CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Laptop Computer, to demonstrate SDS
Presentation Tools, e.g. Color
Notebook Computer
Product Specifications

0506 -    ..
0507 - Summary/Objective
0508 -
050801 - Examined a variety of products; best seems to be the Sharp, second
050802 - best is the Toshiba T4400SX.
050803 -
050804 - Need to get a price for a 120 MB system on Sharp.
050805 -
050806 -
050807 - Visited
050808 -
050809 - Connecting Point - 415 323 8195 Ext 2101 for John Lynch
050810 - 490 California Avenue, #100,
050811 - Palo Alto, CA  94306      323 8308 fax
050812 - Corner El Camino & California in Palo Alto
050813 -
0509 -
0510 -
0511 - Compaq LTE Lite /25c
0512 -
051201 - Not Available
051202 -
051203 - This was only on display.  It is not shipping to customers for another
051204 - 6 to 8 weeks.
051205 -
051206 -     Since this unit is not available yet, my sense is that even if new
051207 -     units are announced in the next few weeks or months, there will be
051208 -     no actual product available for several more months after that.
051209 -
051210 -
051211 - General Appearance
051212 -
051213 - I did not like this unit as well as the Sharp.  Its beige color seems
051214 - washed out and plastic, relative to the Sharp.  It is also heavier
051215 - than the Sharp, but not much.  The spec sheet, ref OF 3 line 464 says
051216 - the thing weighs 6.5 lbs, which is only half a pound heavier than the
051217 - sharp at 5.9 lbs, ref OF 2 line 45.  It seemed heavier, perhaps
051218 - because of the contrast in the elegance of the Sharp unit.
051219 -
051220 -
051221 - Trackball
051222 -
051223 - I did not like the trackball.  When you let off pressure with your
051224 - thumb, the pointer tends to jump or fall off of the target position.
051225 - My general impression is that this component is poorly constructed.
051226 - This may be a problem only on the demonstration unit.
051227 -
051228 - It seemed awkward to apply the trackball with the thumb on the inside
051229 - of the screen cover, and the fingers on buttons on the outside of the
051230 - cover. Compaq's liturature indicates this is an efficient ergonomic
051231 - design, and the Connecting Point sales people indicated the feel of
051232 - this design takes about a day to become comfortable.
051233 -
051234 -
051235 - Screen
051236 -
051237 - The screen seemed to display SDS from DOS and within Windows
051238 - adequately, but not as well as the Sharp screen.
051239 -
051240 -
051241 - Keyboard
051242 -
051243 - This is okay for a notebook computer, but the feel is not as good as
051244 - the Sharp or the Toshiba.  I think it has 12 function keys, but they
051245 - seem smaller, more crampted and so difficult to use with SDS.
051246 -
051247 -
051248 -
051249 -
051250 -
0513 -
0514 -
0515 - Sharp PC 6881
0516 -
051601 - Price
051602 -
051603 - $4,099 with 2 MB of RAM 80 MB disk and no modem.
051604 -
051605 -     John advised another company, Tot-a-lap will sell the unit with a
051606 -     120 MB drive.  They are listed in Computer Currents.
051607 -
051608 -
051609 - Available
051610 -
051611 - These are in stock and so are available for immediate delivery today.
051612 -
051613 -
051614 - General Appearance
051615 -
051616 - This system gives a great executive appearance, in color, texture and
051617 - shape of the case.  It seems very light, yet substantial for
051618 - durability.  I liked it the best of the 4 or 5 systems I examined
051619 - today.  The low weight lends to the better appearance.
051620 -
051621 -
051622 - Processor
051623 -
051624 - Uses the i386 SL 25 Mhz.  It seems to be configured to run quite fast.
051625 - Screens seemed to flash quickly from one condition to the next,
051626 - including the menus.  The Dairy Summary seemed to explode on the
051627 - screen.  The few data base reports I pulled seemed fast enough for
051628 - sales demos.
051629 -
051630 - Seemed to run Windows adequately, and as well as the other systems,
051631 - including the 486 25 Mhz Toshiba T4400sx.
051632 -
051633 -
051634 - Disk Performance
051635 -
051636 - SDS loaded as fast or faster on this machine than on the others. It
051637 - was about 3 times faster loading than on the NEC.
051638 -
051639 - John indicated it has a Conner hard drive.
051640 -
051641 -
051642 - Screen
051643 -
051644 - This seems like it has a better screen than either of the other
051645 - notebooks I examined, including the Toshiba T4400sx and the Compaq LTE
051646 - Lite/25c.  It has the advantage of being able to read the screen from
051647 - a wide range of angles, which is critical in sales presentations.
051648 -
051649 - Simultaneous CRT display is supported.
051650 -
051651 -
051652 - Trackball
051653 -
051654 - This is better because it is in the plane of the keyboard, instead of
051655 - the cover, so the pointer does not seem to loose its place as occurs
051656 - with the Compaq.  The disadvantage is that the buttons are on the left
051657 - side of the case, so it takes two hands to use the thing.
051658 -
051659 - Modem
051660 -
051661 - There is not a modem available for this unit now; John expects one
051662 - will be on the market for use in the expansion slot, called the
051663 - PCMCIA, about Sep, 1992.
051664 -
051665 -
051666 -
051667 - Memory
051668 -
051669 - This will only take 8 MB now; John believes additional RAM can be
051670 - installed through the PCMCIA slot.  Not sure if this would conflict
051671 - with installing a modem.
051672 -
051673 -
051674 - PCMCIA Slot
051675 -
051676 - John explained this is constructed in the Sharp for future expansion,
051677 - but for now there is not any hardware to use this feature.
051678 -
051679 -
051680 - Keyboard
051681 -
051682 - I like the feel and layout of the keyboard on the Sharp better than
051683 - for the Compaq, the Nec and the Toshiba, although I liked the Toshiba
051684 - keyboard.  This has 12 function keys, with Ctrl and Alt keys on both
051685 - sides of the space bar.  The Enter key is sufficiently large to permit
051686 - moderately efficient data entry.
051687 -
051688 - A very significant, but subtle feature is that the keys are set back
051689 - from the front of the system case, so the palm of the hands can rest
051690 - on this area.  It seems much easier to use the keyboard as a result.
051691 - This is where the battery is installed, and my have been an unintended
051692 - benefit.
051693 -
051694 -
051695 -
0517 -
0518 -
0519 - Toshiba T4400SX
0520 -
052001 - Not Available
052002 -
052003 - These are 2 - 3 weeks for delivery.
052004 -
052005 -
052006 - Screen
052007 -
052008 - This seemed not as crisp as the Sharp screen in Windows and SDS. In
052009 - Windows particularly, the graphic representations of text, seemed
052010 - fuzzier than the Sharp screen.
052011 -
052012 -
052013 - Processor
052014 -
052015 - This moves like a 486sx.  I like it a lot, which makes the decision
052016 - difficult between price and a better screen on the Sharp.
052017 -
052018 -
052019 - Keyboard
052020 -
052021 - These keys are layed out the best for production data entry and there
052022 - are 12 function keys.  The keys are closer to standard size, including
052023 - the layout of the arrow keys.  However, they give up having Ctrl and
052024 - Alt keys on the right side of the space bar.
052025 -
052026 -
052027 - No Trackball
052028 -
052029 - This does not have a trackball, but I like the mouse connection better
052030 - anyway.  I tried the mouse with SDS in Windows and it worked well.
052031 -
052032 - John indicated it is a bus mouse, which leaves the serial port open
052033 - for an external pocket modem.
052034 -
052035 -
052036 -
0521 -
0522 -
0523 - NEC UltraLite SL/25C
0524 -
052401 - Not Available
052402 -
052403 - These are several days to a week or so for delivery.
052404 -
052405 -
052406 - General Appearance
052407 -
052408 - This gives a good executive appearance because of its dark case, but
052409 - it seems much more plastic than the Sharp.
052410 -
052411 -
052412 - Screen
052413 -
052414 - This gives good contrast between colors, but its screen is otherwise
052415 - very poor.  It was very difficult to read it no matter how I adjusted
052416 - the tilt of the screen.  I turned it away from the window to eliminate
052417 - glare, but could not imporve the ability to read the screen.
052418 -
052419 -
052420 - Disk Performance
052421 -
052422 - This was extremely poor.  It took at least 3 times longer to install
052423 - SDS than on the other machines.
052424 -
052425 -
052426 -
052427 -
0525 -