the demo.  I think what happened was
I wrote a file to /dev/internal since "internal" is the name used in
other H-P products to identify the internal printer.  In this system it
means the built-in disk - probably as the raw device - so I likely wrote
over the first few physical blocks of the diskette.  This is conjecture
based on what happened and what diagnostics would show.   BTW, as you
might guess from the above, the IPC has a built in Laserjet printer -
tractor or friction feed.

Re configuration, it is my understanding that the system has the single
micro-floppy and 1 1/2 Meg RAM max.  With external expansion ( I expect
via HP-IB) this memory will go to 5 Meg and additional disks can be
added.  I saw no restrictions as to what kind of disk could be attached.

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

Sorry for the number of "AS I UNDERSTAND IT's" in here, but a new
product and therefore green salesmen always come out that way.  Any
additions or corrections from others are welcome.

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

I wouldn't rush out to buy one tomorrow, but the product is definitely a
comer and worth keeping your eye on.

Dave Katz - Develcon Electronics Ltd.