Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!harpo!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!uw-beaver!tektronix!zehntel!hplabs!sri-unix!David.Anderson@CMU-CS-G.ARPA From: David.Anderson@CMU-CS-G.ARPA Newsgroups: net.micro Subject: Mac Review Message-ID: <15932@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Tue, 31-Jan-84 00:24:00 EST Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.15932 Posted: Tue Jan 31 00:24:00 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 3-Feb-84 02:48:07 EST Lines: 100 CMU announced today a super price for the MacIntosh: $1050 for students and employees. I went to a dealer to check it out, and here are some facts and some observations. FACTS The basic Mac has these features and sells for $2495 retail: o 68000 at just under 8 MHz o 128K ram, 64K rom o 9 inch 512 x 342 b/w screen o built-in 400K 3.5 inch floppy + port for an external drive o rs232 port (both serial ports have 9-pin connectors) o rs422 port (up to nearly 1M bps) o 4 voice audio, sampled at 22 kHz o built-in speaker + audio port in back o clock/calendar with battery backup o detached keyboard o optical one-button mouse o MacWrite and MacPaint software o 9.7 x 10.9 x 13.5 inches, about 18 pounds (w/ recessed handle) o no fan or expansion slots The ROM has some nice features, such as a built-in alarm clock, calculator, and other system utilities. These options will be available in the near future (perhaps some are available now): o a cute padded carrying case o Imagewriter Printer (uses the rs232 port) o 300 baud or 300/1200 baud smart modems (use the rs422 port) o external disk drive o numeric keypad o security kit (for locking your Mac to your desk) OBSERVATIONS (mixed with facts) At the discounted price, this is a fantastic machine. I was able to sit and play with one for about an hour and a half (amazingly enough, there were very people there to check it out). I was particularly impressed by the speed -- the MacIntosh is a good bit faster than the Lisa, and it definitely shows in some of the graphics. The software available seems to be very well thought out and easy to learn and to use. My major complaint about the hardware is that the screen is kind of small (9 inch) and the resolution only just adequate for these applications. The keyboard felt nice, but seemed perhaps just a wee bit cramped -- AND THERE IS NO CONTROL KEY. There are 3 keys that the hardware can use as "shift" keys, but none of them is in the right place for a control key (they put the CAPS LOCK key there). Another serious problem is the lack of software. About 100 companies have had Macs to use for some time now, and their software should be out very soon. At least it had better be. The brochure acts as though some of the following programs are already available(*), while the others are currently being developed: from Apple: MacWrite (*) MacPaint (*) (these are standard) a font editor (*) (my dealer had this, it may be standard) MacDraw MacProject (*) MacTerminal (*) Classcal programming development system (shown in brochure) from MicroSoft: Multiplan (shown in brochure) Chart (shown in brochure) File Word others: Lotus 1-2-3 PFS: filer MacWrite is very nice, but can only be used to create documents up to about 6 pages in length. Serious work will demand something better. It is easy to clip figures from MacPaint and put them into documents, and a wide variety of fonts (about 10), sizes (9 to 72 points) and styles (italic, bold, underline, outline, shadow) can be used. They are shown properly on the screen (although switching fonts incurs a noticeable disk access), and anything you can create can be printed on the new Imagewriter printer. The sample printout I saw looked very nice. The screen can handle about 24x80 with the smallest fonts, but when I played with some of the larger sizes I felt like I wasn't seeing too much on the screen (perhaps 8-10 lines). There are many other impressive features, but I'll leave it here. This is much more computer than the Apple ][ or the PCjr, but I am uncomfortable comparing it to the IBM-PC and other "serious"? micro-computers (the impossibility of adding a hard disk would seem to eliminate a Unix clone, for instance). Expandability to 512K with 256K chips is apparently a possibility, but I've heard no details. The MacIntosh may revolutionize the industry, but at $2495 with little software we're left waiting for more. --david