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Aucbvax.6305 fa.works utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!works Thu Feb 25 18:49:02 1982 IBM PC Review >From COMSAT.SoftArts@MIT-Multics Thu Feb 25 16:44:19 1982 Local: works at mit-mc Via: Mit-Mc; 25 Feb 82 17:58-EDT Via: Brl-Bmd; 25 Feb 82 18:03-EDT Via: Usc-Eclc; 25 Feb 82 19:02-EDT Via: Brl-Bmd; 25 Feb 82 19:13-EDT Via: Usc-Eclc; 25 Feb 82 20:17-EDT Via: Brl-Bmd; 25 Feb 82 20:23-EDT

My first view of this computer was of a bunch of cards nailed to a wooden board with a transparent keyboard and a monitor from Apple.

The IBM has several great features:

- 8086 CPU which means it can address almost as many dollars worth of memory as the basic system costs (256KB = $2-4K). Most companies go by the credo: "Millions for software research, pennies for more memory." (and choose the former).

- it is nicely package with room for disk drives, RS232, graphics board and other goodies in the main box. This means you can grow your system pretty nicely.

- it runs CP/M which means it has a fair bit of software. The IBM name means that some good and TONS of mediocre and lousy software will be available soon.

The nits include:

- the 8086 has a 16 bit address. You can combine a segment number with an offset but if you just want to store a 20 (or 18) bit address you have to do a LOT of work. This is a win if you plan to write a LISP or SMALLTALK where this kind of thing can be isolated but a pain if you just want a big buffer.

- the keyboard is horrendous. Unless you can span an octave without stretching your hand (at all) you will have to take your fingers off the home keys to hit NewLine. The shift keys are small keys located in weird places. No one here has really gotten used to them. Hitting PrtSc will hang your CPU if you don't have a printer.

- It does NOT have a reboot key. It has a keyboard sequence which will often reboot the machine but not always and rarely when you are debugging. You have to turn off the machine, count SLOWLY to then, then turn it back on. You can leave the disks in.

- It does NOT have any good memory management software. CP/M does not scale well. UNIX does not scale well, though it scales better than CP/M.

Would I recommend it? YES, I would. It is much better than the APPLE II, holds more memory than a TRS-80 (Model III), compares favorably with most CP/M machines and so on. It expands well, seems to be pretty reliable and is not much worse than anything else I can name.

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