Back to work

[altivo]

Typical Friday, lots of school kids coming in with their whole class, a pile of new books to be cataloged, the usual stuff.

Acquired an antique laptop/notebook computer cheap, a TRS-80 Model 100. Anyone remember those? I remember Wayne Green waving one around while giving a lecture at Dayton, saying that it was the future of personal computing and anyone smart would invest in it right away. Green wasn't always right about everything, but he was on the right track with that.

The Model 100 remains perfectly usable even today, and in some respects I'd call it superior to the modern notebook computer. It has CMOS circuitry and an LCD display, so it uses very little power. In fact, it runs up to 14 hours continuously on four AA size alkaline batteries. It has no "operating system" as such. There is a tiny BASIC interpreter that can be invoked and BASIC commands used to rename or delete files, list directories, etc. A simple plain text editor, a communication program, a built in modem (well, 300 baud was the norm back then), standard serial and parallel ports. An external floppy disk drive was available I think, though I never saw one. It could also save and load programs and text files to a standard cassette recorder, or transfer them over the serial port to another computer.

Using it is simple, because it has no fancy features at all. The display is monochrome, and small, but not fragile and quite easy to read. No backlight of course, because battery power was tightly conserved, so you need ambient light to read it. The keyboard is full sized, with full key depth, which as a touch typist for the last 40 years I really appreciate. I intend to experiment with it as a writing device. If it turns out to be impractical (the only likely limitation is the amount of storage... no writing a full blown novel on it unless you do it a chapter at a time, writing each one off to another machine before starting the next) then I really haven't lost much of anything.

Nope, it can't play WoW or surf the web. The only sound it can make is a simple beep. It requires no software upgrades, has no security vulnerabilities, and keeps running after being dropped or getting wet and then dried out. No disk drives, no media, no mouse. The ultimate simple machine, with a real keyboard. I like it so far.

Better yet, you can find lots of them for sale on EBay and other places, for $50 or less. I got mine from a friend for "less." I don't see how you can beat that for simple portable word processing.

Comments

[jmaynard.livejournal.com]

The Model 100 saw lots of use by journalists for many of the reasons you cite. I had one, once upon a time, with not one but two different kinds of disk drives: one attached to the expansion ROM connector inside, the other attached to the serial port. The latter used 3.5 inch floppies, eeven, and was also battery-powered. Nifty.

One hint that you may wish to take advantage of: The keys will pop off. If you put a tiny rubber band, the kind that they use on braces, around each post, it'll quiet the keys quite a bit.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the key clatter, it sounds much the same as the keyboard on my regular desktop. But I can see why some people might want to quiet it, so I'll remember that. I have lots of those rubber bands around, they are used to fasten braids in horses' manes. ;p

I actually have an original Model 100 padded carrying case, currently occupied by a NEC CP/M based portable. The printer cable from that seems to fit the 100 as well. The modem and cassette interfaces are of little use today anyway, and a null modem serial cable will be easy enough to get if I don't have one on hand that works with it. The floppy drives are still around but getting scarce I think, so I'll probably not go hunting for one.

Since I learned word processing before the days of WYSIWYG, I'm not bothered by using plain text while composing, and I particularly like the large, clear font on the display.

[atomicat.livejournal.com]

Awrigh! Well you know I love the old stuff of course and this one's a classic! In the beginning as they say there was one of those beside the punch-card reader that fed jobs to this comp downtown, we fought over it non-stop needless to say. With an OS that's basically DOS what more do you want? Any command line interface gonna be snappy.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Snappy is the right word. It may not do a lot of stuff, but what it does is fast and efficient. Come to think of it, all the TRS-80s I ever owned were like that. I never had the original Model I, which was prone to a lot of unreliabilities I guess, but I had two Model III machines and still own two Model 4P setups, one with an external hard disk unit that's as large as the whole computer and stores all of 5 Meg if I remember correctly. I liked the 4P a whole lot too, and could still use it today for my writing if I needed to do so. Since I don't play games, a functional web browser is my only important modern requirement, and alas, the TRS-80s aren't up to that.

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

Wow! Ancient technology. Are you sure you didn't have to travel back in time to get that ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I almost said I wished I could go back in time to get some accessories for it, but then I realized what era that would be. I can't think of anything that would convince me to go back to 1983-84. And thinking of what those little accessories would cost converted to today's dollar is horrifying.

I like old technology though, when it's well done. I seriously regret the fact that space limitations when we moved in 1998 forced us to give up the old Compupro S-100 bus systems we had. Not to mention the working ASR-33 teletype console...

Selling points :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting... will it still work if I throw it across the room at someone? What if it misses and hits a wall? Cheap construction or solid brick?

Re: Selling points :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Try hard enough and you could kill it of course. But it will take more effort than it does to break the color LCD display in a modern notebook computer.

The case is plastic, so yes, you could crack that by banging it around. The electronics are pretty darned tough though, and no disk drive eliminates the next most shock prone component after the display.

What I really like though is the tiny power consumption and the utter simplicity of the system. Much of what I do does not require the overkill of today's operating systems and hardware. For instance, the rechargeable batteries in the two older laptops I have are useless. Replacing either one would run me at least a hundred dollars, and they still don't have great lifespans in use. The older of the two, a Compaq Aero 25, has a '486 processor at 25 MHz, and a monochrome display. It's small and light, and runs well off the AC adapter. It does word processing with the lighter weight programs like MS Works or Wordpad just fine, but the battery thing is a drag. I can only use it where there's a power outlet. The other is a NEC Pentium with color display and Windows 98. It's slow as molasses, too slow to run anything other than MS Works or Wordpad in my opinion, weighs a lot more, and has the same battery problem.

Nothing I use a portable for would justify the price of a new one that would be obsolete within weeks. ;p

Re: Selling points :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

I was just being silly-and adding as many posts as possible to this years quota- but I'm glad I did, because a friend of mine is thinking of giving me his old comp and your expertise may soon come in very handy :P

Re: Selling points :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. My expertise is probably too old for anything you're likely to come up with. But sure, ask if you think I can help.

Re: Selling points :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

*smirks* Eh, in regards to my general lack of knoweledge in this area, you'd probably be invaluable.

[megadog.livejournal.com]

More years ago than I wish to remember, I wrote a basic data-collection/terminal-emulator/file-transfer program for the Trash80/100 which was used by field researchers to enter borehole data and then squirt it back [via dialup] to head-office.

The Trash-80 had the big advantage over things like the Husky Hunter of being about a tenth the cost, so if it got stolen/dropped-in-a-sewage-lagoon/driven-over the field-researcher [who had to pay for the computer him/herself] didn't lose three months' salary having to replace it!

OK, the Trash-80 tended to fail more often, but as a cheap-and-cheerful little terminal it was damned good.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yep. The M-100 had a pretty good reputation at the time, and still does really for what it is. The fact that one like this, which has seen years of hard use, will power right up as fast as you flip the switch and works perfectly says a lot for the engineering that went into it. For the original price of $400, it was a small miracle in 1984.

[foozzzball.livejournal.com]

I don't see how you can beat that for simple portable word processing.

www.alphasmart.com - They are these kooky, somewhat similar looking things that are basically the love-child of a full sized keyboard and a palmtop. Unfortunately, they are rather a heck of a lot more expensive than fifty dollars, to the best of my knowledge.

I have to admit, though. ... I'd kind of prefer an ancient laptop to an alphasmart. The style factor is extremely high. How do you transfer the data from it to a slightly more modern machine, though?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't think that Alphasmart has the same durability factor, even if it is slightly more zippy keeno to the modern eye. :) The listed price isn't too bad, though, at $200 to $350.

Data transfer in and out of the M-100 is simple. You use a null modem cable between the serial ports. There are various little freeware programs available that even make it work like the old PC to PC Laplink program, so you can share a disk drive between the M-100 and a Windows or DOS-based PC just as if they were on a network.

[foozzzball.livejournal.com]

I have heard claims that alphasmarts have survived being driven over, but... I've just heard that. I imagine the reality goes 'crunch' somewhat more.

I'm amazed that there's enough compatibility to get files over. And, of course, plaintext hasn't changed much over the past thirty years. Very, very impressive.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

ASCII is still ASCII. BASIC programs are transferred in ASCII format as well, rather than tokenized. Machine language programs are often wrapped in a BASIC program that, when run, creates the machine language module in memory.

RS-232 is still the same too, and follows the same rules now as in the 1970s, so there's no problem beyond getting both machines set to the same speed and framing parameters. I suspect with appropriate adjustments on the desktop PC side, it would even go through USB if you used a serial to USB converter cable.

[drgnkiyo.livejournal.com]

Wow that's pretty cool. :O

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If what you mainly need to do is write text, yes, it's a very effective tool. Today they could be made much lighter of course, but it's a limited market. Most users are more interested in flashy color graphics than they are in plain text.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

"it can't play WoW or surf the web"
Well you've just lost 90% of the mobile computing market right there ;)
A machine like that is much better for writing because you can't be distracted by other things like instant messengers and things like that.
Wow 4AAs o.O (SUM3)

I want one of them new ultra portable Asus laptops, not super fast but long battery life and very light ^.^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

My cell phone can surf the web. I don't use that feature.

I don't play WoW at all. It's just a huge time sink, as if I had time to spend that way.

The M100 is a really good machine for actually writing. Nice clear, large print display, no funny fonts or other stuff, and, as you say, nothing else to distract you. And it has a real keyboard, so much better than those dinky half-motion ones on most notebook computers.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I kind of like those half motion laptop keyboards I can type faster and much much quieter :) I like the lighter feeling...in saying that I've had the same computer keyboard for nearly 10 years :) It does get cleaned, it's been hosed out due to a syrup spill and it still works. The metal backing is starting to get a little bit of rust now though. And it's an Acer, normally their stuff doesn't last long.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Are you a touch typist? I find that people who type with three or four fingers wandering all over don't seem to care much what the keyboard is like. Generally, those of us who learned formal typing well, where you use all your fingers and don't ever look at your hands, seem to prefer a full sized traditional keyboard where they keys have a positive feel to them.

Notebook and laptop keyboards are undersized and the keys don't move far enough. They also seem to move around the symbol keys like "\" and "+" to odd places so that every one of them is different.

The M100 keyboard makes about the same amount of noise as the full-sized Dell keyboards I use at home and at work. I'm told it can be quieted by popping off each keycap and putting a tiny rubber band on the post under it, but I'm not likely to bother. I like the solid feel of it as it is.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I am a touch typist, but I have stubbier fingers so light touch keyboards allow me to type faster than a normal full motion keyboard would. Plus I like how they're usually quieter :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But they feel like you're typing on cooked oatmeal. Yuck.