20 Jun
2009
20 Jun
'09
10:47 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
OK, there's no official way to have an internal
printer in a 120, but the
interface is there, and althohgh I've not tried it, it should work. One
day I'll borrow bits fro man HP150 and see.
I really like the 125 for several reasons. First, it has an HPIB
interface for disks, etc. That interface also allowed it to be a
controller for calibration instruments. It also used an easy to create
disk format. Also handy.
When I said I didn't like the design of the HP120,
I didn't mean the
'looks ' of the machine. I meant the electronic design -- a separate
terminal processor communicating with the application processor through a
little 'mailbox' and a very strange video circuit.
I worked for two companies which made terminal / PC combo devices. I
suppose I have a weakness for them. The 125 behaved as a decent
terminal on an HP 3000, and ran as a CP/M computer simultaneously,
allowing a switch between disparate processes that the standard PC world
wouldn't see for many years. The "strange" circuitry made it easy for
the user to alternate processes, and allowed communication between
them. It's appropriate to have complex hardware and software to make
the use of the machine easier. At least, that's my theory. The HP 125
was both pretty and easy to use, as an HPIB controller, an HP terminal,
and as a CP/M machine.
Warren