Conference 7.286::atarist

    I'm always glad to see vapor become real, but... a 40 column display
    and :
    
familiar to any IBM PC or compatible user," said Tramiel.  "Because Portfolio's
operating system is so similar to MS-DOS 2.11, vendors of PC software are
already working to adapt popular floppy disk PC programs for the system," he
added.

    What does "so similar" mean?  They aren't running MS-DOS?
    
    -dave
         

    re .0
    
    Its nice to see a positive announcement from Atari, BUT........
    
    The portfolio hasnt yet been on the shelves in Europrean countries, so
    I dont see how Sam can say they have had problems KEEPING them on the
    shelf. Atari's problem is getting them on the shelf!!
    
    This leads on to the next gotcher. The portfolio may be on the shelf,
    but the memory expansion and the Credit card to disk reader/writer
    ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE!
    
    Regarding the 40 column display, there is a vertical and horizontal
    scroll system so you can see an 80 column line in two forty column
    chunks.
    
    I have not yet managed to get my hands on a portfolio to have a type on
    it, but all the reviewers say its not a keyboard you can use seriously.
    Its OK as a yuppie electronic filofax, but NOT a laptop. The cheapest
    and best portable keyboard is the CAMBRIDGE instruments Z88. (Its now
    also being sold by APPLER as a portable add-on for the MAC. (see the
    advert in MAC user).
    
    
    TTFN
    
    PAT K.

Note that the announcement didn't say "on the shelves", it said "key
european markets".  I expect that this means something very different.

    The machine is available in the U.K at this very moment. I saw it
    in 'DIXONS' on Saterday. Can't say whether any accessories are
    available though.
    
    	- Andrew -

    Hi andrew
    
    WHICH DIXONS ???
    
    Thanks Pat K
    

    The PORTFOLIO is also available in Germany.
    You can buy it now at "KARSTADT" Hamburg and a dealer in Kiel presents
    it since some weeks.
    This dealer told me the serial interface would be available these
    days too.
    
    Does anyone know how to work with software which got transferred
    from PC to PORTFOLIO ?  (Problems with screensize, graphic standard,
    keyboard and others)
    
    		D.M.
    

    Try the Glouster (spelt wrong !!) Branch (near Cheltenham)

    re .1
    
    Thanks, I thought I didnt see it in our local READING shop, last week.
    
    I will have a look around this lunch time.
    
    Cheers
    
    Pat K.

    Hi Pat,
    	An aside question do you know of anyone who could download stuff
    off the network for me as 3�" ATARI/PC format drives seem to be
    a little thin on the ground here in DEC PARK I (READING) ???
    
    - Andrew -

    It's also on sale at PH electronics in the Chineham shopping centre.
    A physically well designed machine - robust and attractive. The
    problems with it are the small keyboard and 40 col display. The
    add ons aren't yet available. To be honest it needs 80 columns to
    become a serious contender as a laptop machine.
    
    
    
    				Jamie.

    I believe the Portfolio's screen is a 'window' into an 80x24 display
    window. Can anyone confirm this?
    

    
    Hi Buzz
    
    I also read this, I will have a play on the one in Chineham and let you
    know, (wont be till Friday tho, when we go shopping at the supermarket
    next to the computer shop.
    
    TTFN
    PAT

    Buzz,
    
    Just think of it as nostalgia for the days before the ST, when
    people were glad to get something that displayed 40 columns
    on a TV set.  But I think you are right, I too saw something
    about it as a window on a 80x24 screen.  It would have to do
    something like that since most ibmpc applications are not designed
    to output to a 40 column screen.
    
    Hmmm... I wonder how long it will take somebody to figure out how
    to display 80 columns using a 3 pixel wide character set (that was
    hard to read on TV set when used with an Atari 400, but might not
    be so bad on a b/w LCD screen).
    
    -Dave
    

    
    Hi,
    
    As I stated in other notes, I visited the PC show in Lndon at the
    weekend. Atari had lashings of Portfolios there to play with. So I had
    a good play with the machine. The keyboard is TOO SMALL for my jumbo
    sausage fingers, I found it hard to use, my son with small hands
    thought it was great. I also found that to see the sreen properly, i
    wanted to tilt the whole thing slightly, this meant one hand, (one
    finger typing). I think you need the light in the correct place. The
    macxhine comes with built in applications, WP, spreadsheet, timemanager
    and address book. There is a set up menu that enables defaults to be
    changed. This includes the display. so selecting this you get a menu
    that says 40 char or 80 chara IBM mode or 80 char (another mode I cant
    remember). I tried selecting these, but couldnt get the inbuilt
    applications eg WP to run in horizontal scroll 80 char mode. There were
    no instruction manuals about, and when I asked the nearest stand
    guardian how to do 80 charc mode he bugged out!! (i think he was hired
    by the day to stop anyone cutting the M/cs off their security cables)
    
    So I am still not CERTAIN that the machine does 80 characteer
    scrolling. It says it does on a menu, but I couldnt work it!
    As I said there were no peripherals about. The Atari rep said,
    DEFINAtETLY next week. They have to get them out, cause its no good
    selling the m/c without them!
    
    I think this machine is a "novelty" item, an electronic FILOFAX, plus a
    little bit. It will probably sell in MILLIONS to the yuppie mobile
    phone set, but I dont honestly think you can do any extended serious
    work on it! You could make notes, or do minutes of a meeting etc but
    not use it to write War and Peace.
    
    I have the literature and specs so if anyone wants more details give me
    a mail.
    

Well, Joe at the Sudbury "Bit Bucket" told me Saturday morning that the
Portfolios had come in, and were all sold out (excet for one, which was
stolen.)  I don't know how many he got, but SOMEBODY around here as them
at home.

    Well,
    	I too had a play with the Portfolio at the PC show & I have
    to agree with a couple of previous points.
    
    1) I do not see it as a 'lap top' machine.
    
    2) I see it as a 'super Psion Organiser'. The in-built functions
    looked good. The Organiser has sold millions with just a 40x4 screen
    (that's its top of the range model, most are 40 char x 2 lines !), so
    the Portfolio wins hands down.
    
    3) It will sell MILLIONS to the yuppie community and gadget freaks
    (like me! My wife had to drag me away, she could see that "I want
    one" look forming in my eyes).
    
    To disagree, I found the keyboard excellent. Very surprising for it's
    tiny size.
    
    		Stuart P.
    P.S. Why was the TT, STE and STacy tucked away at the back as if
    they were embarrassed about them.

    Hi Stuart,
    
    I also think the Portfolio will sell millions!!, My son found the
    keyboard excellent, and he is saving his pounds for one, but I have ten
    sausages on my wrists, I found the keys too close, (i really went for
    the new PSION MC640 portable. That has a super display and keyboard but
    850 notes is a rip off!!
    
    Cheers
    Pat K.
    

    i have my very own portfolio right this minute.  i ordered it from
    atari direct on their 800 phone number.  they sent it out on federal
    express that very day, i got mine the next day.  i am just learning
    it and do not know much yet.   i travel by air a lot and need something
    small for wps and such on the plane.   also i need to read my
    all-in-one mail in hotels.   does anyone know yet how to hook up
    to modems and into our all-in-one mail?   i have the parallel and
    serial interfaces.  also, i want to be able to dump into my decmate
    II when i return to my office.  any other "owners" out there yet??

    Hi,
    
    I got one working together with a PC-4 from Atari (AT-clone). In order
    to bring stuff over from the PC to the you can transfer files with the
    parallel interface and the server program on the PC. This just works
    great ! To use the serial interface for data transfer you'll need to
    get a 'server' program (like kermit or Xmodem) on the Portfolio, since
    the transfer software built in it only supports the parallel interface.
    
    Currently only the server for the PC is available, I would like to see
    one added for the ST ... because I'm going to swap my PC-4 back for an
    ST-4 (which I used to have before).
    
    I also found out that when you want to write your own programs for it,
    you'll need Turbo-C on the PC. This works great without problems.
    
    Cor

    It does not seem like there are much new info on the Atari Portfolio
    in this notes file, and I guess it is not the right place anyway.
    
    So my question is, could somebody point me to a notesfile where the
    Portfolio is discussed.
    
    Thanks alot.
    
    Svein
    

I bought one about two months ago and could probably answer any questions 
for you.

Randy

    OK - here we go:
    
    Do you know of a KERMIT for the Portfolio and how to get it (or
    any other way of file exchange via the serial line)?
    
    Do you know what software is actually available for that beast?
    
    Thanks in advance,
    Erwin

I'm a new Portfolio owner and have the serial interface and would also
appreciate pointers to exchanging files ..... preferrably with the VAXen
at work and my ST at home.

Any experiences with developing software for the portfolio would also be
appreciated. I recall that some company locally has already developed a
hardware/software application that turns a Portfolio into the smallest
Minitel available.

I saw the 640K memory add-on in Singapore but couldn't get the price down
to an acceptable level, a bus connector is present to enable other accesories 
to be attached in a daisy chain fashion.

Now if PC All-In-1 could run in this environment and I had a cellular
modem I'd be paying very large telephone bills. Given the existing
competition such as the Psion organisers and the Sharp IQ series and
their current pricing the Portfolio is bound to be a winner. How long
before a full size LCD screen (or monitor interface) is made available
as an add-on?

Nigel

I have written a DCL command procedure which
allows to downline load a vaxmail folder to 
the portfolio. Then performing all actions 
at the portfolio such as delete,forward,file,
send. Upline loading it to vax and automatically
executing it. This command procedure is what is
generally known as a midnight hack. People are
invited to use it but I don`t give any guarantee
for bug freeness.
I could imagine this to be a start. I hope that
the ball is rolling now and people expand it to
be more convenient.

This tool is especially usefull when travelling.
Now you can take your mail box everywhere, e.g
swimming, diving,  (when a ruggedised version of the 
portfolio becomes available) or whenever you have 
mood  and time.

Please cantact me if you want a copy, then
I VAXmail the DCL procedure to you.

Regards
Alfred Bauer
p.s. this memo was written on the portfolio.
=======================================================
It consits of two command procedures:

vaxmail_to_atari.com ; extracts a mail folder and puts
                       it on the portfolio.
atari_to_vaxmail.com ; transfers mails from the protfolio
                       to the vax and processes mail
                       commands.



VAXmail_to_Atari.com 
--------------------
Produces a file (Atari_mail.mls) which
contains all memos of a specified VAXmail folder.

Format Invoke:
$@vaxmail_to_atari <existing folder>

After extracting mails then it starts
the transfer of container file to the 
Atari.

Follow the instruction as issued by the
command procedure. Please be sure that
you have a working connection from the
vax to the portfolio.

Format of the file:
-------------------
 #%1% % % % %#

<text of memo 1>

 #%2% % % % %#

<text of memo 2>

 #%n% % % % %#

<text of memo n>

Syntax
------
 #% = Mail command line
 n  = Mail number
 %  = Parameter separator
 %# = Mail command line terminator
first parameter after n (mail number)
must be a valid mail command. Can be
abbreviated to three characters. Valid
commands are: send,forward,answer,delete and
file.
Subsequent parameters are depending on 
the individuals command. For example the
command DELETE does not require a subject.

The following commands a) forwards mail 3 to
all portfolio users b) deletes the mail afterwards

 #%3%fow%@all_portfolio%f.y.i. happy user%#
 #%3%delete%#

After having transferred the file to the portfolio
it can be red and according commands can be 
inserted. In order to keep the file small I 
recommend to delete the text of a memo after having
performed actions (e.g. forw,dele,file) 

ATARI_TO_VAXMAIL.COM


This command procedure 
 a) transfers the containerfile from the 
    portfolio to the VAX.
 b) performs all mail actions as edit at
    the portfolio.

    We would like to announce a dedicated ATARI PORTFOLIO notes 
    conference on BYENG0::PORTFOLIO. Enclosed is   introduction
    to the conference.
    
    We wish you happy conferencing.
    
    The moderators 
    
    
            <<< BYENG0::SYSTEM_2:[NOTES$LIBRARY]PORTFOLIO.NOTE;1 >>>
                    -< ATARI - PORTFOLIO,  Clearing House >-
================================================================================
Note 1.0                          Introduction                           1 reply
BYENG0::ABAUER "Alfred Bauer"                        45 lines   4-OCT-1990 18:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	This Conference discusses topics related the ATARI Portfolio. 
        Without our intention to advertising, the ATARI Portfolio is 
        probably the first affordable MS-DOS alike palm-top computer
        on the market (more information see reply , the     official             
        announcement of Atari).

        The application of the ATARI portfolio seems to be sheer 
        unlimited. To explore these new exciting avenues we decided 
        to open this conference, and  invite people to  participate  
        with their Portfolio experience. 
        We believe that the ATARI is a promising start to you  new 
        generation of computers when properly integrated can develop
        to a very helpful tool.

        This conference is organised as follows:

        1.0  Purpose	
              - Introduction to conference, general announcements
        2.0 Interest List
              - Registration, name, vaxmail, usage of portfolio
        3.0 new hardware add-ons
        4.0 new software
        5.0 Questions/Problems
        6.0 Solutions to Problems
        7.0 Hints/Experience
        8.0 Barter/Sale/Wanted
        9.0 Internals 
       10.0 Literature
       11.0 ToolBox
       12.0 Communication
       13.0 Reserved
       14.0 Reserved
       15.0 Reserved

We wish you exciting portfolio times.

The Moderators:

Alfred Bauer
Herbert Enge
Erwin Heute

    I have been using the AC Adaptor with my Portfolio for a while, but
    now, it no longer works with the battery. I am sure that the problem is
    with the AC adaptor jack. I called Atari, and they said that I could
    send them $125 with the unit to get a replacement.
    
    Has anyone opened up their Portfolio and made any repairs. At this
    point, I am not really interested in spending $.02 for anything Atari.

I also posted this in the Portfolio Notesfile:

            <<< BYENG0::SYSTEM_2:[NOTES$LIBRARY]PORTFOLIO.NOTE;1 >>>
                    -< ATARI - PORTFOLIO,  Clearing House >-
================================================================================
Note 28.0               Atari Support of Portfolio in US              No replies
HYSTER::DEARBORN "Trouvez Mieux"                     36 lines  28-FEB-1991 15:58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atari does it again...

I called the Atari Support Line (800-443-8020) to find out if Atari has 
released anything new for the Portfolio lately.  I spoke to a woman who knew 
next to nothing.  She said "Do you have the Financial Package?"  I said that I 
didn't, and that I wasn't interested in it.  She said "Well the only other 
thing we have is something called Update.com...do you know what that is?"  I 
asked it there was anything else, hardware or software.  She read a statement 
that said something like "There are over 350 public domain and shareware 
software offerings for the Portfolio.  To find out more about these, subscribe 
to Atari Explorer Magazine.  Do you wish to subscribe at this time?"

So much for customer support.  What bothers me is that the Portfolio is being 
lumped in with their other products, including their game systems.  The 
professional user is not being addressed at all.  It sounds like DIP has a 
very different policy concerning this.  I'm not interested in subscribing to a 
magazine full of articles about what cool games are available for the VCS, 
5200 and Lynx game systems.  I'm not interested in the ST series.  I own a 
Portfolio.

None of this really surprises me.  For years Atari has talked big.  When are 
these guys going to get serious?  They seem to be pushing only those things 
that give them the fastest short term profit, with little followup.  I have 
been an Atari user since the old 800 days.  I jumped ship when the ST came 
out, moving over to the Amiga.  I have watched Atari make big claims for their 
machines, over and over again.  I have watched the Atari dealer network shrink 
to virtually nonexistant in the States.  My brother who owns two ST's has 
finally dumped them for an MS-DOS machine (ecch!) because he can't get any 
support.

It looks like Atari is letting the Portfolio slowly die off in the States.  
Anyone else feel this way?  With the Poquet PC and other small systems showing 
up, who knows what the future holds?

Randy