Simtel MSDOS 1992 June

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------------------------------------------- | Laptops: Decisions, decision, decisions | ------------------------------------------- Last year at about this time the "field" of laptop contenders was fairly small and the prices were fairly high. In fact the choice of laptop was fairly easy, provided you were willing to make some big sacrifices in computing power in order to "have one for the road". In the July 21, 1987 issue of PC Magazine (Vol. 6, No. 13), Paul Somerson raved about the Z-183 which "sprints along at 8 MHz". The October 27, 1987 issue of PC Magazine (Vol. 6, No. 18) recommended "for big spenders, the dazzling Zenith Z-181 or Z-183 Portable PC . . with its 10-megabyte hard disk, 8-MHz clock speed, and remarkable 6-by 8-inch backlit display, the Z-183 remains a heart-stopper." Less than 6 months later, however, the Z-183 fell from grace; this time Mr. Somerson criticized the Z-183 as, among other shortcomings, being "a real arm-stretcher" and with a 8-MHz speed, it "plods along with an anachronistic CMOS 8088" (March 29, 1988 issue, Vol. 7, No. 6). What happened to it being a "heart-stopper"? Was Mr. Somerson guilty of having a fickle heart, did the Z-183 change for the worse, or was there something else? Choose door number 3: something else. That something else was improved competition offering laptops with more speed and more power. Laptop computers have finally come of age. Finally convinced that a promising market for laptops does exist, manufacturers have been falling over themselves to get new and improved laptops into the stream of commerce. A week does not go by now without an announcement in the computer trade papers about a new laptop. No longer is this market limited to just a few companies such as NEC, Toshiba, and Zenith. The Olivetti's, Samsung's, Mitsubishi's, and many others are entering the fray and each trying to outdo the others with feature-rich portables. These features include 286, 386SX, and 386 chip technology; substantially improved screen displays; the addition of standard, non-proprietary expansion slots; increased RAM and support for EMS; and larger storage capacity. If rumors are to be believed, we may even see color screen displays in the near future. The consumer is the beneficiary of this increased competition. Although choosing a laptop in today's market will not be as easy as it was a year ago, it will be much more exciting. I have prepared a chart, set out below, comparing various features of some popular and/or new laptops. This chart contains only a sampling of the many laptops presently available. In view of the prospects of an increasing number of faster and more powerful laptops entering the market in the next several months, anyone interested in purchasing a laptop should use this chart as a starting point only and then keep abreast of current laptop developments through PC Magazine and other computer publications. Two magazines devoted to portable computers are listed at the end of this column. Finally, I have included a brief discussion about the variety of screen display technology that is or may soon be available for laptops. * * * * * -------------------------------- | COMPARISON OF SELECT LAPTOPS | -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL Datavue Datavue Mitsubhishi Spark Snap MP286L 1+1 ============================================================ CPU 80C88 V20 286 SPEED 9.54 9.54 12 RAM 384 640 640 DRIVE 1x3.5 2x3.5 2x3.5 /720k /720k SCRN super 10.5" 11" blue NTN super BATT nicad nicad 3d party WT 9 10 15.9 EXPANSION n/a 1/2 size 4 {proprietary} LIST $995 $2,295 $3,195 OPTIONS 3.5 dr., 20MB, 20MB ($3,995), BL, EL, BL super ext. 3.5" fd, expansion or BL EL num.keypad, chassis 1 fd/20MB add'l 2MB combo RAM ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL NEC NEC NEC MultiSpeed MultiSpeed MultiSpeed EL HD CPU V30 V30 V30 SPEED 9.54 9.54 9.54 RAM 640 640 640 DRIVE 2x3.5 2x3.5 3.5 /720k /720k /720k 20MB SCRN super 10.5" BL BATT nicad nicad nicad WT 11.2 12 14 EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a LIST $2,195 $2,495 $3,695 OPTIONS BL, EL BL ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL Toshiba Toshiba Toshiba 1000 1100+ 1200 ============================================================ CPU 88 86 86 SPEED 4.77 7.16 9.54 RAM 512 640 1MB DRIVE 3.5 2x3.5 3.5 /720k /720k 20MB SCRN super super super BATT nicad nicad nicad WT 6.4 10 10.8 EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a LIST $1,199 $2,099 $3,499 OPTIONS 640k expansion expansion LIM/EMS, chassis chassis /720k num.keypad battery charger num.keypad ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL Toshiba Toshiba Toshiba 3100/20 3200 5100 ============================================================ CPU 286 286 386 SPEED 8 12 16 RAM 640 1MB 2mb DRIVE 3.5 3.5 3.5 /720k /720k /1.44MB 20MB 40MB 40MB SCRN gas gas gas BATT n/a n/a n/a WT 15 18.7 15 EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a LIST $4,699 $5,499 $7,499 OPTIONS num.keypad expansion chassis, num. keypad, add'l 2MB RAM ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL Zenith Zenith Zenith 181 183 SupersPort 88 ============================================================ CPU 88 88 88 SPEED 8 8 8 RAM 640 640 640 EMS DRIVE 2x3.5 3.5 2x3.5 /720k /720k /720k 10-20MB SCRN BL BL BL BATT nicad nicad nicad WT 11.9 15 <12 EXPANSION n/a n/a ? LIST $2,399 $3,599 $2.399 OPTIONS 20MB, 20MB, 20MB ($3,599) recharger recharger ------------------------------------------------------------ MODEL Zenith Zenith SupersPort 286 TurboSport 386 ============================================================ CPU 286 386 SPEED 12 12 RAM 1MB 2MB EMS EMS DRIVE 3.5 3.5 /1.4MB /720k 20MB or 1.4MB 40MB SCRN BL "Page white" BATT nicad nicad WT <12 25 EXPANSION ? ? LIST $4,999 $7,999 OPTIONS 40MB ($5,599) 2,400 modem($8,499) ------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE REGARDING ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS USED =========================================== BL = Backlit supertwist screen display (see below) EL = electroluminescent backlit supertwist screen display (see below) Expansion = IBM standard / nonproprietary expansion slots Fd = floppy disk drive Gas = gas plasma Nicad = nickel cadmium battery [as opposed to lead acid] Page white = Zenith's new display technology; see discussion of fluorescent backlighting below Super = supertwist screen (see below) SCRN = screen * * * * * ----------------------------- |Laptop screen technologies | ----------------------------- 1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) a. General Like the technology used on watches and calculators, the LCD has the advantage of being lightweight and consuming little battery power. Its disadvantages include poor contrast/readability. b. Supertwist i. non-backlit The screen is twisted so that it will reflect light in all directions and not just straight ahead. ii. backlit By adding light to the supertwist screen, readability is improved by at the expense of greater battery power consumption. (1) Electroluminescent (EL) The screen, containing phosphor, glows when powered. (2) Fluorescent Small tubes provide the backlighting. Slightly more battery power is used than with the electroluminescent screens. Examples include Datavue's amber gaslight and, apparently, Zenith's newest laptop entry, the TurbosPort 386, featuring black characters on a white screen. This display, which Zenith calls its "page white" display, is the product of an extra layer of polarizing material which filters out blue light from the screen. 2. Neutralized Twisted Nematic (NTN) Light is used to increase the screen's contrast ratio, resulting in a black on white image. Mitsubishi's new MP286L with an 11-inch cold cathode tube (CCT) screen and black characters on a white background (with reversible screen colors), which Mitsubishi claims can be read in all light conditions, is an excellent example of this new technology. 3. Gas Plasma A flat panel non-LCD screen. Each screen pixel is on or off, providing a high contrast ration but requiring greater power. Toshiba's high-end laptops use this type of technology. 4. Active Matrix A transistor is assigned to each screen pixel, resulting in a contrast equivalent to a backlit LCD but without the backlighting. Apparently the screen becomes unusable if any one transistor ceases to operate. According to *DataGram*, this technology is being considered by several laptop manufacturers but is not presently available. * * * * * For a complimentary subscription to Datavue's interesting periodical entitled: * DataGram: The Exciting World of Laptop Computing * write to: DataGram 4351 Shackleford Road Norcross, Georgia 30093 Portable computer magazines: Portable Computer Review IDG Communications/Peterborough 80 Elm Street Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458 (Spring '88 Portable Computer Review: $3.95) PICO Magazine Post Office Box 428 Peterborough, New Hampshire (1 yr. subscription: $29.97) Sincerely, Todd S. Rogel Raleigh, North Carolina July 2, 1988 Home (919) 851-2103 MMS (919) 779-6674 [151/102] NCC (919) 851-8460 [151/100]