DECEM c1986

GISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST PUBLICATIONS VBP 6788

AUSTRALIAGlint„„MICRIICLIMPITINt

SPECTRAVIDEO X'PRESS
Spectravideo's latest entry
into the MSX market

PCG guides you throughthe computer maze---- '':::',-.•-*:,...-.'"-:. '=: ,. .---,.-:::,..,,,,,,,.

' '—. 7_ .:—. . .,. ''''''' ,. '!

' .11.1.--'' '.•, :, . .E: : : . .:.:!?: : 1: :.;: ;:s,: , . :. .„. .„. . .

THE LOW EN
In a determined effort to penetrate the home, educational and small
business markets, IBM has recently released the IBM JX. Peter Vernon
takes a look.
hat are we to make of the IBM
JX computer? Is it an overpriced home and classroom
computer for people seduced by the IBMlogo, or a daring new thrust into the lowcost business computer market? Will it
follow the failed PCjr into oblivion, orbecome the all-purpose successor to theIBM PC, ably assisted by IBM's marketing clout?
First, some statistics. The IBM JX computer (officially, the IBM 5510) uses thesame 8088 processor as the IBM. PC andruns at the same speed. It comes with 64kof RAM (expandable to 512k internally),
and is the first IBM PC to use 90mm (3.5inch) micro diskette drives. It is said to becompatible with the PC, and runs Microsoft's Flight Simulator, which is

VIT

16PERSONAL COMPUTER GAMES

usually taken as proof of the compatibility claim. You'll need an expansion unit to test this claim for yourself,
however, if your favourite programs are
not yet available in the 90mm disketteformat.
Internally the JX is as sleek as Japanesedesigners and today's technology canmake it The modular power supply andthe diskette drives take up most of thespace and are mounted on top of themain board, with a small fan at the rear.
Extensive use of semi-custom 'gate array'circuits has helped to keep costs down
and should make service easy, but this is
not a 'do-it-yourself machine. It is slick,fast and powerful, although when sideby-side with the PC it seems like alightweight.

The JX computer comes in a great
metal case measuring 400mm wide,
290mm deep and 88mm high. On thefront panel, from left to right, is a big red
power switch, a small window for theinfra-red keyboard receiver, and two diskette drives, with a smooth disk insertionand push-button ejection mechanism.
Beneath the diskette drives are two connectors for program cartridges. At theback of the case is a socket for a keyboard
cable, connectors for 240V power and thevideo display, a power outlet for anexpansion unit, a cut-out for an optional
RS-232C interface, two joystick connectors, a parallel printer port and connectors for audio output, cassette interlace
and a light pen. What more could youwant?

aTwo keyboards are available for thesystem, one a 'compact' version with 79keys and the other an expanded 98 keyversion. Both can be used with or without
a keyboard cable, and in fact thekeyboard cable is an optional extra. The
two keyboards are very similar, with thenumeric keypad the main extra feature of
the 98 key version. The programmablefunction keys have been moved to the top
on both versions, and all keys are clearlycolour display provided with the JX (andincluded in the price) is an RGB type,and I for one would not like to try substituting a display from anothermanufacturer. There is no monochrome
display adapter, which is a problem if
you feel that applications such as word
processing are better suited to the higher
resolution and lower light output of agreen screen.
IBM representatives are very proud ofI) OF 111111111
marked and arranged in a standard
Selectric format. The backslash key between 'Z' and the left-hand Shift key on
the PC keyboard has been moved to theright-hand side, which may cause problems of its own, however, and there is still
no Caps Lock indicator. The keyboard
has a firm, positive action which makes itvery easy to use, even for prolonged
periods.
Range of the infra-red keyboard
transmitter is approximately three metresand of course the connection is line ofsight only. This means that if you like typing with the keyboard in your lap (anatrocious practice that probably leads tohorrible back and neck problems) you've
got to have the computer on approximately the same level. The optional
63cm coiled keyboard cable can beplugged in at any time, so it is possible toswitch from cable to infra-red connection
without affecting the operation of a program as long as the batteries in thekeyboard are up to scratch.
The 30cm (diagonal measurement)

the quality of the JX colour display. They
make a point of mentioning the reduced
spacing between the phosphor dots on
the screen (it's 0.4mm, instead of the0.6mm of the PC colour display) and the
16 colour 320 x 200 dot graphics that arepossible when you have at least 128k ofeffects and a noise generator. Althoughsuch a system could be used with ROM
cartridge software and data stored ontape, it is unlikely that many programs
will be available on tape. The extra
expense of a disk drive is easily
justified.
For business use, a hard disk drive (inthe expansion unit) would be ideal.
Although a hard disk version of the JX isrumoured, there has not as yet been any
firm announcement.

Disk drives andthe expansion unit
The 90mm compact disk drives of the system provide 360k of storage on each disk
under DOS 2.1, rather than the 720k provided by these devices on other systems.
Possibly the decision was guided by adesire for disk format compatibility withthe PC's 51/4 inch disks. Apparently IBM
in Japan has released a version of the JX
which uses the larger capacity disks, andthis system may be available here before
long. The disk drives are a delight to use,

"Internally the JX is as sleek as Japanese designers and today's
technology can make it."memory installed. There is also a fourcolour, 640 x 200 dot graphics mode, inaddition to fully compatible IBM PC
colour display modes. Some programs
designed for a monochrome screen,
however, may give 'unpredictable'
results, according to the JX documentation. Text displays can be in a 40 column
by 25 line format (set by AUTOEXEC.BAT) or in 80 column mode, which ismandatory for some programs.
Without disk drives the JX is an expensive starter system, with Basic in ROM, acassette interface, three channel soundwith the sturdy packaging of the disk
complemented by simple 'push-click'loading and an ejector button. (Memo toIBM — are all 90mm diskette drives asnoisy as these, and why do they take solong to start up?)
While the disks are convenient andeasy to use and store, the acceptance ofthe JX would be hampered if existing programs and data on floppy diskettes could
not be transferred to the system. IBM has
provided an expansion unit to solve thedifficulty. The expansion unit suppliedwith the review system contained a 51/4

17PERSONAL COMPUTER GAMESinch disk drive, power supply and a cooling fan, with space to mount an expansion board with four 64-pin connectors
for auxilliary boards. The disk controller
installed in the system unit can support
up to three disk drives, with a piggy-backconnector for the third drive accessible
from the expansion unit. The expansion
unit itself sits on top of the system unit
and is held by two screws which on an
unexpanded system hold the top cover inplace. In this configuration the top of thesystem unit is removed and replaced on
the top of the expansion unit.
With many programs now designed toload only from the manufacturer'sencrypted distribution disk, the JX
operating system provides a command
which makes the 51/4 inch disk drive in theexpansion unit act as drive A. However
this program must itself be called fromDOS, so the system cannot be booted
from the 51/4 inch drive. Transferring copy
protected programs from 51/4 inch format
to the micro disks would be a job for thededicated enthusiast only, but with over ahundred programs available in the90mm format already and more appearing each month, shortage of software
should not be a problem. If you need toshare diskette files between an IBM PC
and the JX however, you need the expansion unit.

Internal expansion
The three expansion slots inside the system unit are all physically different andare reserved for special purposes. One
slot takes only the 64k memory expansion board, while another can take eithera 128k, 256k or 384k memory board, withthe RS-232C interface in the third slot. A
real-time clock is provided on the 256k

buy the system. With 64k on the motherboard and a 64k board installed in its special slot, each fuither expansion means
buying a new memory board. To go from
128k to 256k, for example, you would plugin a 128k memory board, but to go from
256k to 512k, you need to remove the 128k
board and plug in a 384k board, which
may be an expensive proposition.
The relationship between expanded
memory and the system software is complicated by the number of options available. Firstly, you need the expanded
memory to allow the use of enhanced"Although a hard disk version of the JX is rumoured, there has
not as yet been any firm announcement."graphics modes, including the 16 colour
320 x 200 mode and the four colour 640 x200 mode, but you can also vary the location of the video memory area and thenumber of graphics 'pages' available. If
desired, the extra memory can be used asa RAM disk, depending on which devicedrivers are loaded.
The cartridge slots of the JX are compatible with those of the PCjr, whichmeans that some software is alreadyavailable in this format An advantage ofthe cartridges is that they do not require
RAM for the application program, soprograms which would not otherwise fit
in memory can be run from thecartridge.

Software anddocumentation
Disk drive versions of the IBM JX run PC
DOS 2.1, with extensions for the RAM
disk and memory drivers. Two versionsof Basic are provided, one in ROM and"The cartridge slots of the JX are compatible with those ofthe PCjr, which means that some software is already available
in this format"
and 384k boards. There is also a networking 'cluster' controller board, which sits
in the slot reserved for the high capacity
memory boards, so clustered JX computers are limited to 128k of memory.
The way in which memory is expandedmeans that you should consider how
much memory you require before you

18PERSONAL COMPUTER GAMESQuest' and a tutorial program on thegroundwater cycle (which is an excellent
demonstration of JX graphics).
Writing Assistant is an easy-to-use
word processor with a spell check feature,extensive Help facilities and a wide rangeof formatting and colour options. Graphing Assistant lets you enter and edit data,
select a type of graph (line, bar, pie chartetc), enter titles and legends, adjust scaling and print or display graphs in colour.
It is a complete system with applications
in business, industry and education. Bothprograms interface with other members

one on disk, both with enhancements to
the graphics and sound effects
statements to take advantage of thesefeatures of the JX.
Other software provided with thereview system (on 90mm disks) included
IBM's Writing Assistant and Graphing
Assistant, the adventure game 'King'sof the 'Assistant' family, including IBM'sFiling Assistant.

Conclusionand prices
Three versions of the JX have beenreleased. Each provides the colour display, parallel printer port, cassette, audio,
lightpen and joystick interfaces. The
basic 64k model without disk drives ispriced at $2116, with a 128k one drive system at $2861. With 256k of memory andtwo disk drives the JX is $3365. The
expansion unit with a 51/4 inch disk drive
costs $596, or $286 for the expansion unit
with no drive but space for the four slot
expansion board (which costs an extra$167). An RS-232C board will set you
back $166.
Overall I think the JX is an excellent
computer, although a little over-priced
for home or school use. The fact that only
a colour display is available, with aresolution inferior to that of a highquality green screen monitor may cause
concern, if like me you have an aversion
to staring at coloured letters for a longtime. I can't see disk drive capacity as aproblem (or the IBM PC suffer from thesame problem, since the disk drive
capacity is the same for both systems).
Software and support are readily available, and no doubt other manufacturers
will be producing add-on boards andalternative expansion schemes. If you arethinking of running a business based on
the JX however, I'd wait until the harddisk unit becomes available.