[Coco] Re: OS-9 as Replacement for DECB.

[Roger Merchberger]

Rumor has it that Ward Griffiths may have mentioned these words:
>On 09/02/2005 02:35 am, John R. Hogerhuis wrote:
> > On Thu, 2005-09-01 at 21:00 -0500, Chris Hawks wrote:
> > >   Coco-3 LAPTOP!!!
> >
> > I think a coco-3 laptop would be really awesome. Personally I spend most
> > of my retrocomputing time on TRS-80 Model 100 laptops. instant on, 20
> > hours battery life on 4 AA's, great keyboard. Laptops are fun way to
> > retrocompute since you can easily put them away when you have to. Self
> > contained...
> >
>
>Hmm. A Mod 100 used to only get about 6-8 hours out of a set of AAs.  Has
>chemical battery technology improved that far?

Huh? My Tandy 200 routinely gets 15-16 hours on a set of batteries, and 
that's accounting for the extra power used by the 2x sized LCD...

[[ Yes, I mean *gets* - I still use it quite often. ]]

>Working in the downtown L.A. RSCC during the 1984 Olympic Games was an
>educational experience.  Nobody could keep AA batteries in stock in the area
>since every print reporter from anywhere was feeding a Mod 100 and they ate
>AA four packs like popcorn.  So all the reporters came to our store (11-7237)
>assuming that we had a cure.

That 'splains quite a bit... RS-232 use on the Model 'T's drain the 
batteries *a lot* - getting +/- 12V or more from 4 AA's negatively effects 
available power.

Funny, "down the road" in Pleasant Hill, CA [1] there was a solution - it 
was called the "Power Pillow" and it was a 4 D-cell tube velcroed to the 
bottom of the Model 100 which gave up to 200 hours use sans RS-232, or 
prolly 40-60 hours w/extensive RS-232 use. The guy who ran Club100 then 
*still does*, tho I think he ran out of stock of the power pillows a few 
years back. He still has software, RAM upgrades & refurbished units 
available! http://www.club100.org/ - Tell 'im "Merch" sent ya. ;-)

Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger

[1] OK, I don't actually know if Pleasant Hill is "just down the road" from 
LA, but it is in SoCal... ;-)

--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger  --  SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers
  _±±_                          zmerch at 30below.com
(©||®)  If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead
  _)(_   disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.