18 Oct
2007
18 Oct
'07
12:35 p.m.
And how many PCs have a 'user port'?
That's one thing I would certainly
want to hack in somehow.
That's one of my largest complaints with "modern" laptops - no
traditional ("legacy") parallel port. I have, in the past year,
attached LCD displays, a ladder D-A, MCUs for programming, and a real
Dragon's Lair/Space Ace scoreboard to a PeeCee parallel port. It's
not quite as versatile as the User Port on a PET or a C-64, but I'm
still missing my old (i.e., bought in 2005!) laptop. I _do_ have some "user port"-ish hardware
for ISA, though -
essentially one to three 8255s on either a 2/3-length or full-length
It's just a pity that the 8255 was the worst parallel port chip ever
designed. I mean, change the direction of any port, and all outputs are
set low (setting them high would be marginally more tolerable!).
-tony