Re: about the plus4

Hi,

I loved the cbm8000 so much (I used it almost all the time)
that I have a tendency to consider that  the minimum width of a 
professional screen is 80col.

for the basic I new only one instruction :    sys xxxxx

I was working on:
CBM8032 + 64K ext + microplus serial board
CBM8250
CBM8024
Procep hard disk (bull D140 on SCSI card [named SASI at that time])

I like the layout of the plus4 keyboard and the separate cursor keys
but not it's quality.

I programmed the C64 but only in AZTEC C  (on an ibmpc) then transfered 
the programs to the c64

I like the design of the commodore, including the plus4, it's really 
interesting
to see how they solves the problems the had to build this machines.

but often i dont really understand the goal, too many machines that 
where technically a "good start"
have been abandonned.

what I heard on commodore stand at the CEBIT in 1982 about the CBM II 
was just great
no machine was really built with all the things they announced,

from time to time I'm dreaming of a world without PC but with some 
descendant of the old commodores.


btw: one of the machine I prefere is my micro kim
          (never had the opportunity to buy a real one)

Le 20/04/2012 11:46, Michał Pleban a écrit :
> Hello!
>
> didier derny wrote:
>
>> but I dont see any real use :(
>> - bad machine for games
>> - bad machine for professional use
>
> Well, it depends on how you define "professional use" ;-) Back in the 
> old says, I had both C64 and Plus/4. I found both machines had viable 
> applications for me:
>
> C64:
>  * Games, obviously.
>  * Desktop publishing with GeoWrite (on hacked Centronics interface to 
> a Polish Mera-Blonie D100 printer ;-) ).
>  * Electronic schematics drawing with GeoPaint.
>
> Plus/4:
>  * BASIC programming, including physics simulations and drawing 
> graphics in BASIC 3.5.
>  * Assembler programming with built-in monitor.
>
> The Plus/4 has several advantages over C64:
>
>  * Better BASIC with graphics and sound commands. So you could write 
> quick and dirty progams for plotting data, etc. in no time. I 
> especially liked the split graphics mode, where 80% of the screen was 
> hires graphics, and bottom 5  lines were text so you could see the 
> BASIC commands typed and yet still see the graphics results immediately.
>  * Built-in machine language monitor for quick assembler hacking.
>  * Better keyboard. This point is arguable, as the keyboard is mostly 
> a personal taste, but I find the Plus/4 keyboard the best Commodore 
> ever made for their 8-bit machines. As much as I love CBM-II, placing 
> cursor keys in the top row is a usability nightmare, as is C64's way 
> of using Shift with two cursor keys instead of proper four ones. And 
> the keys of C64/CBM-II are too high, especially now after ten years of 
> using ThinkPad keyboards ;-) The Plus/4 keyboard is simply right in 
> every aspect for me, making it the best for long typing/programming 
> sessions.
>
> Regards,
> Michau.
>
>
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