Gateway handbook
Greg Wynans
also I need to know what it is worth.
pretty pretty please!!
Thanks!!
Mark Earle
: Could somebody PLEASE tell me what this is, specs, what it can do.
: also I need to know what it is worth.
: pretty pretty please!!
: Thanks!!
The original Gateway Handbook was a 286/12 with 1 meg of memory
and a 40 meg hard drive, CGA grade screen. (The 286 was a clone
as I recall, not a "real" 286). It has a comm port and a
"printer" port which is sort-of scsi. If you bought Gateway's
1.44 floppy, that had a printer pass-throgh and a com2 port on
the back of the floppy. It's quite a nice machine for dos type
programs. It uses a NIMH battery and came with a "case" that
hods 6 AA (nicad or alk).
My wife still uses hers...
They later offerred two 486 versions (different memory/HD sizes)
which included a built-in pointing device. Never saw one up close
so can't tell you much more than that.
Oh, we paid $1000 for the 286 one, w/out floppy drive, but with
a legal, full copy of Word Perfect 5.1 (other choice was Works 2.0)
mwe
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Dave Hauss
and what prioce are they going for?
Alex Guiney
its old notebooks at a special store that they have. If anyone knows that
they are offering it someplace else, I'd be interested..
-
ALEX GUINEY HBS...@prodigy.com
Greg Wynans
d in the computer paper for 299. They said they have none, but offered me
a gateway handbook at the same price. the unit has 3M ram & a 40m HD. I
was just hoping someone could tell me what the thing is (without the
extremely aggressive sales at dollar). I'm still hoping someone can tell
me.
Greg.
Mark Earle
: I called dollar computer looking for the lexmark that they have advertise
: Greg.
See my previous in this thread. 286, 12 mhz, cga grade display, one comm
port, 1 printer port, no floppy (it's a seperate external proprietery unit)
Good machine - my wife has one she uses daily for quite a while now, bought
from Gateway for $1000!!
Greg Wynans
1) Battery power: what does it use, how often, does it have an external
power source?
2) Dimensions: How big is it? (LxWxH)
3) Weight: How much does it weigh?
Thx.
Greg
Mark Earle
: Great. I still have a couple of questions:
: Thx.
: Greg
I don't have the machine here. About 1 lb, probably a bit less.
Bigger than an HP200. Smaller than a Compaq Aero4/25.
NIMH batteries, and ours came with a loose-cell holder for 6 AA's.
The NIMH lasts 3 hours with power save off. 6 AA Duracell's last 5 under the same
conditions.
External power is a small, light cube. cords on the 110 and dc side.
Uses a weird 6 pin connector, sort of a large ps2 mouse type
connector.
mwe
:wq
Dave Hauss
drive, and a 286, I could run some good software. will this unit run more
software then the lexbook will? is this a true 286? and can you expand the
ram? (does it have pcmcia slots?)
whats the # for $$ warehouse and do they have a catalog or add with what they
are selling in computer shopper?
Christopher G Mullin
had been advertising the Lexbook MB-15 at $299, is out of MB-15s. If you
call asking for one, they offer to see you a (reconditioned?) Gateway
Handbook, the original model, for the same $299 price]
Dave Hauss (dah...@cyberenet.net) wrote:
: what is the size of the unit as compared to the lexbook?
It's actually a little smaller footprint than the Lexbook, under 6 x 10
in., and weighs 2.75 pounds--plus the AC adapter and (I hope) the floppy
drive unit.
: with a 30mb hard
: drive, and a 286, I could run some good software. will this unit run more
: software then the lexbook will? is this a true 286? and can you expand the
: ram? (does it have pcmcia slots?)
No, the original handbook has no PCMCIA slots, and at 3MB of RAM it's
maxed out. It has a 40mb hard drive, but no, it won't really run much
software that the Lexbook won't--assuming you have that software loaded
onto a PCMCIA card for use in the Lexbook. The CPU is the same Chips &
Technologies unit in both-- it's really an 8086-compatible, though it runs
as fast as a 17 Mhz 286. Since there's no protected mode, you might
better think of it as the equivalent of a 60 Mhz 8086. You can't run
Windows in protected mode, for instance. Also, the screen on the Handbook
is 640x400 rather than VGA, and the aspect ratio is squashed-- not a good
unit for graphics-intensive applications.
The *big* question to ask Dollar Computer about these Handbooks is: "do
these have the factory floppy drive with them?" If not, it's not only
hard to load software, but you don't have a standard printer port on the
machine either. Gateway *did* supply an adapter to turn the non-standard
parallel port on the Handbook into a standard 25-pin parallel port. As
long as that adaper is present and working you're OK. But, if that
adapter is missing, and you don't have the factory floppy drive, you have
to use Laplink through the Handbook's serial port to get your work out of
the Handbook onto another computer if you want to print it. If you *do*
have the factory floppy drive, that has a standard parallel port and a
standard serial port on the back. At $299 with the floppy drive, assuming
everything works OK, this is a fairly good deal.
: whats the # for $$ warehouse and do they have a catalog or add with what they
: are selling in computer shopper?
I don't have the phone numbers handy, but there are two one-page ads in
Computer Shopper, one as Dollar Computer corporation, one as Dollar
Computer Corp. (abbreviated) with different toll-free numbers, but the
same address.