Epson Valdocs

[tekchips!toma]

I saw the elusive Epson personal computer (the one with the
"Valdocs" software) at a local computer store (Connection-80
in Portland, OR) and was left with mixed feelings.
The ultimate test of user friendly software is "can it be used
without reading any instructions". It passes that test remarkably well!
The existance of a help facility (and help key on the keyboard),
as well as the existance of lots of universal dedicated function
keys made it a snap to use. I was writing a document, changing
the fonts at will (bit mapped display), used the calculator
which integrates in with the text editor (you can add columns
and rows of numbers in the text and insert calculated results
back into the text), played with the appointment calendar, etc.

It would have been a dream come true except for one overwhelming
problem-- it was too %$(#& slow! It was the slowest system I
have ever seen. Sure it has to update a bitmapped display,
but the LISA, STAR, and even ALTO run rings around it. Of course,
one expects to sacrifice something for the much lower price,
but this was irritating to use.

Tom Almy (decvax | ucbvax)!teklabs!tekchips!toma