ZORBA The Portable Computer... ...with 80 x 25 legible display and twin 400K disks. Here are seven important reasons why ZORBA format compatibility with Xerox 820 (SD, DD) must be your best choice. KAYCOMP (DD), DEC VT-180 (SD) and IBM PC • 7" CRT. (CP/M86). 9 80 x 25 Green Display. The start up package for only $2995 (plus tax) • 400K Disks (single or double density). includes CP/M 2.2 OS, M80 (inc. L80, LIB80, • 19 programmable function keys. CREF80). Source code of BIOS and utilities, Data • Disk emulations. Comm. set-up package, Modem Comm. • Terminal emulations. package, C Basic, WordStar, MailMerge, and • Rugged construction. CalcStar. Just released in Australia by lnSystems, Total package backed by InSystems service Zorba is set to be one of the top selling portables. and support and full 90-day warranty. Z80, CP/M based, Zorba has read/write and Dealer inquiries welcome. 337 Moray St., South Melbourne, 3205. Telephone: (03) 690 2899. Suite 11/84 Pacific H'way, St. Leonards, N.S.W. 2065. Telephone: (02) 439 3788. 419 (Zorba) ELECTRONICS Australia, August, 1983 9 The Cromemco C-10SP computer system "Value for money" is the phrase which perhaps best sums up the keys along the top row used in conjunc- Cromemco C-10 computer. The compact, up-to-date design of tion with the Shift and Control keys to the system, the range of software provided and Cromemco's provide 30 user-definable function keys. A double row of labels above these keys reputation for reliable, expandable products make the C-10 an indicate the functions they perform excellent choice as a first computer for a small business or self- when running "WriteMaster", employed professional. Cromemco's word processing program. A separate software utility is provided to allow a segment of the keyboard to by PETER VERNON be redefined as a numeric keypad to assist the entry of numeric data. Physically the C-10 is eye-catching, allows the screen display to be tilted and Other features of the keyboard are a with a robust beige cabinet and brown swivelled to suit the operator while rais- wrist rest, automatic key repeat and op- trim, and closer inspection reveals some ing it to convenient eye height. This tional audible feedback. An operating interesting features. in keeping with cur- stand is optional and may not be re- system utility allows the repetition rate rent thinking on user comfort the quired by all users. In fact separately ad- of the keyboard to be varied and keyboard is separate from the computer, justable rubber feet on the monitor unit enables the audible response. There is attached by an extensible cord similar to allow the viewing angle to be adjusted no provision for varying the duration or that used on telephones. However over a more limited range without the tone of this reponse, and we found it to rather than providing a separate "logic additional expense of the stand. be both piercing and too long. The keys unit" and a video monitor, Cromemco The keyboard is diminutive, although have a slightly heavy action, with no sign have chosen to mount the electronics of with 60 full-size keys. It weighs less than of contact bounce, and the keyboard is the system inside the cabinet of the 2kg and measures 330 x 180 x 55mm light and compact enough to be posi- display unit on a slide-out circuit board. (width by depth by height at rear) sloping tioned to suit the user. Printers, disk drives and other to a height of around 20mm at the front. peripherals are attached to ports at the There are no excess keys, just the stan- rear of the monitor cabinet. dard typewriter complement with Con- The video display Our review unit was supplied with a trol, Escape, Alpha Lock and a cluster of Our review system was provided with stand for the video display unit which cursor controls, with the number the "CST" tilt and swivel stand, which is an optional extra. Without the stand the video monitor/computer unit measures 300 x 405 x 280mm (W x D x H), while the stand raises the height to 420mm as well as allowing the display to be tilted and swivelled (with a locking knob). The 30cm (diagonal) green phosphor video screen is capable of displaying 25 lines each of 80 characters, with the 25th line most often used in the half-intensity mode for displaying instructions to the user. Characters are steady and easily readable, on a true non-glare background, with special features in- cluding half-intensity, reverse video and on-screen boldfacing and underlining. Four character sets are available, in- cluding standard ASCII and the same set in boldface, scientific symbols and graphics characters. Careful use of the graphics character set allows displays with a resolution of 160 x 72 (horizontal The compact detachable keyboard of the C10 is clearly laid out and easy to use. The x vertical) but the Basic interpreter pro- labels at the top refer to functions provided by the number keys in Shift and Control vided with the C-10SP has no specialised combinations. graphics statements. 1 26 ELECTRONICS Australia, August, 1983 Cromemco supplies disk drives in its restoring whatever file you were work- ensuring that any problems are identified own packaging to match the main pro- ing with. immediately. cessing unit. The standard drives are This arrangement is far more inconve- 13cm 80-track double-sided units, using nient than twiddling a couple of knobs. System configurations a double-density recording format to Diagnostics and a power-on self-test Like most Cromemco products the provide 390Kbytes of storage per disk. are incorporated in ROM on the C-10 cir- C-10 is based on the Z8 0A The drives connect to a single port at the cuit board, and are carried out each time microprocessor, running at a clock rate rear of the cabinet and the connector the system is switched on, creating a of 4MHz. 64K bytes of RAM is provided provided is designed for piggy-back con- noticeable delay (around 30 seconds) as standard, with 24K of ROM containing nection of multiple disk drive units on before the system is ready for use, but a resident operating system and machine the one port. Power for the disk drives is provided from the computer unit, so there is only one power cord and one on/off switch Cromemco C-10SP specifications for the system — a convenient feature. In Processor: Z80A at 4MHz two respects however the design of the RAM. 64K C-10 falls short of optimum; the power ROM: 24K switch is in an awkward position at the Keyboard• Detachable, full-size 60-keys rear of the monitor cabinet, where it is Display: Green phosphor, 80 x 25 lines obstructed by the piggy-backed connec- Interfaces: Programmable printer port, tions of the disk drives, and there are no RS232C communications port, brightness or contrast controls for the Disk drive connection. video display. Disk drives: 13cm 80 track, double-sided, A utility program on the system disk double-density, 390K storage allows these display parameters to be per disk adjusted from the keyboard, but using Peripherals• Parallel or serial printer, modem the program (called "Bright") requires Documentation: Five comprehensive manuals, saving the work in progress, calling in a on-screen Help displays. new program and adjusting the Service and technical manuals brightness of characters and background are available separately. using the cursor control keys and then ELECTRONICS Australia, August, 1983 127 language monitor. There is no provision allows files to be transferred between Structured Basic to extend the amount of memory in the disks or between disk and printer or system. display console. An extensive manual is Cromemco's SBasic should not be con- At the rear of the monitor cabinet are provided, with full details, including fused with the compiler of the same the connections for the disk drives source listings of I/O drivers. name running under CP/M, or Sanyo's (already mentioned), a keyboard con- CDOS is entirely written in Z80 version of Microsoft Basic, also called nector and ports labelled "accessory" machine code by Cromemco for its own SBasic. The Cromemco version is an ad- and "computer". The accessory port can range of computer systems. While many vanced interpreted Basic with features be configured in software either as a programs written under CP/M will func- intended to overcome the deficiencies parallel or serial printer interface, and a tion under CDOS, the reverse is not true. of more conventional implementations utility program allows the selection of The enhancements added by Cromem- of the language. one of nine types of printer. The co will be primarily evident to the pro- Many criticisms have been made of the Cromemco CLQ daisywheel printer is grammer wishing to work directly with unsuitability of Basic for complex pro- the default, but dot matrix types in- the operating system and mainly provide grams. The fact that all variables are cluding the Epson MX80 are also new system calls to allow more flexible "global" (can be referenced and re- supported. allocation of input and output to assigned from any part of a program) The "computer" port is an RS232C peripherals and disks. The built-in ter- and the lack of control structures are serial interface which is used to connect the C-10 as a terminal, either via a modem or a hard-wired connection to another system. When the C-10 is swit- chea on without a disk drive attached it will automatically enter a com- munications mode, sending a series of carriage return characters to establish the baud rate and format of the serial transmission protocol in use by the host system.