Pens That Compute, Fresh Apples and New Windows
Each fall, more than 100,000 computer professionals swarm into Las Vegas for Comdex, the industry’s largest domestic trade show. This year’s show, held Oct. 21-25, witnessed the coming of age of several new technologies. Highlights included pen computing, multimedia, lots of new Windows software and several new machines from Apple:
* Apple unveiled three “notebook” Macintoshes along with a more powerful new version of its popular Mac Classic and two new, high-end desktop Macs.
The new Macs have the best case design of any notebook computers on the market. With all three units, the keyboard is recessed toward the rear of a platform where you can rest your palms. Instead of a mouse, a trackball is located at the center of the platform. Adjustable feet help position the machine for desktop use. The machines have connectors for an optional external mouse and keyboard. There are also connectors for a local area network, external hard drives, scanners and other add-on devices.
The least expensive notebook, the PowerBook 100, weighs 5.1 pounds and uses the same 16 Mhz Motorola 68000 microprocessor as the original Mac Classic. It has a suggested retail price of $2,299 with two megabytes of RAM, a 20 MB hard disk and no internal floppy drive. An external floppy drive is available.
The PowerBook 140 has a 16 Mhz Motorola 68030 CPU and is about 2 1/2 times the speed of the Classic. It weighs 6.8 pounds and comes with four MB of RAM, a 20 or 40 MB hard disk and an internal floppy drive. Prices start at $2,899. The PowerBook 170 has a 25 Mhz 68030 CPU and a math co-processor. It weighs 6.8 pounds and comes with four MB of RAM, a 40 MB hard disk and an internal floppy. Prices start at $4,599.
Apple also introduced the Classic II, a more powerful version of its most popular machine. It uses the 16 Mhz Motorola 68030 CPU. A unit with two MB of RAM (expandable to 10 MB) and a 40 MB hard disk costs $1,899.
Apple also introduced its new Quadra line of high-end Macs based on Motorola’s fastest CPU, the 68040. Prices start at $6,399 for a unit with four megabytes of RAM, an 80-megabyte hard disk but no keyboard or monitor.
* Momenta showed off its previously announced “pen-top” computer. The $4,995 machine has a pen-like stylus that can be used to enter text, draw graphics and issue commands. Like other pen-computers, it is able to recognize neatly printed block lettering, but not handwriting.
The seven-pound machine runs standard DOS and Windows programs along with special software designed for the machine. It comes with a basic word processor, a spreadsheet, a charting program, a presentation graphics package, a calendar and an address book. The machine comes with a 40-megabyte internal hard disk and four megabytes of RAM.
* Microsoft announced Word for Windows 2.0. This impressive new version offers a number of enhancements, including the ability to automatically print envelopes with a single mouse click. The program features a programmable “tool bar” that allows you to issue commands by using your mouse to press a button on the screen. The program has a suggested retail price of $495.
* This was the year that Comdex discovered “multimedia.” An entire pavilion was set aside to show how Tandy, IBM, Microsoft and others plan to turn your computer into an inter-active TV set. MediaVision, of Fremont, Calif., showed off its $1,295 CDPC multimedia upgrade kit that allows users to add a CD-ROM drive and high-fidelity stereo sound to existing equipment.
