I have in my posession, an Atari 8 bit 800xl and disc drive 5.25 inch and a
printer interface that all work, and some cart games. The ideal use for an
analogue tv. Free to anyone.
needs to be collected.

No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines use
all their power for.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active

On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the
bloat that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz Windows
7 computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750
megabytes of RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
I have in my posession, an Atari 8 bit 800xl and disc drive 5.25 inch
and a printer interface that all work, and some cart games. The ideal
use for an
analogue tv.

Somewhere in my loft I have the printout of the complete source code for
the OS in one of those.
About a year ago I spent about an hour or two up there looking for it
after someone asked me a question, but the search failed.
--
Bill

This Atari has a whole 64Kbits of memory, and each disc stores just over 100
kI think.
Its all text and controlchars of course. The database front end as I
recall was quite pretty, but not mega exciting, it was meant to be useful
after all!
Sad thing is although it has a serial bus and a centronics printer
interface, no modern printer can be used as it needs the old Epson codes to
work.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"John Williamson" wrote in message
...
On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you
keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if you
ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a
sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines
use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the bloat
that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz Windows 7
computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750 megabytes of
RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

Ah yes, I had some old magazines page 6 was it?
It was called that as it used ram in pages and you could hide stuff in page
6. It was quite handy if you wanted to expand it of course.

They were actually ahead of their time in many ways, squeezing performance
from an old processor running at under 3mhz I think.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Bill" wrote in message
...
In message , Brian Gaff
writes
I have in my posession, an Atari 8 bit 800xl and disc drive 5.25 inch and
a printer interface that all work, and some cart games. The ideal use for
an
analogue tv.

Somewhere in my loft I have the printout of the complete source code for
the OS in one of those.
About a year ago I spent about an hour or two up there looking for it
after someone asked me a question, but the search failed.
--
Bill

On 21/01/2014 19:03, Brian Gaff wrote:
This Atari has a whole 64Kbits of memory, and each disc stores just over 100
kI think.
Its all text and controlchars of course. The database front end as I
recall was quite pretty, but not mega exciting, it was meant to be useful
after all!
Sad thing is although it has a serial bus and a centronics printer
interface, no modern printer can be used as it needs the old Epson codes to
work.

Searching may find a way to persuade a modern printer to accept the
Epson codes, but the real problem would be finding a printer that still
has a centronics connection. The last one I owned a printer with one of
those was a fairly ancient Canon BJ10. I sent an Olivetti sparkjet to a
museum a few months ago, and that emulated the Epsons perfectly.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 21/01/2014 14:20, John Williamson wrote:
On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you
keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if
you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a
sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines
use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the
bloat that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz Windows
7 computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750
megabytes of RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.



There is something wrong then.
My win8 machine runs at about 4% @ ~800 mhz when idling.
(it has power saving on so the clock speed varies a bit.)

On 21/01/14 22:39, dennis@home wrote:
On 21/01/2014 14:20, John Williamson wrote:
On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you
keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if
you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a
sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines
use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the
bloat that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz Windows
7 computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750
megabytes of RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.



There is something wrong then.
My win8 machine runs at about 4% @ ~800 mhz when idling.
(it has power saving on so the clock speed varies a bit.)

A lot depends on the graphics GPU if it has one..



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 21/01/2014 22:51, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 21/01/14 22:39, dennis@home wrote:
On 21/01/2014 14:20, John Williamson wrote:
On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you
keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if
you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a
sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines
use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the
bloat that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz Windows
7 computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750
megabytes of RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.



There is something wrong then.
My win8 machine runs at about 4% @ ~800 mhz when idling.
(it has power saving on so the clock speed varies a bit.)

A lot depends on the graphics GPU if it has one..



At this moment, Firefox is using between 30 and 50%, the networking is
using another 10 %, and I've also got Thunderbird open, taking up to
10%. The total CPU load is hovering around the 75% mark. It's a laptop,
with an Atom processor, and the standard Intel mobile 945 chipset.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 21/01/14 23:01, John Williamson wrote:
On 21/01/2014 22:51, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 21/01/14 22:39, dennis@home wrote:
On 21/01/2014 14:20, John Williamson wrote:
On 21/01/2014 13:36, Brian Gaff wrote:
No its not an ad, but it is amazing after the thread about stuff you
keep
that this particular stuff actually still works, and to be honest if
you ran
a small database it seems to work surprisingly well according to a
sighted
friend. Kind of makes you wonder what all these mega gigabyte machines
use
all their power for.

For running the pretty, graphics heavy, user interface. That and the
bloat that's in all modern operating systems. This 1.6 gigahertz
Windows
7 computer uses about a quarter of its processing power and 750
megabytes of RAM just keeping Windows ticking over.



There is something wrong then.
My win8 machine runs at about 4% @ ~800 mhz when idling.
(it has power saving on so the clock speed varies a bit.)

A lot depends on the graphics GPU if it has one..



At this moment, Firefox is using between 30 and 50%, the networking is
using another 10 %, and I've also got Thunderbird open, taking up to
10%. The total CPU load is hovering around the 75% mark. It's a laptop,
with an Atom processor, and the standard Intel mobile 945 chipset.

Possibly the worst GPU in the world.......^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 21/01/2014 23:01, John Williamson wrote:
At this moment, Firefox is using between 30 and 50%, the networking is
using another 10 %, and I've also got Thunderbird open, taking up to
10%. The total CPU load is hovering around the 75% mark. It's a laptop,
with an Atom processor, and the standard Intel mobile 945 chipset.

Try a nice fast processor and it can waste even more cycles keeping
Windows ticking over but with a much nicer low percentage! :-)

I am seeing between 1 and 2% on an i7...

--
Rod

On 21/01/2014 19:05, Brian Gaff wrote:
Ah yes, I had some old magazines page 6 was it?
It was called that as it used ram in pages and you could hide stuff in page
6. It was quite handy if you wanted to expand it of course.

They were actually ahead of their time in many ways, squeezing performance
from an old processor running at under 3mhz I think.

Its main gain was from its Jay Miner designed chipset (later he did the
first Amiga). It gave it graphics capabilities well beyond many machines
of the era.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 21/01/2014 23:08, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
At this moment, Firefox is using between 30 and 50%, the networking is
using another 10 %, and I've also got Thunderbird open, taking up to
10%. The total CPU load is hovering around the 75% mark. It's a laptop,
with an Atom processor, and the standard Intel mobile 945 chipset.

Possibly the worst GPU in the world.......^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Like I had a choice.... :-/

The Toshiba's a lot better, but this one uses *much* less power, which
matters when I'm on the road.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.