27 Mar
2002
27 Mar
'02
10:59 a.m.
At 21:18 27/03/2002, you wrote:
Why is size/weight important for a machine that's not designed as a portable?
Smaller is Better? Wasn't that always Sinclair's design philosophy?
Anyway, size was a secondary issue...
I'm not totally sure whether the Amstrad drive = Hitachi, but I've had
nothing but bad luck with the Amstrad things. The S/W house I did "work
experience" at (whilst still an ankle-biter) had nothing but rude words to
say about the CPC6128 and it's disk drive.
Probably. Sir Clive is an innovator and corner-cutter. No way is he a
business man.
--
Cheers, Ade.
Be where it's at, B-Racing!
http://b-racing.com
Err, a serious business computer (which is what the QL
was sold as in the
UK, at least initially) does not require you to make your own media.
The trouble was the price. Sinclair would have had to approximately double
the machine's price - and quite possibly size & weight - to get a disk And as regards price, I (and virtually everone else I
know) would rather
pay enough and get something that's useable and reliable rather than pay
too little and get something that's useless.
Perhaps. Back when they were new, it was the only "decent" computer my
family could afford. As such, I'm prepared to forgive Sir Clive an awful
lot; since I got a very handy machine.
I know this is an
unconventional idea these days, though :-(
So true. OTOH, the QL was mostly reliable. Certainly more reliable than any
single one of my PCs here (all of which have, at some time or another, had
something fail in them). What makes the PC forgivable is that it's
generally a plug-in plug-out component, rather than some integral part of
the only circuit board in the thing. Although, come to think of it, I have
had 3 motherboard failures :(
drive in
(forget the Amstrad 3" wreckages, they're about as reliable as
microdrives).
Odd... I've not used the Amstrad drives, but I've used the Hitachi 3"
drives with 'Amsoft' disks (who really made those? Maxell?) and never
lost a single byte. The disk mechanical construction is much better than
the 3.5" one as well... Granted, the
QL would possibly have enjoyed more success that way, but
Sinclair is Sinclair.
Unfortunately, he's ruined just about all of his products in this way :-(