SV: [SPARCbook] RDI Powerlite parts?

[tom]

They are big. The one I have is an 85/110p - model number PLX800-810-64.

It's thicker, wider and deeper than my 3GX. Mind you, both absolutely dwarf the 
IBM Workpad z50 I have :-) 

Feels a lot more 'nasty' - all that plastic just feels odd compared to the 3GX. 
Weight feels about the same, though - just more unwieldly with the Powerlite, 
because it looks so much larger.

The keyboard is the most abysmal piece of engineering I've ever seen - horrible 
:-)

The 13W3 connector is nice, plus it's got space for two internal 2.5" SCSI hard 
drives. I believe the PCMCIA option replaces the floppy drive. The 10BaseT 
connector's handy as well.

This Powerlite has a TurboGX, which seems a fair bit faster than the P9100 in 
the 3GX.

Since the Powerlite I have is the same spec as my 3GX, it's easy to make a fair 
comparison - and I have to say the 3GX is the better laptop. But if I can get 
hold of the expansion unit, throw some SBUS cards in it, the Powerlite could be 
an OK desktop replacement.

The top end ones would be the ones to get - 170mhz processor, 12" screen. Very 
nice.

I believe the RDI Powerlite design was the basis for the Ultrabooks - I'm sure 
someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm trying to hack an internal SCSI Zip drive into the floppy mounting point. 
Far more useful for me than a floppy disk :-)

I'll try and get some pictures up on a website somewhere. Given these machines 
were the only real 'laptop' Sparcs, and given how they have the same spec, it's 
interesting to see the different design choices and see how the machines differ.

I wish the Tadpole team that designed the Sparcbook 3 series could have come up 
with an Ultrasparc version :-) :-)

Cheers,
TOM

> Actually I was wondering about these. There were 2 of them on Ebay last week. 
One was incomplete, but the other one
> appeared complete and working. I have noticed the Powerlites dont seem as 
popular as the Sparcbook and I wondered why
> it was so. The price for the complete unit was $300 or so. I was quite tempted 
to buy it while it was still around $100. The incomplete went for under a 100 I 
think.
> 
> I have only seen pictures of these laptops but I got the impression the are 
quite huge, or is this only how they look in the pictures. Otherwise the specs 
are similar to the Sparcbook or am I worng? It seemed the external monitor was 
13W3 and not VGA which is more practical when you move around and most monitors 
are for pcs.
> 
> The 170 MHz 12" model seemed like a nice thing. The 10" screen of the 
Sparcbook is one of the drawbacks of that system,
> which makes one look around for that VGA monitor to hook it up to quite often. 
> 
> Tom, are these laptops any good or should I stay away from them? 
> (or are ther another list for the Powerlites that I haven't heard of?)
> 
> Peter
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: tom <tom at grond.demon.co.uk>
> To: <sparcbook at sunhelp.org>
> Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 5:05 PM
> Subject: [SPARCbook] RDI Powerlite parts?
> 
> 
> > Only vaguely related to Sparcbooks, I know, but:
> > 
> > I'm looking for some parts for an RDI Powerlite. Specifically:
> > 
> > - PXU expansion unit
> > - hard drive caddy/sleds/mounting cage thing
> > - PCMCIA option
> > - battery
> > - memory upgrade (128mb preferred, 96mb would be nice, have got 64mb in 
there 
> > already)
> > 
> > If someone has some parts lying around, or has a complete but broken 
Powerlite 
> > they have, please speak up. Off list if you want.
> > 
> > Thanks a lot!
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > TOM
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sparcbook mailing list  -  Sparcbook at sunhelp.org
> > http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/sparcbook
> > 
> 
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