For well over a year I seriously considered getting a portable computer
as a companion to my Kaypro 1. Since I am firmly committed to CP/M, I did
not seriously consider purchasing the Kaypro 2000 or any other DOS portable.
While the Radio Shack 100 was attractive, its memory limitations (8K
upgradable to 24K) were too severe for any practical purposes. The first
CP/M portable that I considered purchasing was the Epson Geneva. This comes
with 64K of memory, which is respectable, and had Wordstar to boot--or what
they called Wordstar-to-Go. Since Wordstar is my oldest computing friend,
that was great. However, the version of it for the Geneva turned out to be
severely trunucated. Many aspects of Wordstar were dropped for lack of
space--including the file directory! That did it--if I couldn't know what
files I had and had to guess at their names, it was useless. End of Epson
Geneva fantasy.
Some of my friends, equally intrigued by portables, purchased the NEC
portable, also CP/M and gave it good reviews. It too, however, came with
Wordstar-to-Go, so I let it go.
About six months ago I first learned of the Bondwell 2 portable from a
mailing sent out by Peopletalk, who offered it at $995 (plus various
accessories). The fact that it had a built-in disk drive with 360K sounded
almost too good to believe, as did the fact that it came with an 8 hour
rechargable battery. To top it off, it came bundled with Wordstar and other
Micropro programs (Mailmerge, CalcStar, DataStar, and Reportstar). In fact,
it sounded much like a portable clone of my Kaypro.
Not long afteward an ad in Computer Shopper offered the Bondwell 2 for
$859, including a 300 baud modem, one of the accessories that sold for $130
by itself. Now I finally got into gear to purchase it. A call to the company
listing it brought assurances that it would be available for that price the
next month, along with the modem. When the next issue of Computer Shopper
came out, however, no ad for it was to be found, and a call to the company
brought the news that they no longer carried it. Why not? The profit margin
was to small. (The moral here is to move quickly when a bargain rears its
head in Computer Shopper.)
Somewhat abashed, I called Bondwell directly in California. They told
me they had cut the price for the Bondwell 2 to $795--this explained why the
other company had dropped it--their price of $859 was no longer a bargain.
Bondwell gave me the name and phone number of the Midwest representative in
Kansas City, and I called him, intending to hesitate no longer. He confirmed
the new $795 price, and we completed an order for the computer plus two
cables at $30 each (necesary because the Centronics and RS232 ports are
smaller than normal), and the carrying case ($40--originally $79). The
price, including taxes, came to $940, and the dealer gave me $100 off. So
the total cost was $840. I sent a bank check that day, and UPS delivered a
large box of equipment one week later.
As portables go, the Bondwell is a bit heavy at 12 pounds. (The NEC
Starlet weighs only 6 pounds, but it also doesn't have a disk drive.) The
size is quite small, however, 11.2 by 12.2 by 3.1 inches. It does have a
fine handle, and is easily carried that way or in the carrying case, which,
like the cables, seems to be pretty much of a necessity. (The case also has
room for the recharger and the optional second disk drive.) The screen folds
over the keyboard and locks securely. However, it is also easy to open. My
initial reaction was a combination of delight and despair. Delight that the
keyboard was as fine as it is (the cursor keys form a square that seems so
natural it's hard to know why every computer doesn't have them that way.) At
the same time, the fact of life of a LCD screen was inescapable--it is
simply hard to read. That is, until you get it in the right light. The best
light is outside, where it is possible to find an angle clear enough for
even the crankiest user. The next best light, when indoors, is directly
behind or above it. The key point is that the LCD screen does not emit any
light of its own, and it is therefore totally dependent on reflected light.
Fortunately, the screen can be adjusted to take the best advantage of the
available light. On the other hand, those used to working in half-dim rooms
will have to give that up fast. (I have heard recently of a firm in
California that offers a back-lit screen for all LCD portables. Although it
would use more of the battery, I would be happy to trade an hour or two off
the eight available for a little light that would illumine the screen better
than the way it is. Note that the DOS version of the Bondwell portable does
have a backlit screen.) However, it should be added that the LCD screen,
whatever its limitations, does fit 80 X 25 characters on the screen, which
makes it identical to the amount present on the Kaypro. This is very
important. Also, the LCD resolution is about the best available, with 640 X
200 pixels.
The one accessory I decided to skip was the modem, when the dealer
assured me that it was not needed in order to send files between two
computers--that this could be done by linking the serial ports. This, then,
was one of my primary concerns, since I wanted to make the many CP/M
programs available in this portable format. Using the RS232C cable hooked to
the serial port of the Bondwell and the modem port of the Kaypro (which has
another serial port for printing), I studied the user's manual for ways to
set up this connection. In fact, there were two methods available. One was
to use a program included on the system disk called Transfer, and the other
was to use Modem 7, setup for the Bondwell, which also comes with the
computer.
Not being much of an expert on setting these things up, I sought help
from two friends in the St. Louis KUG, Bob Rosenfeld and Ken Seeger. We did
spin our wheels for a while, but once both machines had been set up
identically it was possible to send some programs across, while some others
(including Newsweep) refused to arrive. (Proper settings are identical baud
rates--9600 works, so why not use it?--no parity, 1 stop bit and 8 bits.) At
last I succeeded in getting Mex114 for the Bondwell 2 (which I had picked up
in my modem wanderings) across the bridge, and then I switched from Modem 7
to Mex, and from then on it was easy sailing. Working at 9600 baud, I simply
used the S option on the Kaypro (S filename.ext) and the R option on the
Bondwell (R filename.ext). For sending a whole disk at one time, I used the
batch option (SB and RB). It works great, and the speed of the 9600 baud is
a sight to see. Once Mex was set up properly, I cloned both the Bondwell and
Kaypro version. I renamed the Kaypro version Bw-Mex, and simply left it on
my Mex disk along with the regular Mex. I also tried sending some files and
programs the other way, from the Bondwell to the Kaypro, and they went just
as quickly and arrived intact. So on the issue of uploading and downloading
between the computers, the matter couldn't have worked out better.
Taking advantage of the batch mode, I made up a Kaypro disk of core
programs to load on every Bondwell micro floppy. The idea was to make these
disks independent in themselves, so that I could write and edit using the
single disk. Fortunately, the Bondwell comes with a first class single drive
copy program, called Filecopy, and of course this went on every disk, as did
Mex, so that I would be able to upload the material written to the Kaypro
(Although, to save space, it is possible to simply put Mex on one or two
disks and use the log a: command to log into a new disk.)
The other core programs I settled on are: Autorun.com (comes with the
Bondwell and shows all executable programs; autoloads unless replaced with a
new command line by comline.com); Bd.com, Bk.com, Comline.com, D.com,
Find.com, Hrdsft.com, Makbatch.com, N.com (Newsweep), Recover.com, Vdo.com,
and Vdosave.com. Using the Setup program that comes with the Bondwell it
is possible to create a command file that sets the 8 function keys (which
become 16 when used with the shift key). I made two such files, one for
Wordstar (Wskey.com) and one for Vdo (Vdokey.com). Then, using Makbatch.com,
it is possible to create a submit file that runs as a command file to load
Wskey.com along with Xtrakey and Wordstar. (I call this Menu.com, and it
consists of the following sequence (the slash indicates a new line): X
MY/WSKEY/BK/SAP/WS. This, then, loads the function keys and key
redefinitions, deletes bak files, puts the directory in alphabetical order
and then loads Wordstar. Note that I chose the ^ key as the supershift key
on the Bondwell for Xtrakey. This is because it is the furtherst key to the
right on the keyboard, is in the lowercase position, and seems to cry out to
be named the second control key.
It should be noted that this is the full implementation of Wordstar and
I was able to speed it up using Wsfst24.lbr as usual. In addition, I was
able to set up Word Finder with one version of Wordstar, although I chose to
use the short (90K) dictionary instead of the long (150K) one, so that there
would be some room left on the disk for the file being created. Word Finder
works just fine, though of course without the graphic effects of the video
Kaypros.
Although I was able to set up Wordstar without any hitches, the role of
Vdo, which has most of Wordstar's primary commands, was very important,
since the Wordstar files take almost a 100K in themselves, and not much room
is left on the disk when it has Wordstar and all of the above utilities. The
Kaypro version of Vdo is only 6K (and the cursor keys work with it--and on
the Bondwell as well) and thus it is perfect for first draft writing. After
that Hrdsft (using the S option: Hrdsft filename.ext s) creates a Wordstar
file that can be finished (and printed out) using all the luxuries of a full
implementation of Wordstar. Since Vdo has fewer commands available than
Wordstar, and most of these must be accessed through one of the two menus
(^O and ^Q) it isn't as useful to use it with Xtrakey (although this can be
done). In fact, using the 8 Bondwell function keys seems to be about it. I
simply load Vdokey.com before Vdo, and the function keys are defined as
follows: 1) ^O; 2) ^Q; 3) ^G; 4) ^T; 5) ^C; 6) ^R; 7) ^A; 8) ^F. One minor
disappointment: ^A^T, which works great to delete the word left in Wordstar
does not work with Vdo because ^A goes to the last letter of the word left
instead of the first. I don't know why this is.
All together, these core programs (using Vdo instead of Wordstar except
on designated Wordstar disks) come to around 100K. Since the size of a
Bondwell disk is 360K (actually 346K after formatting), this leaves almost
250K for files to be created--more than enough space to get a lot of work
done.
All of this is an attempt, of course, to get around the problem of
using a single disk drive. One of the options offered by Bondwell is a
second 3 1/2" drive ($250) or a second 5 1/4" one ($300). Both plug right
into the second drive port and do not require any extra battery or separate
AC power. I assume they do shorten the 8 hour life of the rechargable
battery somewhat. (By the way, the standard equipment includes the AC hookup
for the battery recharger, and it can also be used to power the portable if
the battery has run low.) Before I discovered how easy it was to transfer
files back and forth using Mex, the 5 1/4" drive, which comes with software
to make just such transfers, was very appealing. But now that I have solved
that problem, the second 3 1/2" drive is much more attractive, and I may end
up getting it, especially for use with those programs that require two
drives, including many Dbase 2 programs. However, the existence of Vdo has
made the one drive option much easier to live with.
The only optional equipment I have not mentioned is a 256K ram disk
which fits into the same slot as the modem. And there are two modems
available, one for 300 baud and one for 1200 baud.
Once I had set up the Bondwell as described here, I found I had a
portable computer with all of the capacities of my Kaypro except for the
second disk drive (which can be added) and the graphics capacity. However,
the Bondwell does have inverse video capacity, which can be accessed by
using ESC I to start it and ESC N to end it. (This must be done before
entering Wordstar.) In certain light conditions these inverse characters are
much easier to read, and it is a useful capacity. The cursor uses this
inverse video, which makes it quite easy to find. It also pulses in a normal
fashion. Note also that the Bondwell can be set up for several European
languages. All in all it is a remarkable computer for the price, and the
only serious failing is the lack of a backlit LCD.
