Two Computers That Shine in Different Jobs
Recently I had the opportunity to use two portable computers from opposite ends of the price and power scale. Each serves a very different purpose, and each does so delightfully well.
One, the Goupil Golf 386 SX, is a fast, sleek and innovative French-built beauty aimed at users who want a single computer that has all the power and features of a desktop machine yet is easy to take on the road.
The other, Tandy’s 1100FD, is designed to be a low-priced second computer mainly for use away from the office. It is light, runs about four hours on a battery charge and comes loaded with plenty of software. It is a recent introduction to fill the low end of Tandy’s MS-DOS-compatible line of portables.
The 1100FD, selling for $999 at any Radio Shack store, is a 6.4-pound machine with a single floppy drive, a reflective screen that achieves good contrast with blue characters against a greenish-yellow background and 640 kilobytes of operating memory.
Goupil’s Golf 386 SX, imported by Computer Peripherals of Newbury Park, is a fully equipped 386-class computer with 1 megabyte of operating memory, a high-resolution black and white screen, detached keyboard, internal expansion slots and either 40 or 100 megabytes of hard disk storage.
It weighs 16.4 pounds and has a suggested retail price of $6,495 for the 40-megabyte model or $7,140 for the 100-megabyte unit. Substantial discounts should reduce the street price of the Goupil Golf, while Tandy models are seldom discounted.
With 100 megabytes of storage, a 16-megahertz Intel 80386 SX microprocessor for operating power and up to 9 megabytes of on-board memory, the Golf is able to handle any software application likely to be required of a desktop machine. Whether the operating system is MS-DOS, which is shipped with the computer, or OS/2 or even UNIX, the power to handle it is there.
Provision inside the low, satin-black case for two standard three-quarters-size PC/XT-type expansion cards makes it easy to install both a modem and a network card inside the machine. The inside of this machine is impressive. The case is hinged, and just five screws hold everything in place.
The flat, “cold cathode backlit super-twist LCD” screen with eight shades of gray graphics folds snugly against the top of the system unit when not in use, or hinges upright. A panel of six buttons below the screen also allows you to quickly adjust its appearance, so you can reverse black for white, control the gray scales and set brightness and contrast.
The screen is the same size and aspect ratio as a standard computer monitor, so there is no loss of definition or any deformation of the image. At the office, it would be very simple to substitute a color monitor by simply leaving the monochrome unit folded down and attaching the color monitor’s cable to a connector on the back of the computer.
The Golf’s keyboard is unusual among portables because it is separate from the computer unit. Its 101 keys are fully compatible with those of a standard PC keyboard, but the layout is a little different because the keyboard is not as wide. It does retain the separate cursor, editing keys and numerical keypad of the standard unit. A 7-foot coiled cord attaches it to the back of the computer.
Also on the computer are connectors for parallel and serial printers or other devices, a mouse and an external 5 1/4-inch disk drive. A high-density, 1.44-megabyte 3 1/2-inch floppy drive is built in.
Rather than try to package the computer, screen and keyboard so that it folds up into one unit for transport, Computer Peripherals’ Goupil Golf relies on a well-engineered carrying case to haul the separate computer and keyboard units. The entire package has won design awards in Europe.
Reflecting its continental heritage, the Golf is a globe-trotting machine with built-in ability to sense the electrical strength of the power source it is connected to and adjust itself accordingly. There’s no need to set switches. Of course, with a computer of this magnitude, battery power is not practical, so you’ll have to wait until you get to an office or hotel room to use it while you are on the road.
The Tandy 1100FD, on the other hand, is very practical to use with battery power. It’s just about ideal for working on your lap in a crowded conference room or on the tray of an airline seat without disturbing your neighbors.
I got a little more than four hours out of its fully charged, sealed lead-acid battery.
The Tandy keyboard is built in and the 4.75-by-7.69-inch screen folds flat to cover the keys when not in use. The display technology is called “super-twisted nematic LCD.” There are 84 keys, and it is possible to use them in combination to mimic all of the keys available on standard IBM and compatible keyboards. But it isn’t as convenient.
One thing that sets the Tandy apart from many other low-priced portables is the built-in software, called DeskMate. It’s really all you need on the road. Included are the mainstay business applications: word processing, database, spreadsheet and telecommunications. There also is a drawing program, a game called “Hangman” and software to connect with an optional on-line electronic information and entertainment service known as “PC-Link.”
There is a collection of “desk accessories,” too, including a calculator, a spelling checker, a phone list, a place to store notes called “corkboard,” a calendar and scheduler with alarms and a to-do list.
Tandy keeps the 1100FD light in weight by equipping it with only a single 3 1/2-inch, 720-kilobyte floppy disk. A portion of the DeskMate software, along with the basic functions of the MS-DOS operating system, are built into the computer in what is known as “read-only memory,” or ROM, where it can be used but never altered or erased.
One of the DeskMate functions that is embedded in ROM is the word processing software. Thus you can use the entire disk in the floppy drive for text storage.
If Tandy had not built DeskMate and MS-DOS into the computer, it wouldn’t be very useful with just one floppy drive because most of the disk would be used to store the operating system and program software, leaving little room for data.
THE SPECS
Goupil Golf 386 SX
A $6,495 to $7,140 high-powered computer that doubles as a desktop machine and a portable.
Features: Sleek design, three inches thick with fold-up screen, 16-megahertz 386 processor, hard disk of either 40 or 100 megabytes, 1.44-megabyte 3 1/2-inch floppy, two PC/XT compatible expansion slots, separate keyboard; can attach a color monitor. No battery power.
Importer: Computer Peripherals, 667 Rancho Conejo Blvd., Newbury Park, Calif. 91320. Phone: (800) 854-7600.
Tandy 1100FD
A $999 lightweight portable with long battery life.
Features: Built-in DeskMate software for most business needs, 8-megahertz V20 processor, 720-kilobyte 3 1/2-inch floppy, connectors for printers, external monitor, optional 2,400-baud internal modem available. Runs more than four hours on fully charged battery.
Manufacturer: Tandy Corp., 700 One Tandy Center, Ft. Worth, Tex. 76102. Available at Radio Shack dealers nationwide.
