Zorin OS - trying to bring an old laptop back into use.

This is a Compaq Presario CQ57-301SA laptop, a now elderly machine, dating from the back end of 2011. I recall getting it as part of a mobile phone contract bundle that seemed to make sense at the time and, to be fair to the Compaq, for the three years it saw use, it was good enough.

A sneaky shot of the dining room ceiling as well... you lucky people.

Equipped with an AMD E-300 1.3GHz CPU and Radeon graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, this is not exactly a powerhouse. Indeed, with the bundled Windows 7 Home Edition, the machine's performance would be best described as stately. It was never a primary machine but did act as a good back up device even if it wasn't exactly a lightweight, weighing in at a smidge over 2.5Kg not including the 200g needed for the power adapter. The screen is a 15.6 inch 1366x768 number, which is average at best. You do, however, get a decent sized keyboard which is alright to use - not earth-shatteringly good but better than some laptops I have experienced. The touchpad is something else though, dimpled plastic that feels uncomfortable to use and is really not nice. As for the mouse buttons, they are loose and unresponsive unless you click them just right. Needless to say, as soon as this was brought home, a mouse was attached. The build quality is, again with that word, average. Plastic, but sturdy enough though there is some give around the centre of the hinge area that adds doubt as to this machine's ability to bounce. It's certainly lasted over the years with just a few scratches and marks but nothing that affected the operation of the machine. One nice thing to see is that the keyboard is solidly placed in the case. There is nothing more concerning when typing than when the whole thing flexes even under the lightest of pressure. I have found some modern day laptops, especially some of the cheaper HP and Lenovo types, are plagued by this. Battery life was about three and a half hours when new but I am not expecting anything like that now, though it is replaceable.

Not a powerful machine, even when new.

Connectivity is standard for the era: three USB 2.0 ports, the usual RJ45 connector for 10/100 Ethernet, full size SD/MMC card slot, audio in and out, as well as a 15 pin VGA port. A tray loading DVD-ROM drive and Kensington lock complete the exterior. Under the base, you can access the hard drive and memory for any upgrades you want to perform, though you are limited to 8GB of RAM. A note on the installed RAM - you lose nearly a quarter to video RAM for the integrated graphics, and Win 7 Home was always a bit iffy with less than 2GB to itself.

So why mention this machine now? Well, it's pretty much sat in the corner of a room for the last five years with just the occasional switch on to see if it still works, which it does. However, the OS has not been updated in years and performance is such that it is painfully slow to use. Having said that, it could still be of use as a simple text entry/web browsing machine, even if the battery is such that you can't stray far from a mains socket. It could also double as a portable retro games machine, especially with the keyboard - a flaw with the Lenovo Yogabook I posted about earlier in the year. But it couldn't be any of those things with the existing Windows install - the limited RAM and under-powered CPU would see to that, never mind the lack of updates. As a self confessed hoarder, I didn't really want to chuck it and besides, it still works.

This is where Zorin OS comes in.

And no, not this Zorin!

Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that promises a switchable user experience to provide interfaces similar to Windows and MacOS in order to comfort the new user. There are four versions available: Ultimate (which will set you back 39 Euros), Education, Core and Lite (all of which are free). The first three require a 1GHz dual-core 64-bit CPU, 2GB of RAM, between 10 and 20GB of storage and an 800x600 screen. The Lite version takes that entry spec even lower to a 700MHz single core 32-bit CPU, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage and a 640x480 screen. Given the limited specs of the Presario, I opted to test out the Lite version. A handy comparison of the different versions can be found here.

You can easily try out Zorin OS by downloading it from the their website and setting up a bootable USB drive. Instructions are easy to follow and it's simple to do. Once you have your USB drive ready, you then need to pop into your computer's BIOS to change the boot order so that the stick is picked up before the existing boot device (usually the hard drive or SSD that contains Windows). To do this, you'll need to press a specific key once you have switched on your computer - usually F1, Esc or, in this case, F10.

BIOS screen - bringing back DOS memories...

If you're not familiar to this style of screen, then I don't blame you. The sealed box style of computing popularised by Windows and MacOS means that you'll probably never have seen this before and I warn you now, if you do get curious, be careful. BIOS changes can cause more than a few problems, so with most of the options in here, if you don't need to change anything, don't!

For me, I just needed to change this menu so that when I plugged in the USB stick and powered the laptop on, it would boot off the Zorin OS image there. This was quickly done and I restarted the machine with the stick plugged in.

After a couple of minutes, I ended up with this - the Zorin OS desktop.

IT LIVES!!!

It looks nice, very relaxing in tone, familiar looking icons in familiar places and, to be honest, feels a bit more sprightly in use even though it's running off an old USB stick. This is a nice touch, by the way - you can try out the OS without nuking your existing OS install. After having a bit of a play about, I decided to go in for the full install - and yes, that meant no more Windows on the Presario.

Forty-five minutes later (it may be quicker for you given the age of the processor and the slow USB drive), the OS was installed and working fully. Wifi connectivity was just a password away and from there, it took another thirty five minutes to get all of the required updates installed. This was pretty much expected and didn't feel overly long.

There is a decent selection of software already installed (including Libre Office) but you have access to a respectable software store as well, which led me to FocusWriter, which I may come back to in a later post. There are hundreds of programs on here alone that could be useful to you and, of course, more if you search online via the included Firefox browser.

The Software Store.

In general use, while there are some pauses and stutters, these are nothing like the glacially slow experience of Win 7 on this machine. Boot up to a desktop (minus the time to input a password) is now less than 90 seconds. Some may scoff at that (and if this were anywhere near a modern spec, you perhaps should), but with Win 7, it was upwards for four minutes by the time the disk stopped thrashing. Not entirely sure what was going on there but the start up was as clean as I could make it. Even so, in use, it was terrible before, whereas now, it's perfectly usable as a basic productivity, web browsing and retro gaming machine (once I get RetroArch installed). In use, over the past week, the battery still seems to give about three and a half hours which, considering its age, is amazing. Also, if you're a person concerned with privacy and personal data collection, the team behind Zorin are quite proud to state clearly that they do not collect any private data about their users.

As for upgrades, I could double the RAM for less than £25 and the hard drive can easily be replaced by an SSD, something that would improve the responsiveness no end. OK, the processor is always going to be a drag on performance but hey, you can make little improvements here and there. All in all, not too bad for a nine year old basic spec machine. It'll certainly do.

And that, I think, is the point I am making here. I have seen quite a few people get rid of older Win 7 based computers because they believe that, as it's old and feels slow, it's clapped out, when all they need to do is try an alternative OS. The user experience is not that different, certainly not as jarring as moving from Windows to MacOS in my opinion, and unless you need specific software requirements (thinking Apple Music/iTunes), then you're pretty much covered for anything you need. The militant RISC OS user in me wants to scream out that you should be buying one of these from RISC OS Open for a tenner to see what proper alternative computing is all about, but practicalities in general use mean it's a bit more of a stretch for the average user - whatever constitutes an average user.

Give Zorin OS a try - you never know, you might like it. Of course, there are many more Linux distributions out there, but I picked this one because it caters for older hardware and tries to comfort new users to Linux. You don't have to be tied to Windows or MacOS if you take a little time and put a little thought into switching. I'm rather pleased with Zorin OS and having seen how well it performs on the Presario, I think it might be time to replace the old Ubuntu 11.10 install on my Asus Eee-PC...

Retro tech review: the Sony PEG-UX50

The Sony PEG-UX50 is a dinky little thing, looking a lot like a miniature laptop than the personal entertainment organiser it is advertised to be. What's that you say? What's a personal entertainment organiser? Well, it could be the posh job title for a concierge at a brothel (do brothels have concierges?), but it's actually a media orientated personal digital assistant. Released in 2003, it cost $699. A cheaper wi-fi less model, the UX40, cost $100 less. Put into 2019 money, that's equivalent to $970, or £765 (which does not include VAT!). So what did this princely sum buy you 16 years ago? Well, quite a bit...

As you can see, this is switched on. There is a menu on-screen...

Let's get the elephant out of the room. This is ostensibly a PDA but it is also very much a convergence device, that lovely, near mythical beast of jack and master of all trades. And, like many attempts in the past, whilst Sony took a decent swing at the all-in-one concept, it ended up landing a glancing blow rather than  a solid hit. But it doesn't half look cool!

Ah, that's better! The normal menu view

Specs first, and we have a Sony CXD2230GA processor running at 123MHz. This is based on the ARM 5 core and gives the ability to run video playback at 30 frames per second. This was once a big deal! It also supports variable scaling of the clock speed, meaning if there was not much of a workload for the CPU, it would slow down to maximise battery life. Memory is a quite generous 104MB, divided between storage for programs (16MB), system back-up (16MB) and media storage (29MB) and it's the latter that explains the UX50's purpose.

The rolodex view: funky but impractical

The screen is rather good, for the time. With a 480x320 resolution and 16-bit colour (meaning 65,536 colours), it is also back-lit. This, by the way, is mandatory. With the back light off, it's nearly impossible to read, even in bright sunlight. It also swivels around to lie flat against the keyboard, making the UX50 a mini-convertible. Connectivity is well catered for with a proprietary Memory Stick slot, USB for desktop syncing, Infrared, Bluetooth and 802.11b standard Wi-fi. Given all of that, there is a fair amount of tech in the compact casing. It's not overly heavy either, being built with magnesium-alloy rather than plastic, which also means it is also quite sturdy. An extendable stylus, non-removable lithium-ion battery, mandatory (I'll explain later) docking sled and a rotating 0.3 megapixel camera complete the package. There is also a lip that overhangs when the device is shut. This contains some shortcut keys (back, internet, email and organiser) and a scroll wheel, more about which later. It must be noted that this was the time when Sony kept adding scroll wheels to devices and in the context of the UX50, it is a useful item. Oh, and what looks like a fitting for a lanyard. I have no idea who would attach several hundred dollars of kit to a bag, belt or wrist but if you ever felt the need, Sony have you covered.

Right hand side: MS slot and headphone jack. Stylus to the left.

Left hand side: Power switch, Infrared USB and lanyard.

Software is based upon Palm OS v5.2. The usual apps are present and correct and they cover a wide range of organiser type activities. You also get MP3 playback, a web browser, an email client, an audio recorder, as well as video and photo apps for the camera. Even a text message app for your ultimate in 2003 communication needs! The scroll wheel is handy here as if you use the rotary menu view as it helps navigate the menu in the style of a rolodex. It also does that in the non-rolodex view but it suits the former better. It's a bit of a dubious feature as the screen resolution doesn't allow you to make out much in the way of detail on the apps unless they are pretty much in the centre of the screen. But still, it shows some consideration to the UI.

SMS: So 2003, darling!

As for the rest of the hardware, comment must be made about the keyboard. Firstly, they managed to fit one in, so the industrial design of the UX50 deserves applause. Secondly, despite the keys being quite small and hard to press, they are well spaced (helped by the ridged effect) and with two thumbs, you can get some decent note-taking done. The ridged design also complements the look of the device.

Closed, with lanyard hoop (!), scroll wheel and shortcut keys

In use, it is a nippy little thing and even through casual use, you can't help but think that the UX50 would have been a handy device to carry around. If you had the cash, that is. And access to a plug. You see, at this point, the convergence device dream falters. Here we go!

Battery life: despite the processor scaling and the easy to use docking sled, reviews at the time commented upon the sub-standard battery life. Three to four hours of steady use was about the limit, and wi-fi would hammer that even further, meaning the UX50 could never get through a full day unless you barely used it. Add the back-lit screen and whilst there are many things you can do with the UX50, you would need to do them rather quickly before you killed the battery. In the actual model I have, the battery lasts about an hour, decent enough considering its age and unknown previous use. Oh, and that sled? That is the only way to charge the device. There is no charging port on the UX50 itself. That means you need the sled and power cable which, by the way, uses a power brick that also takes up a fair amount of space and a separate lead for the plug. Hmmm.

On its sled, that port is Sony's own design.

The screen - it really is a bit too small. The relatively low resolution means that the small text in the web browser is almost impossible to see. That and the grainy effect destroys much of the quality of any video or photographs you may wish to view. Speaking of images, the on-board camera is also very poor, though for the time, it was possibly considered decent. Age has not been kind to imaging expectations. The screen also makes using the rotary menu view a bit too difficult to use for comfort. As noted above, without the back light, you ain't seeing diddly squat.

Screen folded over, actually pretty neat!

Storage is another issue. If music or video is your thing, then you are going to have to use the Memory Stick slot to add extra storage and that is a pet hatred of mine. Not the external storage per-se, more Sony's attitude to memory cards. Rather than use cheaper and more widely available Secure Digital format cards, they used their own proprietary (and suitably expensive) MS cards. True, this was a source of income for them, but as was proved with the PSP and PSP Vita handheld consoles, people were turned off by the idea of the costly extra memory, especially when you compared prices and realised how much they were gouging you for. But as already noted, Sony liked their proprietary standards back then.
The stylus. Whilst the UX50 has a touchscreen, it is resistive, so you're going to need that stylus or a finger nail. The supplied stylus is too small to use comfortably, even when extended and very easy to mis-place.

Size. It may seem churlish to decry the keyboard. After all, I have just said that it is decent. But the hard keys will wear you down over time and whilst good for note taking, they are no good for longer periods of use.

In the here and now, the PEG-UX50 can be seen for what it was: an attempt to have an all-round entertainment/productivity and organiser tool. The form factor is something I really like and, prior to touchscreens entering the mobile phone market, is one of the best examples of the mobile keyboard format I have seen - my favourite yet has to be a Blackberry 9300 but that's just me. The thing is, the UX50 was hobbled by the technology of the day and, to be honest, the target market it was aimed for. As in, what was the target market? For entertainment on the move, it was expensive and individual devices could offer a similar capability for a combined price lower than $699 and doing a better job all round. True, you'd have more kit to carry but money does talk and the amount this cost when released (and the equivalent now) is far too much for the consumer market. Indeed, many consumer devices have faltered with an RRP north of $500. As for the mobile professional, the price was bearable but the added entertainment features may have been considered unwarranted and the battery life too poor (it also doesn't help that the internal battery is non-removable so that docking sled would need to be carried too, reducing the usefulness of having to carry only one device given the sled's size). It is certainly well made and very well designed, just not overly practical.

Convergence devices always sound like a good idea (Teas maid/alarm clocks spring to mind), but they are often less than the sum of their parts. That should never be a reason not to consider them, just accept that there may be compromises that hobble the usefulness of the device. Even today, whilst the ubiquitous mobile phone can be considered the generic equivalent to the UX50, there are still issues that demonstrate these compromises. Battery life could always be better. Controls, especially for gaming, are impacted by the touchscreen interface, whereas physical controls may often prove better. Then there is the screen size itself, limited by the physical need to have the device able to be used by one hand. And no, I will never buy into the folding screen dream, that's just one more thing to break.

Still, as a history piece, the UX50 is worthy of remembrance, for the alternative ideas back when industrial design, greater competition and market focus had not succumbed to the homogeneity of today. And it still looks cool!

The Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that)

A good ten years ago, the Netbook was a lovely idea. A cheap, simple notebook that allowed you to browse the internet, get some basic productivity tasks done and play a few simple games, the Netbook product category really started with the Asus Eee PC 701, a Linux powered device with a tiny seven inch screen and a suitable keyboard to go with it. It's main selling point, apart from the basic functionality was the price, under £200 in 2008 prices. That model proved quite popular initially with consumers but there were issues with the lack of consumer familiarity with Linux and returns to shops were apparently quite high. Noting this, Asus introduced a larger model, powered by Windows Xp, the Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that), the machine I am typing this post on now.

My personal machine is over 10 years old now and apart from a replacement battery pack, the hardware has held up rather well over the years. Of course, I don't have Win XP on here anymore, but I'll cover that later on.

The Ausu Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that) plus Ubuntu.

Netbooks don't exist as a hardware category anymore due to the rise of the ubiquitous tablet, specifically, the Apple iPad. You see, the netbooks of old started to get bigger, to bring more power and functionality to the type. However, that increase in size negated the very reason for their existence. The prices went up, more powerful laptops became smaller and the tablet market took care of the content consumption market. Over time, the limitations of the type gradually killed them. That and the introduction by Google of the Chromebook. This did the job of the Netbook in a similar sized package, without the Windows operating system tax and without the need for better hardware to run said Windows.

That's not to say the Netbook was a bad idea, just one that was overtaken by technology and marketing. It is but a mere footnote in the history of personal computing though given the prices they still fetch on e-Bay and other sales sites, I am not the only person still using one.

The Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that) was released to the public in 2008 and not only added Win XP to the type but also an 8.9 inch 1024x600 screen, a bit too grainy for truly comfortable viewing but good enough to do the job. An Intel Celeron processor running at 900MHz, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard disk make up the rest of the main spec. Not exactly a powerhouse at the time but enough to get you a decent, if basic Windows experience. No optical drive was included (the chassis is too small), but you could easily add one via one of the three USB ports, nestled alongside the Ethernet and VGA ports as well as an SD card slot. An optical drive would have missed the point of the Netbook anyway – it was designed for connected use at all times and the thought process around that was carried on with Google's Chromebooks.

A workable screen, nothing more.

Priced at about £250 at the time, I bought mine as part of a 3G broadband dongle package on the Orange mobile phone network. The price per month wasn't extortionate, certainly not by the current monthly packages being advertised for modern day mobile phones, and I don't think it was bad value considering the hardware itself is still running.

Now the device itself is quite chunky, a sign of its age and the change in fashion in laptop computers. The bulk, however, is reassuring in that whilst the shell is plastic, it still feels quite sturdy and has, over the years, survived may journeys in rucksacks. It also has quite a decent sized battery that in Win XP territory, gives about 3 to 3.5 hours. Under the current OS (and the replacement battery), that's about 2.5 hours which is... OK. Compared to modern day devices, that's less than half of anything outside of a gaming laptop but it suffices for use for me. Even though the Asus is over an inch thick and chunky to boot, it has a certain charm that current hardware lacks, at least in my view.

The keyboard is reasonably sized and takes up the full width available. Much better than most hunt and peck keyboards, the keys have a decent amount of travel and feedback and there is a soft click upon each key press - nothing overly obtrusive at all. Overall, it is far superior to most Chromebook/tablet keyboards I have used through the years and even gives the Alphasmart a run for its money – though that one is a tad bigger but clackier and a bit more loose with the key tops. The trackpad is a bit too small and for those with largish hands, I'd recommend a USB mouse wherever possible. It must also be noted that the wrist rest gets a little bit warm on the right hand side but nothing too bad.

It's decent...

and not too much smaller than the Alphasmart.

After about 2014, I got a little bit bored with the chugging of XP and decided to replace it with Ubuntu 11.10, the then most suitable stable release for the spec of the machine. Performance wise, it was a breath of fresh air and the user interface is very easy to follow even if Windows was the only OS you had used up to that point. Some of you might think it is a bit reckless still running such an old version of Ubuntu, but this machine is kept off networks and the only file transfer occurs via USB or SD card and whenever that happens, full scans are undertaken.

So why still use it?

Well, the hardware still works, and I have never been rich enough (or reckless enough) to replace hardware on a willy-nilly basis. I still like the format of the device, the keyboard is good, the additional screen area over the Alphasmart comes in handy sometimes plus it feels rather rugged. The Alphasmart's unprotected screen and keyboard do give rise to some cause for concern, even with the rucksack I use. Ok, the Asus is thicker and a bit heavier but not by much and the footprint of the Asus whilst closed is smaller. Even with the additional bulk of the charger, it doesn't take up that much more room.

The modern day market has no room for the Netbook. The Chromebook has taken over the budget (and not so budget) basic laptop niche, especially if you want a bit more of flowing user experience, the lower priced Windows laptops (sometimes marketed as Cloudbooks) simply don't have the oomph to run Windows 10 smoothly under anything other than basic use. Tablets are now the go to consumption device and given the number of add-on “pencils” and keyboards, seem to be making a grab at content creation too. Saying that, no device I have tried in either category gives me a keyboard I like and typing is the main use for such a device for me. Indeed, the seemingly ever present need to make laptops thinner means, for the foreseeable future, shallow travel keyboards will keep me from any kind of new hardware – especially, but not uniquely, Apple laptops. For me, despite it's shortcomings, the Asus Eee PC904HD (still a catchy name, that), continues to fill in a gap that modern hardware doesn't. Combined with the Alphasmart (and NC100), this hardware combination gives me multiple choices for what I need.

The Amstrad NC100 - portable perfection?

A new year has arrived and this being the first new post of the year, I thought I'd begin with a retro-tech post, forward looking and all that malarky. As some of you may have noticed, I have a bit of an interest in old tech. More specifically, the tech of the early 1980's to early noughties. This encompasses the period of first generation consumer computing tech hitting the market to the final generation before the homogeneity of today's smartphone culture, where two operating systems and an almost identical form factor have combined to remove almost any individuality from the market. Indeed, where there are modern day unique devices: The Astrohaus Freewrite/Traveller, the Gemini handheld and even the open-source Pandora-derived Pyro, these tend to be small scale production models with prices commensurate to their niche appeal.

In part, this interest stems from growing up looking at such devices and thinking they were the dog's danglies (and some actually were for their time). It's also in part in seeing how much technology has developed and whether or not the original device designers got it right at the time but no-one noticed. There is also the self imposed challenge of seeing if tech discarded as obsolete fifteen, twenty or even twenty five plus years ago can still cut it today. Obviously, I am not going to try and run Pocket Internet Explorer from a 1998 vintage Windows CE palmtop or lug around an Amstrad PPC-512 portable from 1988. That would just be silly. No, it's more a case of if the device and software can still be used today, can they be used in a genuinely productive manner.

As such, it's time to talk about the oldest piece of retro-tech (outside of games consoles) that I own: The Amstrad NC100. Launched for the princely sum of £199.95 in 1992 (that's about £406 in today's money), the NC100 is an A4-sized slab of plastic with a qwerty keyboard, mono-LCD screen and 64kb of RAM. Powered by the ubiquitous Zilog Z80 processor racing at 4Mhz, you could expand the memory via PCMCIA cards of up to 1Mb (wooooo!!!) capacity. Four AA batteries offered a twenty hour lifespan, you have an RS-232 serial port for PC connectivity and a parallel port for printers. Primary applications include a word processor, calculator, diary and organiser. It even has BASIC for any programming needs and a terminal emulator/XMODEM ability for file transfers - indeed, a reviewer at the time of launch typed her review on the machine and filed back to the office via a 300-baud modem link. Take that you youngsters with your high speed fibre :-). In short, this was a device I really wanted when I was a teenager and I finally have my hands on one now, including it's original packaging which has not handled the passage of time too well.

In not too bad a condition considering the age.

Back when packaging was practical and informative.

First things first, the look. It follows the design of the Cambridge Z88, another device that found heavy use in educational and journalistic circles due to its ease of use and portability. It's a slab of black plastic, yes, but livened up by brightly coloured function keys that allowed shortcut commands for the built-in software. Why? To make it easy to use. That was the design brief from Mr Sugar himself (to the point where he wrote the introduction to the manual - so the story goes). And by and large, they did it. True, a younger user would struggle (where's the screen to tap away on?), but within ten minutes of switching the NC100 on, I'd figured out pretty much every menu and that was just by trial and error.

Everything that came in the box.

Build quality is fairly good. There is a bit of creaking if you really try and bend it but otherwise, it's a solid machine. Less hollow sounding than the Alphasmart 3000 I am typing this one and, dare I say it, a bit more durable. The manual is very detailed and handy for perusal but I get the feeling that new owners of the machine were meant to switch it on and get on with it.

The main menu - simplistic and clean

Although basic, the screen does its job well

The screen is basic, very basic, with 80 characters per row and 8 rows visible on-screen. it's not going to win any beauty contests and the text is rather small, but it does the job, unless it's dark. No back-lighting here but that helps with the battery live immensely. The follow up NC200 offered a half-clam-shell design with a built-in 3.5 inch floppy drive and a bigger, back-lit screen. You also got a spreadsheet, database and some games. The downside here was the move to C-cell batteries and the inability for the device to access the floppy drive if the batteries were even slightly below a full charge.

Organiser applications.

Calculator.

What the NC100 does benefit from is the keyboard. It clacks reassuringly like a typewriter, it's not overly loud but the sound is pleasing and not overly plasticky like most modern keyboards. The keys have a good amount of travel and spring back with just the right amount of tension. Honestly, this is the best non-desktop keyboard I have ever experienced for its size. Sitting down and bashing out a couple of hundred words was effortless and rather enjoyable and the only fault I can mention with the design is the slightly iffy angle of the screen which made viewing it a little bit of a chore. Other than that, the NC100 is superbly designed.

This brings me to the major issue with using it today. Whatever I type on the machine is held in battery backed up RAM. Finding 1Mb or smaller PCMCIA cards has proved a tad difficult and where I have found one, the prices being asked are eye-watering. There is the option of a serial cable so that will probably be my preferred method of transfer, but that may take some playing about with terminal programs and the like. Sadly, the NC100 pre-dates plug and play (even the hated Windows 95 idea of P&P) and lacks the easy transfer option of the Alphasmart. If only there were a way of combining the keyboard of the NC100 with the slightly more modern tech of the Alphasmart...

In a way, it's a shame. the concept is sound, the tech is good enough and the implementation excellent for its time. Yet, because of its age, it's not easy to use today. However, there are workarounds and with a bit of care and effort, I can see the NC100 lasting a good few years yet. What would be really good is if instead of going down the big-business data collection route of Google with their Chromebooks, or the bloated and relatively poorly performing budget Windows laptops or even the tablet/keyboard hybrids that are neither fish nor fowl, someone put together a low cost typing device that follows the mould of the NC100/Alphasmart/Z88? Think about it, a decent low power screen (doesn't have to be colour - in fact it shouldn't be to preserve battery life), in an A4 format with an ARM chip, a couple of GB of storage and the ability to run off either removable lithium-ion batteries or AA's. Using a basic operating system with applications saving in modern file formats, I think there could be a market for this device. Less fragile and cheaper than laptops, a better typing experience than tablets, what's not to like?

It won't happen, not least when you have the likes of the Astrohaus Traveller which offers something similar but in a clamshell format and a price that's just scary ($238 when the Indiegogo campaign launched, $349 (£270-ish) now - though comparing to the inflation adjusted price of the NC100, that's not too bad). It also doesn't help that if such a mythical machine were available, it would need to retail for $150 or less, and that would have to make it a relatively high volume, low margin product and I don't think the volume would be there, not compared to Chromebooks and tablets. Of course, it would be a niche product and by its very nature, lack the "perceived" value competitors offer.
As for me, I'll keep using  the Alphasmart and, when I have the cabling, the NC100. They are specifically focused machines with cracking battery lives and decent (in the case of the NC100, brilliant) keyboards. For simple text entry, nothing comes close. Sometimes, it's true, they just don't make them like they used to.

A Spiritual Psion - The Oregon Scientific Osaris

After posting the piece about the Psion Series 3, I intended to get my hands on a Psion Series 5 for comparison. After all, it was the follow up device in the Psion range. However, actually buying one is a smidge expensive. E-bay prices for good condition models are exorbitant and I could only find one retailer offering reconditioned units whose prices are not bad at all, especially compared to auction sellers but still high enough to put off a casual purchase. It was a bit like a replay of the 1990's, wanting one but never being able to fully justify the price and buying one. All was not lost, though. Just as in the '90's, there was a cheaper alternative that does almost exactly the same thing as the Series 5: The Oregon Scientific Osaris.

It looks decent...

Oregon Scientific started out life in Portland, Oregon (I see what they did there!) producing electronic weather stations, digital clocks, electronic learning devices and the like. From a UK perspective, the clogged up the Argos catalogue with tat but at the back end of the 1990's. They licensed the EPOC operating system from Psion and released this relatively cheap PDA.

With the usual software...

I say relatively cheap, at £219.99 to £279.99, it was cheaper than a Series 5 proper but also didn't offer everything that the Series 5 did. The main differences were the screen and operating system. The Osaris packed an 18MHz Arm 710 chip with 4 or 8Mb or RAM depending upon the model. The screen is a backlit and touch capable, with a resolution of 320x200 pixels (The Series 5 offered a 640x240 screen). Unlike the Psion, the Osaris used a forked version of the EPOC operating system, release 4. With the technical gubbins out of the way, what about the device itself?

... but even here you can see issues with the screen

It's fairly light and quite compact. Built from plastic, it doesn't feel overly robust and I wouldn't want to drop test of these machines. The hinge is quite easy to operate and upon opening, there is a plasticky rattle that gives pause for thought. Closing it gives a sharp snap that is more reassuring. The display is bordered by two touch-sensitive menus, leading to the smaller (although cheaper) display. These function as you'd expect and to be honest, the smaller display size is something you tend to forget about in day to day use. It helps that the side menus have a similar background to the display. One issue with the display is the fixed angle of the hinge, meaning if you're not in the right position, you'll have to contort yourself to see the screen clearly. Some might also find the screen a bit too murky and in less than decent ambient light, the backlight is a must.

The main draw is the keyboard and, whilst not up to the standard of Psion's Series 5, is more than good enough for note taking. The keys are relatively big and quite easy to tap away at. Initially, I found them a tad stiff with little feedback but with some perseverance, I grew to accept the feel. It's not a keyboard you could bash out a lot of words on but it does the job.

The built in software is the Psion standard package, so Word, Sheet, Data, Agenda etc. Nothing much to be added about those.

Connectivity is as per late 1990's standard PDA tradition - a compact flash slot that permits file transfers even today using a USB to CF adapter, RS-232 for a serial PC link and an IR port for beaming contacts and phone connections. Power is supplied by two AA batteries and they are easily replaceable.

Power, IR, RS-232 and slot for stylus

CF slot cover

Is this a device that could be used today? Well, maybe. Certainly you can use it for typing on the go, but the rather firm keyboard and the fixed angle screen hinge are two of the main ergonomic reasons against the Osaris. File transfers are still possible using a CF card and I don't have a serial cable or software to try a PC link. In one sense, I am glad I didn't get my hands on one of these back in the day. Yes, it looks a bit like a Psion, and it acts like a Psion, but it's not a Psion. With too many corners cut to hit a budget, it just can't compare with it's more expensive cousin.

Old Tech = Useless Tech???

During my recent post about computers I wanted to own when I was younger, I spent a modicum of time on e-Bay, searching for those bits of old kit and seeing how much they were going for. As well as being a bit of an eye opener, it also dropped a couple of old pieces of tech that, whilst they fell out of the purview of that post, were interesting when they were released and might still have a use today. Since the prices weren't silly, I ended up buying two pieces of portable tech that I think still have a use. Today, I'm stalking about the AlphaSmart 3000.

The AlphaSmart 3000 was part of a range of battery powered word processors released by NEO Direct Inc. and the range was on sale from 1993 (the original AlphaSmart) until 2013 when the Neo model was discontinued. There were several models throughout the years but the one I bought appeared around the middle of the lines existence in 2000 and was discontinued in 2006.

Includes carry case, quick start sheet and manual

The 3000 I bought is in good condition and cost £40. I have seen them for a tad less but the condition, case and accessories made the price quite decent anyway.

Remember the Bondi Blue iMac? This was inspired by that due to the inclusion of USB connectivity.

The monochrome display shows four lines of text, the memory holds eight files of approximately 12.5 pages of text and connectivity is either by a USB port or 8-pin serial.

USB to the left, Serial to the right...

Power is provided by three AA batteries which have a life of around 700 hours(!). As a practical guide, I have had the AlphaSmart for two months and the first set of cells are still going strong. Whilst it would be nice to have a backlit display, I can certainly understand why one isn't present and with the use intended, it isn't needed. This also helps battery life.

The screen is very clear, but not backlit.

As designed, the AlphaSmart was meant for children in a classroom environment. The light, compact design and plastic case make it easily portable and quite durable. The keyboard is a tad on  the small side for an adult but still very useable, indeed, most of this was typed on the 3000 and transferred over to a Chromebook for posting and images. The keys are a bit clacky and lightweight but they do have a decent amount of travel and I have used far worse in my time.

Operation is simple, the functions keys are pretty straight forward and there is even a cheat sheet of key commands on the back of the device.

Handy help guide on the base of the device

Whilst earlier models used infra-red to transfer files, and later devices had memory card slots, it was either USB or serial port for this one and as a cable wasn't included with mine, I did wonder how I would transfer text over. I needn't have worried. You see, the USB port is of the kind found on most printers so that solved the cable issues. As for compatibility issues, not a bother. Once plugged into my desktop, the 3000 detected the connection and asked me if I wanted to send a file over (file 1 by default but you can change that with a couple of key presses). I opened Google Docs in a browser window and hit the Send key on the 3000. Within a few seconds, the test had appeared line by line in the document. It was that easy. Talk about user friendly. Incidentally, once connected, the AlphaSmart goes into keyboard mode and you can use it as a regular keyboard. Just watch out for the swap between " and @. That caught me out the first time.

So what do I use it for? Well, it's a text entry device, so typing on the go. The 3000 has been to Amsterdam twice and proved a boon each time. Okay, it's not as compact as a laptop and it's a one purpose device, but what more do I need? The battery life is not an issue, the storage is more than enough and the keyboard is far more comfortable to use than my Chromebook. It does for me very nicely.

That it's not sold today is a reflection of changes to the market. Ever since cheap (under £200) laptops became available, educational buyers have flocked to the more versatile option. That this plays to the big businesses like Google and Microsoft misses the point of having such devices. If all you want is text entry for classroom and homework use, then additional features just get in the way, but since the big corporations want you to use more of their features, of course they are going to up-sell. 

Is there still a market for text entry devices like this in the age of cheap Windows/Chromebook laptops? Well, kinda. You see, if you want a no frills portable electronic typewriter, you are limited to the second hand AlphaSmart market or the Astrohaus Freewrite. This started as a crowd funded electronic typewriter called the Hemmingwrite, based on the practice Hemmingway used to write on the fly and not edit. The Freewrite is a far bigger device but with a proper Cherry-switched keyboard and an e-ink display. The battery life is far shorter and whilst you can connect via USB, they promote cloud services to send the files you create to your service of choice. It only holds three files but storage is much larger than the 3000. To be honest, it looks okay, the major problem being the price: £383 as of the last time I checked. That is a serious wodge of cash and for a one task only device, that is not justifiable to me. Yes, it gives you distraction free writing that a traditional laptop doesn't but at a price. Plus, its portability is suspect. 

For me, and maybe others, since the AlphaSmarts on e-Bay always sell, these devices are certainly useful today and prove that just because the tech is old doesn't mean to say it no longer has a use. Yeah, it's a niche use, but compared to the Chromebook I have used for the last four years, the 3000 is much better at text entry and will continue to be used for as long as it lasts. After that, maybe another trip to e-Bay.

More Computer musings...

Growing up in the 1980's and 90's and being interested in tech, his meant that I read voraciously about home computing. True, it is a topic that still interests me now but, compared to that period, the market today seems so... boring. By that, I mean that whilst there was a lack of standardisation, there was a vivacity that is lacking today. True, todays machines and software are infinitely more powerful and capable but at heart, they are pretty much the same. From different formats to weird designs, the computer market did suffer from beige box hell but you could still find some individuality. These days, it's black box hell with some neon strip lighting if you feel the need

As the years passed by, there were a handful of machines that appealed to me, either because of the way they looked and/or the functionality they offered. The following is a list of five machines that at some point, appeared on my wish list. I will add though that at no point have I ever owned these machines. I doubt I will as they are of their time and perhaps should remain there. Operating systems, however, do not follow that rule as my previous posts have noted. Having said that, if one of these machines was available, I'd give it a go just to see how much things have changed.

Amstrad PC 5286

First up, the Amstrad PC 5286. Why, you may ask? Well, I have always had a thing for tidy little desktop machines, designed from the ground up to do a job reasonably well without taking up half the floor or desk space in the room. This was a neat little machine that had enough power to work, 1Mb of Ram and a 40Mb hard drive, and a neat little case design that Amstrad used for several of its later PC ranges. Expandability was extremely limited, this machine was a sold as a straight forward package . I do recall that the monitors were horrible and the later 7xxx series were offered with a 10 inch VGA monitor that must have played hell with your eyes! This was a machine that could have seen me through most of my secondary school years but instead, we picked up a cheaper but much bigger LG Goldstar 286 that lasted a few years.

Apple PowerBook Duo 230

Now this machine covered two areas of personal computing, desktop and laptop, by way of a rather clever and tidy docking system. By day, a mild mannered, decently spec'd portable; by night, a decently spec'd desktop by the way of a companion dock.

Monitor and accessories were extra (naturally)

Remember, this was long before the time of fast and secure remote working so the idea was valid back then. It compared well with buying multiple machines (At launch the Powerbook Duo was $2,160 - a corresponding Powerbook 140 was north of $1,600 and a Color Classic was another $1,400, though you needed to add the dock, monitor, keyboard and mouse for the Duo. The Duo combination was a one fits all solution, rather than a multi-device kludge). The Duo did its job rather well, a 33 Mhz Motorola 68030 processor, 4Mb of RAM and an 80Mb hard drive was not too bad a spec for a portable warrior. The dock added a full range of ports, room for an expansion slot, more video memory and a hard drive bay. Altogether, a practical set up and one that worked well. True, it was expensive (and the prime reason this was never on my reality based shopping list - but that can be said of so much Apple kit throughout the years!), but for early 1990's tech, it was rather good. It was probably the sub-notebook format that worked best for me and I eventually got into that format with the Asus eee-PC, which still works as a handy little Linux device to this day. The Duo, however, was the portable for me at the time. Before that, however...

Amstrad PPC 512

Dialling back a few years, this was the machine on this list I came closest to being able to buy. Not that I did as the Amiga 500 was the computer of choice back then and, looking back, it would not have worked well. The PPC 512 was Amstrad's attempt at a luggable. I say luggable and not laptop as seriously, would you put this on your lap??? And which train/plane seat would you occupy? Admittedly, its size does allow it to sport a full sized keyboard and it can be powered by 10 (ten!!!) C-batteries, but the while thing is totally impractical.
Yet at the same time, it isn't. It was an eye opener back then and thirty years of advances make it ludicrous now, but I still like it. Why? Because it offered a chance of portable computing at a price that wasn't stratospheric. Okay, it was only a slight improvement on the likes of the Osborne 1 from several years prior but this was fully PC compatible, offered an MDA/CGA compatible monochrome screen and you could have two floppy drives. Aftermarket accessories included internal hard drives so there was a decent ecosystem around the machine. The 8Mhz NEC V30 processor did the job and there was a non-too shabby for the time 512Kb of RAM. And it looked cool in that 80's industrial plastic kind of way. Buying one today is relatively easy and cheap on ebay, the only downside being that they all seem to lack system disks. But still, not that tempting for me...

Acorn Risc PC

This one came with a pizza oven and the kitchen sink! Seriously, look at the pic below:

The full monty (including the kitchen sink!)

The Risc PC was the follow up to the Archimedes range and, for its time, offered a bang per buck that was hard to match. Using the (then) new StrongArm processors, the Risc PC was a bit of a powerhouse that had been carefully designed around slice based casing.

The bog-standard casing

You see, each slice had space for a 3.5" and a 5.25" drive bay so slice one could handle your floppy drive and CD-ROM, slice two could take an additional hard drive and a tape back-up drive and so on. Each slice could also fit two podule expansions and were easily stack-able, sometime to the extreme. As you have seen above, at one show, a demo machine was set up with every bell and whistle they could think of, including a pizza oven and working tap and sink. Comedy value aside, the industrial design is superb and extremely forward thinking. 

The back end, showing podule expansion backplanes.

If there was a fault, well two in be specific, they were the lack of shielding that scuppered the design when changes were made to electrical specifications and the speed of the bus connecting the motherboard components. However, for the latter, direct access expansion cards allowed new processor and RAM expansions to run without being slowed down by the motherboard. 

By the time this machine came out, I was at the tail end of my Amiga phase and it wouldn't be too long before I joined the Windows PC brigade. It was priced too highly for what I needed and could afford so a cheaper generic PC was the order of the day instead.

Only a couple of re-sellers stock these today and prices are quite high for what you get. Buying one would be for novelty value only as Risc-OS has moved on since then but the physical design has an almost timeless quality and one that I think would work well today. It's just a shame that no-one else took this up.

Commodore Amiga 1200

Finally, we have the Amiga 1200. The last of the affordable Amiga range to be released before Commodore's demise, this was the machine that could, maybe, have saved the company if they had released it a couple of years earlier. Well, probably not saved, but at least let it have another shot in the mid-90's. As it was, company politics and some downright immoral behaviour by the company's management meant that it would have been a tough challenge no matter what the company had produced. 

Similar in style to the Amiga 500 but with a more compact design, the 1200 had enough oomph to act as a basic but decent internet capable machine, even in the mid-90's. It was expandable and more than a few have been converted to tower configurations where the wealth of third-party add-ons in surprising.

It offered a hefty bump in power from the A500/A500 Plus range and demonstrated that with the tools and finance, Commodore's engineers could do the business. The less said about the management pushed A600 (the successor to the A500 range, the better). 

However, the era of cheaper PC's was beginning and it wouldn't be long before Windows 95 ushered in a (relatively) user friendly experience on hardware that was much more capable (albeit more expensive but better value). The closest I came to getting one of these was when Escom bought out the remnants of Commodore and released an internet-access based pack. Alas, I was torn between this and the Risc-PC so settled on a PC (yeah, I know), and as it turned out, Escom was not long for this world anyway.

So there you have it, a short list of the computers that interested me back in the day. Like I said, I doubt I will ever buy any of these for use in the present day but that doesn't mean to say I haven't been a little bit busy on E-bay either, but more of that in the future.

Hold on again, I bought two of those!!!

Following on from the Tapwave Zodiac post the other week, it got me thinking about what was possibly my favourite piece of multi-purpose tech from the noughties - the Nokia N-Gage.

Now hold on there before you get pitchforks and flaming torches, hear me out. This was an attempt by the then biggest mobile phone manufacturer to combine said mobile phone tech with a games console, something that still alludes to this day (I am not counting smartphone gaming as  unless the rely upon simple touchscreen/gyro controls, actually playing them is a chore. I believe that physical controls trounce those options pretty much all of the time).

So what was it like? Well, Nokia took their then successful Series 60 software platform and stuck it in this:

The Nokia N-Gage - aka The Taco phone

Now I will be the first to admit that they compromised massively on the design, indeed, one of the key failures was the controls themselves, a phone keypad rather than gaming controller. It actually challenges the Atari Jaguar pad as worst design ever. Still, at the time, it was quite a piece of tech and yes, I bought one on launch day with a copy of Tomb Raider and I loved it. For a while...

Amongst the other compromises brought along on the phone side was the screen, a very (phone sensible) 11:13 ratio vertically orientated display. However, most gaming devices at the time followed the 4:3 ratio that copied televisions of the age. This was awkward and compromised the aesthetics of most of the titles. Another was the game card slot. This was inside, with no access externally. This meant that to change titles, you had to strip the battery out and re-boot the device. To be fair to Nokia, they did improve on a few things with the N-Gage QD but I'll get to that in a moment.

Despite the frankly obvious negatives above, I loved the machine. It allowed me to carry one device instead of several and even if you did look like a complete tool using it for a phone call, it ticked a lot of the boxes for me. Even the battery life wasn't too bad and it took a standard Nokia battery at the time so carrying a pre-charged replacement was easy enough. Plus pretty much everyone had a Nokia charger lying about.

Having said that, a quick check on YouTube shows that time is a harsh mistress and the titles that I remember playing and enjoying have not aged well, either by the technical abilities of the machine or that god-awful screen ratio. I ended up with about ten titles for the N-Gage over the two years I used it and it's follow up, the QD. Alongside Tomb Raider, there were Sonic N, Pandemonium, Super Monkey Ball and Call of Duty that stand out. Not necessarily for the right reasons, but I remember them well.

As per the market at the time, once the 12 month contract was over, I upgraded to the QD, a softer, more sensible re-design that slightly improved the controls, moved the speaker and mic so that you could hold the phone normally and placed the game card slot on the edge of the device. I sold the original which payed for the first five months of the new contract and held onto the QD for pretty much the rest of the following year. It was only when the software releases practically stopped that I turned my attention to newer devices and sold the QD and games off. As a collector, I wish I hadn't done that, but then YouTube is enough to remind me of the games and it's one less thing to clutter the house up.

The N-Gage QD - what the original should have been...

The N-Gage was a bold move by Nokia into the territory then (as now) dominated by Nintendo. That it didn't work, I put down to how the device was sold (this was long before children were given mobile phones as almost a human right - that's a discussion for a much later time) so unless you had deep pockets, a contract was the only way forward, the compromises brought about by trying to be master of all trades and the sheer strength of the competition. It also displayed the first cracks in Nokia's dominance of the mobile market. It failed and it failed badly. The coming of touchscreen smart devices would prove to be an even greater challenge.

The N-Gage was a technological dead end at the time, given that the hardware was probably too underpowered for gaming and the mobile networks were nowhere near capable of supporting the feature rich software we take for granted now, though the time of portable gaming and mobile phone synergy (minus physical controls) was only a few years away the form of Android and iOS devices. Am I please I owned two? Yes, as I said with the Tapwave post, they fitted a need that I had at the time. I do not consider the money spent a waste (what with selling the devices and games on, as well as having the phone contract which I would have had anyway). Would I seek out the hardware again for the sake of familiarising myself with it? No, that ship has sailed, and the rose tinted spectacles can do very strange things.