Talk:Grid Compass/Archives/2015

Stub

There is more information regarding this computer on the Laptop page than here.-localzuk 10:17, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

That's because I wrote the section you refer to. I also started this article. I'll add the info when I have time; please notice that I only created this article a couple of hours ago! I've taken a picture of a GRiD, which I'll upload soon. ProhibitOnions 12:39, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Sorry, it seemed a little short, even though the section in Laptop was larger. I didn't look at the history of Laptop so didn't know you had done both. -localzuk 13:26, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

No prob, but please do add to this if you can, I'm hardly an expert on the machine, it just oughta be metioned on Wikipedia. ProhibitOnions 15:52, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Display

I think the display for the GRID was an ELD, so I've changed it, and cited a reference page where this is mentioned. -Clapaucius 07:24, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

EL displays of that size don't exist even now, although you could call OLEDs a type of EL. The Grid, as mentioned on the pages linkes, uses a gas-plasma display panel. Many early laptops of all types used it.

While I'm here, I'll point out the RAM is 256K. The bubble memory is used as file storage, bubble memories were an early non-volatile memory technology. They sequential-access, so they'd be hopeless as main memory. If you want Wikipedia to be up to the standard of the collectors' sites, you should fix this, I can't be bothered.

92.40.254.147 (talk) 16:12, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

IBM compatible?

Since this comp had an x86 processor, did it earn the status of being an "IBM PC compatible"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by PlayStation 69 (talk • contribs) 07:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

At a guess, no. To be a PC-compatible you had to have more than just an x86, you also need certain other hardware on the board (such as PITs and one or two PICs), compatible port and memory mappings, compatible BIOS, etc. Having never seen one of these machines I can't say for a fact that it didn't, but it looks like a pretty different architecture, and it would have been quite a feat to build a clone in a completely different form factor that soon after the launch of the PC. Much more likely that they simply bought the same chip. Andrew Rodland 15:10, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

AFAIK, no, for the reasons Andrew states. Note also that the original Compass was designed at the same time as the IBM PC, and only came out a few months after it, before the IBM PC had become the industry standard. It was just too early for this to be an issue. I don't think any later models were IBM-compatible, either, for the reason that the GRiD OS was thought to be a lot more advanced than MS-DOS and designed for a nich application. It may, in fact, have been something of a lost opportunity, as it seems such an obvious question to ask in retrospect. But modern laptop computers would remain very much a niche market if they cost $20,000, which is about what the GRiD cost in today's money, and so I'm not sure how much IBM compatibility would have broadened its appeal. ProhibitOnions ^(T) 20:55, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Since you guys are saying that x86 processors are not all what a computer needs to become IBM-PC compatible, could that also imply that new Apple Mac computers are not capable of booting Windows XP or other typical x86 operating systems without emulation? --PlayStation 69 08:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Non sequitur. Andrew Rodland 08:06, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Aliens - Directors Cut

Was this the computer used to control those automated guns in Aliens: Directors Cut? Look the same with the shape of the machine and the display. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.56.71.222 (talk) 21:06, 15 May 2007 (UTC).