I've recently played a lot with the Amstrad NC machines and found them quite interesting because of their long lasting battery (about 20 hours), world's best CPU (z80) and great built-in software (BBC Basic, z80 Assembler, Word processor). I sometimes use my NC100 at university to do homework or work on my term papers. Not being able to check my favorite websites every five minutes is a big advantage if I want to be productive ;)
What about you? Do you own one? Do you still use it today? Do you think this machine deserves it's own page on the wiki?
I have an NC100 but I have not used it for years, the trouble was I did not have the plug-in memory card needed for off-line storage.
Maybe I should try and get one off ebay, A couple of weeks ago there was an NC200 sold for £15.00, but I missed it.
Quote from: Nilquader on 00:32, 31 August 10
What about you? Do you own one? Do you still use it today? Do you think this machine deserves it's own page on the wiki?
Hi Nilquader! They definitely deserve their own pages :-) Well, I have some NC100 and one NC200. I brought the NC200 to numerous meetings to create live-meeting-reports, some of them have been used for Future-View disc-mags. I love this machines! But they lack the well documentation of the CPC series. What a pity.
However the NC100, NC200 are my second favorite computer(s) after the CPC.
Do you tell us something about the NC100 that you have converted to an NC150?
Quote from: TFM/FS on 03:22, 31 August 10
Hi Nilquader! They definitely deserve their own pages :-) Well, I have some NC100 and one NC200. I brought the NC200 to numerous meetings to create live-meeting-reports, some of them have been used for Future-View disc-mags. I love this machines! But they lack the well documentation of the CPC series. What a pity.
However the NC100, NC200 are my second favorite computer(s) after the CPC.
Do you tell us something about the NC100 that you have converted to an NC150?
I got numerous techbooks on the NC series! I find the NCs pretty well documented, but ofcouse not as well documented as the CPC's (But they are also extreme in that department :D )
A thing I like about the NCs are the similarity of the memorymap and firmware of the CPC's :-) The I/O ports are a different story though!
/Ygdrazil
PS. And yes, the NC's should at least have their own page in the CPCWIKI :-) After all they are family!
Quote from: Nilquader on 00:32, 31 August 10
Do you think this machine deserves it's own page on the wiki?
Yes.
Btw, I updated the nciospec doc. I think my version is on genesis8. It would be good to ensure this version is uploaded.
So who will make the first nc demo?
with scroller etc?
I have the three of them NC100, NC150 and NC200; and I find them to be very interesting machines.
At the last RetroMadrid expo, Deepfb and I took there the NC Family along with their Nakajima brothers. They share the same case format as the NC's but they're equipped with a Nec V20 x86 processor.
(http://a.imageshack.us/img706/6128/nakajima.th.jpg) (http://img706.imageshack.us/i/nakajima.jpg/)
I also provided the MESS team with NC's PCB scans and rom dumps so emulation of the NC150 and NC200 could be improved.
By the way, anybody has an italian NC150? I got the French one.
Lots of replies :) It's great to know that i'm not the only one interested in these devices...
Quote from: TFM/FS on 03:22, 31 August 10
I love this machines! But they lack the well documentation of the CPC series. What a pity.
Have a look at NCIOSPEC.TXT or "The Amstrad Notepad Advanced User Guide" from Robin Nixon (Avaliable at Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC (http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC) ). Here you'll find most of the information you need to program the NC100.
Quote from: TFM/FS on 03:22, 31 August 10
Do you tell us something about the NC100 that you have converted to an NC150?
I still have to work on the patch for the french ROM. You would not want to work with a french keyboard layout. And the french firmware (V1.10) has a bug which locks you out of BBC Basic. (Enter the spreadsheet, press RED to create a new document, leave the spreadsheet via FUNCTION-RED. Basic is now disabled.) I would like to check if the italian version or another version of the french ROM has this bug fixed.
Quote from: Ygdrazil on 08:28, 31 August 10
I got numerous techbooks on the NC series! I find the NCs pretty well documented, but ofcouse not as well documented as the CPC's (But they are also extreme in that department )
Which books do you have? Anything you would recommend for programming the Notepad?
Quote from: robcfg on 10:48, 31 August 10
By the way, anybody has an italian NC150? I got the French one.
I only have the french one. I'm also looking for the italian version, or at least a ROM image.
I think we should create a NC Series page and redirect Nc100, Nc150 and Nc200 to it.
Is it very complicated to do that? I'd contribute nice scans of the machines and if the ROM files are free to distribute, I'd contribute them too.
Quote from: robcfg on 12:36, 31 August 10
I think we should create a NC Series page and redirect Nc100, Nc150 and Nc200 to it.
Is it very complicated to do that? I'd contribute nice scans of the machines and if the ROM files are free to distribute, I'd contribute them too.
Yes, a "NC Series" page is a good idea. If this page gets too large, we could split it later. A separate page about NC Series Programming could be useful, too. We should upload the firmware calls and IO ports lists there.
Getting permission to distribute the ROM images could be complicated, because they contain copyrighted material from many different companies (Arnor, Ranger Computers, Amstrad etc.)
--
Edit: I've just made a very basic Wiki page for the NC Series based on the english Wikipedia article for the NC100.
I've uploaded the 300dpi scans of my french NC150, as soon as I can I'll be doing the same with my NC100 and NC200.
Regarding the ROM dumps of the NC Series, I don't know how to contact the right people to ask for permission. If I remember correctly the current owner of the Arnor products is reachable and I think I saw a list of people that worked in the NC Roms. I'll try to retrieve it so that we know wo should we ask.
I have a NC100 with Danish Keyboard (And Danish letters - and even the Danish manual), but otherwise the ROM is in English! Does anyone know if it came in with a dedicated Danish ROM (Eg. Danish dictionary etc)?
Was there ever a 'Danish' NC200?
/Ygdrazil
Quote from: robcfg on 16:01, 31 August 10
I've uploaded the 300dpi scans of my french NC150, as soon as I can I'll be doing the same with my NC100 and NC200.
Regarding the ROM dumps of the NC Series, I don't know how to contact the right people to ask for permission. If I remember correctly the current owner of the Arnor products is reachable and I think I saw a list of people that worked in the NC Roms. I'll try to retrieve it so that we know wo should we ask.
Quote from: Ygdrazil on 16:57, 31 August 10
I have a NC100 with Danish Keyboard (And Danish letters - and even the Danish manual), but otherwise the ROM is in English! Does anyone know if it came in with a dedicated Danish ROM (Eg. Danish dictionary etc)?
Was there ever a 'Danish' NC200?
This should be a special version of the ROM, at least the keyboard layout must have been changed. Are you able to dump the ROM? I would really like to have a look at it. And please upload a photo to the Wiki. Never seen a danish NC100 before.
I will make scans and make photos of the NC stuff I have! Please be patient, so much real life work lately :'(
BTW..
Did the NC series have 6MHz Z80 CPUs or not ;)
/Ygdrazil
Quote from: Nilquader on 17:04, 31 August 10
This should be a special version of the ROM, at least the keyboard layout must have been changed. Are you able to dump the ROM? I would really like to have a look at it. And please upload a photo to the Wiki. Never seen a danish NC100 before.
I've got an NC100 and an NC200 and I love them to bits, especially the keyboard. I also have a Z88 - it seems I really like the specific form... What other computers exist like those? I think Sharp had one, too...?
Anyhow, as for the wiki: it's called CPCwiki, but of course I don't have the slightest problem adding as much info as possible on the NC series, especially since there's so little out there... so, anyone, go ahead and do your stuff, and I'll add it to the sidebar appropriately.
I just uploaded more board scans of the NC100 and photos of the NC200. (Does anyone have better quality scans of this board? I only have these photos.) I have another (earlier) board version of the NC100. I will be scanning this one soon...
Those photos are great... see how much modern they look next to the original CPCs...
Btw, the Nakajima is like it came out of Sega's lines :) I should find one!
Quote from: Nilquader on 11:00, 13 September 10
I just uploaded more board scans of the NC100 and photos of the NC200. (Does anyone have better quality scans of this board? I only have these photos.) I have another (earlier) board version of the NC100. I will be scanning this one soon...
I plan to upload the nciospec.txt and the details I worked out for the nc200 disc interface (not complete).
I can also upload a dissassembly of the nc200 rom relating to the disc interface (my own incomplete comments).
Would this be useful?
I think that any info is always useful.
I know it's the CPC wiki and not the NC wiki, but it would be a shame to let that info dissapear...
I agree totally! :)
Quote from: Gryzor on 09:35, 06 September 10
t's called CPCwiki, but of course I don't have the slightest problem adding as much info as possible on the NC series, especially since there's so little out there... so, anyone, go ahead and do your stuff, and I'll add it to the sidebar appropriately.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 09:53, 14 September 10
I plan to upload the nciospec.txt and the details I worked out for the nc200 disc interface (not complete).
I can also upload a dissassembly of the nc200 rom relating to the disc interface (my own incomplete comments).
Would this be useful?
I uploaded the nciospec.txt (original from Cliff Lawson, also published on his website). This needs cleaning up for wiki because it is a copy and paste of the original doc and the formatting is messed up.
I also uploaded my documentation about the nc200 (the information I know anyway).
Maybe Russell Marks has more information now, but I didn't check.
The dissassembly of the disc stuff is not worth uploading at this time. Its not helpful at this time.
I have also uploaded some datasheets. I can upload more another day.
Hello mate,
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_100/150/200_IO_Specification looks fine to me. http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC100_IO_Specification is a bit screwed, but I will give it a try. Can you attach here the original txt?
Quote from: Gryzor on 08:16, 16 September 10
Hello mate,
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_100/150/200_IO_Specification (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_100/150/200_IO_Specification) looks fine to me. http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC100_IO_Specification (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC100_IO_Specification) is a bit screwed, but I will give it a try. Can you attach here the original txt?
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cliff.lawson/nciospec.txt
the other is my extra notes. Both need a bit of a clean up.
The extra notes are the ones which can't be found elsewhere especially relating to nc200.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 09:38, 16 September 10
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cliff.lawson/nciospec.txt (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cliff.lawson/nciospec.txt)
the other is my extra notes. Both need a bit of a clean up.
The extra notes are the ones which can't be found elsewhere especially relating to nc200.
It would be good to see some pictures and scans of the pcb of the ranger disc interface if anyone has one.
It is commented that the NC150 ROM contains some code to access this disc interface.
It is possible that the NC200 disc is directly related to this.
So it would be interesting to read about that.
I'm thinking of buying an NC100 now ;)
Go for the NC200 directly if you can find one... much sexier!
Indeed!
And much more easier to deal with because it has a floppy drive.
I don't know if the NC roms can be distributed, but if you're interested in a good dump, send me a PM.
The NC200 is indeed CPC related... Well, at least I abused it in this way... On meetings I had the NC200 and went to the people to get some comments for the live meeting report. Then I saved it on disc and was reading the files from this disc with the CPC. It directly went in the CPC disc mag. Once the NC200 had not enough power (it lacks a power supply :-(), so I just used the serial cable and the CPC with RS232 interface :-)
Quote from: Gryzor on 11:41, 16 September 10
Go for the NC200 directly if you can find one... much sexier!
I prefer the NC100/NC150. It's thinner, lighter, and the battery lasts longer. The NC200 floppy is almost unusable with rechargeable batteries. I own both models, but I only use the NC100 frequently.
The serial interface is great for transferring files. Modern PCs don't have floppy drives anyway.
Quote from: Nilquader on 10:10, 17 September 10
I prefer the NC100/NC150. It's thinner, lighter, and the battery lasts longer. The NC200 floppy is almost unusable with rechargeable batteries. I own both models, but I only use the NC100 frequently.
The serial interface is great for transferring files. Modern PCs don't have floppy drives anyway.
Disregarding the floppy disc drive of the NC200, my batteries in the NC200 are 6(!) years old and it still work.
I like the NC200 more, because it has a bigger screen, more possibilities and the design is just soooo cooool!
Do we have a permission from old-computers.com to use their photos? (especially the NC200 and Nakajima pictures?) Otherwise we should either ask them or better use our own pictures.
I can provide nice pictures and scans of variants of the Nakajima series, but only the Amstrad ones come with a Z80, the rest all have NEC v20 x86 processors.
Just tell me what you'd like 8)
Quote from: robcfg on 14:33, 18 September 10
I can provide nice pictures and scans of variants of the Nakajima series, but only the Amstrad ones come with a Z80, the rest all have NEC v20 x86 processors.
Just tell me what you'd like 8)
Good pictures of the NC series are most important. The Nakajima series don't have much in common with the NC. They even don't share the same hardware, they're just made by the same manufacturer. So I think that 1 or 2 pictures from that series to show the similarities (and maybe a board scan) should be sufficient.
Do you have any information about the other NC100-like computers? The Tandy Dreamwriter NTS-325 and the Hertie Bestar MSS 5000 seem to be exact clones of the Nakajima ES210. Even the software looks very similar on all three models.
Well, the hardware is almost identical in all the nakajima produced hardware. The main difference is Z80 vs Nec v20.
Almost all the software is also identical despite the processor.
I have the NTS/Tandy Dreamwriters 100,200,325 and 400, plus the Walther ES210. I've also seen a couple of other clones (courtesy of deepfb) like the Flamagas Dator 3000.
I'll gather the info I have on these machines and I'll let you know.
Quote from: Nilquader on 18:08, 20 September 10
Good pictures of the NC series are most important. The Nakajima series don't have much in common with the NC. They even don't share the same hardware, they're just made by the same manufacturer. So I think that 1 or 2 pictures from that series to show the similarities (and maybe a board scan) should be sufficient.
Do you have any information about the other NC100-like computers? The Tandy Dreamwriter NTS-325 and the Hertie Bestar MSS 5000 seem to be exact clones of the Nakajima ES210. Even the software looks very similar on all three models.
I think the hardware is the same. Of course the scans should proove this.
Looking at the skeleton driver for MESS, the ports seem to be the same as in the nc100.
I can tell you for sure, as I provided the MESS team scans and rom dumps for the nc150 and 200 and the dreamwriter series 8)
Hey Rob!
There is only one NC clone which you don't have. That is that one which doesn't exist now ;)
Well, IMHO we should focus on anything with a Z80, else it is tooo much apart.
Quote from: Nilquader on 13:37, 18 September 10
Do we have a permission from old-computers.com to use their photos? (especially the NC200 and Nakajima pictures?) Otherwise we should either ask them or better use our own pictures.
Hm.... it used to be that Old-Computers let people use the photos as long as they kept the watermark. But it appears they have changed their policy (dammit). Any alternatives?
Quote from: Gryzor on 08:54, 21 September 10
But it appears they have changed their policy (dammit). Any alternatives?
Why shouldn't we make our own photos? We have enough members who own these machines.
PS: I've just uploaded more NC100 board scans...found an early revision without fuse and some manually soldered wires.
Quote from: Nilquader on 17:22, 22 September 10
Why shouldn't we make our own photos? We have enough members who own these machines.
PS: I've just uploaded more NC100 board scans...found an early revision without fuse and some manually soldered wires.
That must be the original prototype :-)
Darn, I have taken some excellent Z88 ones, but none of my NCs... what a shame! I wonder where I've got it stored, maybe I could do it...
But it's not easy taking pics of such quality - you need lighting, above all!
I am now the proud owner of an NC200.
Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 15:23, 24 December 10
I am now the proud owner of an NC200.
Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.
Cool!
So we now stay tuned to watch "Phreaks" on your NC-200!
(Youtube video is a *
must*!)
Quote from: Devilmarkus on 15:27, 24 December 10
Cool!
So we now stay tuned to watch "Phreaks" on your NC-200!
(Youtube video is a *must*!)
I was thinking to convert chase hq 2 first for it :laugh:
Quote from: arnoldemu on 15:36, 24 December 10
I was thinking to convert chase hq 2 first for it :laugh:
Well, you really should start with a technical game... I mean a game which uses a lot of the NC 200 resources...
What's about the Advanced Lawnmower Simulator?
Quote from: Devilmarkus on 16:18, 24 December 10
Well, you really should start with a technical game... I mean a game which uses a lot of the NC 200 resources...
What's about the Advanced Lawnmower Simulator?
is there a version for BBC basic?
Quote from: arnoldemu on 15:23, 24 December 10
I am now the proud owner of an NC200.
Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.
Is there any way to transfer binary files to/from the NC computer?
It seems the only way at this time would be to use ASCII.
I then have the choice of using the BBC Basic internal assembler (but ram is limited to have the program in memory), or to convert all programs to a
representation of the binary data, and use a BBC basic program to poke it into ram and save it.
I believe *LOAD can be used to execute the program after this is done and it is saved.
I think programming a game for the NC200 and using the hardware directly is going to be interesting!
Quote from: arnoldemu on 15:23, 24 December 10
I am now the proud owner of an NC200.
Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.
Yay for you man! Xmas is right here. 'tis an excellent little machine, eh? :)
Congratulations! The NC200 is indeed a nice machine.
Is it possible to execute code from a file on disk or only from the memory card?
Hm... interesting question... but why wouldn't it?
Quote from: robcfg on 21:23, 24 December 10
Congratulations! The NC200 is indeed a nice machine.
Is it possible to execute code from a file on disk or only from the memory card?
I don't know yet.
The wordprocessor can load files direct from disc.
I am also thinking that it may be possible to put binary files on the disc and transfer them to ram.
So that means ram->disk is ascii only, but disk->ram can be binary.
I will investigate.
Quote from: Gryzor on 21:33, 24 December 10
Hm... interesting question... but why wouldn't it?
Well to use the disc you need a lot of power, so it turns itself off when not needed and on when needed.
So to save power, they may have designed it this way.
Perhaps there are some OS functions that will turn it on and off and read from it.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 10:44, 25 December 10
I don't know yet.
The wordprocessor can load files direct from disc.
I am also thinking that it may be possible to put binary files on the disc and transfer them to ram.
So that means ram->disk is ascii only, but disk->ram can be binary.
I will investigate.
You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.
So you can transfer a binary file to RAM, then use BASIC to *LOAD It and execute it.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 19:02, 26 December 10
You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.
So you can transfer a binary file to RAM, then use BASIC to *LOAD It and execute it.
It is possible to load a document direct from disc into the word processor, however it actually reads it from disc, stores it as an internal document and then opens it. So if you don't have much ram free (base NC200 has about 40K free or so for document - well this is according to LOMEM and HIMEM from BASIC), so you don't have a lot to play with.
Question:
I am thinking of getting a card for it. Can I use an adaptor (SD -> Compactflash??).
I know it'll only see 1MB or so, but can I use larger sizes, but it'll just not use it?
BTW, Poking into ram is not a good idea. I did this because I wanted to find location of screen ram by default.
I ended up locking up the nc200, after I finally managed to reboot it I had lost all my stored documents.
Ooops!
Twitter for the NC200 is this for real? :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/)
Ygdrazil
Quote from: Ygdrazil on 20:10, 07 January 11
Twitter for the NC200 is this for real? :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/)
Yes, but he's using a RS232 (http://www.retrocomputers.eu/?p=1542) connection to a Linux box.
The Spectrum twitter was more impressive as this actually used it's own Ethernet connection.
Unfortunately, I dont have the skills to make a ethernet interface. :(
Quote from: arnoldemu on 11:03, 27 December 10
I am thinking of getting a card for it. Can I use an adaptor (SD -> Compactflash??).
I know it'll only see 1MB or so, but can I use larger sizes, but it'll just not use it?
Compactflash or SD cards wouldn't work because the NC100 only supports SRAM cards which are mapped directly into the Z80 address space. CF cards are flash based and do not work on the NC100.
But you can use larger SRAM cards and the NC100 detects them as 1MB cards.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 19:02, 26 December 10
You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.
Just configure the file selector to display date and time by pressing
[Function]X from the main menu to change the file display options and then press
[SHIFT][CONTROL]H in the file selector to display hidden files. You can transfer these files to PC or Floppy disk this way. Just don't try to open a binary file in the wordprocessor, because this will destroy your file.
Quote from: Nilquader on 21:46, 15 January 11
Compactflash or SD cards wouldn't work because the NC100 only supports SRAM cards which are mapped directly into the Z80 address space. CF cards are flash based and do not work on the NC100.
But you can use larger SRAM cards and the NC100 detects them as 1MB cards.
Just configure the file selector to display date and time by pressing [Function]X from the main menu to change the file display options and then press [SHIFT][CONTROL]H in the file selector to display hidden files. You can transfer these files to PC or Floppy disk this way. Just don't try to open a binary file in the wordprocessor, because this will destroy your file.
Thanks!!!
I looked in the rom data and I can see some self test code for disc drive and general NC200 tests.
Do you know of a way to activate them?
Also the sound in the nc200 I have doesn't work. The case seems to have been opened before, so perhaps there is a loose connection.
(I got it for free btw).
Quote from: arnoldemu on 10:44, 17 January 11
Thanks!!!
I looked in the rom data and I can see some self test code for disc drive and general NC200 tests.
Do you know of a way to activate them?
Hold [Function][Control][Symbol] and then press the power key. The self test will begin with the general test and then continue with the disc drive test.
Quote from: Nilquader on 17:59, 17 January 11
Hold [Function][Control][Symbol] and then press the power key. The self test will begin with the general test and then continue with the disc drive test.
Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality
Quote from: Gryzor on 09:06, 18 January 11
Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality)
I tried the key cominations last night and they work as expected.
Thanks Nilquader!
I found that a disc had to be in the drive for the disc tests to function so I added this note to the wiki.
I also added your note about how to make the hidden files visible :)
So, I found that the sound doesn't work in my nc200, I hope it is just a bad connection.
I am still planning to make a small game for nc200, perhaps a platformer like manic miner.
Quote from: Gryzor on 09:06, 18 January 11
Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality)
This applies to all NC models, not only the NC200.
I finally got my nc200 to display a string with my own font, and a masked sprite moving over a background.
I've got a long way to go to make a game on this platform ;)
Great work!
How are you doing with the poor refresh of the LCD? I guess it's not good for a scrolling game... Or you can simply say it's Hardware-accelerated real-time blur :D
Looking forward to see something running, my NC200 is program-hungry!
A platform game for the NC series sounds very interesting!
Has the project gone any further?
Hello friends,
I've just become an owner of a cute little NC100. To be honest, this is my very first "physical" contact with Amstrad computers, but I'm planning to get familiar with it soon and start discovering this marvelous piece of hardware really thoroughly :)
I hope that the NC community is dormant, not dead ;) Am I right? Do you switch your notepads on sometimes?
Regards,
Cosi
So welcome in the Amstrad World!
May you like some of them:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC (http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC)
http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm (http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm)
The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)
Quote from: TFM/FS on 19:55, 21 September 11
The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)
Apart from the nightmare keyboard clashing (but the CPC suffers from this too).
Quote from: TFM/FS on 19:55, 21 September 11
May you like some of them:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC (http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC)
http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm (http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm)
Already found them, waiting for the machine to be delivered :D But I'm digging deeply to find as much as possible on the Net. I'm a fan of vintage palmtops and, since these are often forgotten, there's usually little useful information on them remaining. (For instance Atari Portfolio: a real market hit then and now you may only find pages mentioning John Connor cracking ATM with the Portfolio :P ) So patience is the key when searching the Internet for some vintage palmtop stuff :) I also hope that NC users still play with their toys sometimes and there's a chance for a revival of these outstanding computers.
Quote
The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)
I know :) I want to tweak it and hack it as much as possible, maybe write a little bit of software for it, and write about it on my blog (http://palmtop.cosi.com.pl) from time to time. I'm also thinking about utilizing it as a tool for my everyday work - as far as I've checked, it's a nice and comfortable "typewriter". And there's no deconcentrating Web browser installed :D
One thing (among lots of others ;) ) that intrigues me is the similarity between Cambridge Z88, NC100 and several other models (usually licensed clones). I wonder how far the compatibility goes...
Quote from: redbox on 20:23, 21 September 11
Apart from the nightmare keyboard clashing (but the CPC suffers from this too).
I've already noticed it, but that's weird, given that the NC was meant to be a word processing machine.
Quote from: Cosi on 20:59, 21 September 11
I've already noticed it, but that's weird, given that the NC was meant to be a word processing machine.
It uses the same (cheap) chip that was found in the CPC range.
If you type 3 keys at once, the circuitry produces a fourth key input based on the last 3, annoying if you type fast.
I have read of people using the NC series as a day-to-day processor because you have the ability to upload files from it by a serial link. If you then write some formatting scripts at the PC end to decode the control characters etc, you can easily turn the files into RTF or something.
Quote from: redbox on 21:02, 21 September 11
If you type 3 keys at once, the circuitry produces a fourth key input based on the last 3, annoying if you type fast.
Aaah, I thought you were talking about mechanical clashing. The keys need to be pressed directly in the middle or else the character may not show up. That's annoying as well.
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If you then write some formatting scripts at the PC end to decode the control characters etc, you can easily turn the files into RTF or something.
You don't have to (http://www.ncus.org.uk/utils.htm#nc_to_rtf) :D
Quote from: Cosi on 21:10, 21 September 11
You don't have to (http://www.ncus.org.uk/utils.htm#nc_to_rtf) :D
Oooh, it does Protext documents too. Nice find. :)
You're welcome ;) Besides, since Protext file format is not that much complicated, it would be easily possible to write converters to other popular formats. Or reverse converters. What I've been thinking since a few days is a PDF->Protext converter (of course as much simplified as possible). Imagine that: converting a book/an article/whatsoever to Protext, sending it to the notepad and using the machine as an ebook reader :)
I'm serious.
Quote from: Cosi on 21:21, 21 September 11
Imagine that: converting a book/an article/whatsoever to Protext, sending it to the notepad and using the machine as an ebook reader :)
That's a cool idea.
You might need to buy a lot of batteries though ;)
Welcome mate!
Unfortunately there's not an NC community to talk about... But it's always great to get new incentives to dig into something. So please do share your experiences and findings with the machine, I'm sure others will follow :)
Now, also do get an NC200. I adored my NC100 till I laid my hands on one... ;)
Quote from: Gryzor on 08:17, 22 September 11
So please do share your experiences and findings with the machine, I'm sure others will follow :)
I will. I have activated Portfolio users a bit, so I hope I'll succeed with the NC :)
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Now, also do get an NC200. I adored my NC100 till I laid my hands on one... ;)
That would be a hard mission. In Poland NC's are extremely rare (in fact all Amstrads are rare, but that's another story) and I don't buy at eBay. But well... never say never ;)
I bet it would be a pearl in my collection.
Thanks, I always found thee were great little machines with very little attention given to them...
As for finding a NC200, yeah - if it weren't for eBay I wouldn't have ever seen one (100 or 200) in real life :( Who knows, maybe someone here has one to offer - you can try placing an ad.
Quote from: Gryzor on 08:17, 22 September 11
Unfortunately there's not an NC community to talk about... But it's always great to get new incentives to dig into something. So please do share your experiences and findings with the machine, I'm sure others will follow :)
Perhaps giving the NC series their own category on this forum would help to create a community that would expand knowledge of the machines and create new software for them.
Quote from: steve on 11:43, 22 September 11
Perhaps giving the NC series their own category on this forum would help to create a community that would expand knowledge of the machines and create new software for them.
That was a good idea. I'll do it.
Oh, wait, how did it end up here? :D
Oi, The PDA600 is missing there :)
/Ygdrazil
I *knew* I was forgetting something!!
Quote from: redbox on 21:15, 21 September 11
Oooh, it does Protext documents too. Nice find. :)
I've extended the RTF converter some months ago, added german umlaut support and compiled a Win32 binary to get long file name support. But unfortunately Tim didn't publish it yet... If you're interested, write me a message!
I picked up an NC200 last year from the car boot sale for £2. It came with manual, power pack and protective cover and it works. Good machine.
£2? You b@st@rd....
Can I offer you £6? Think about it, 200% profit...
I am thinking to get one just right now. They are 20 pounds or less.
The question is, how easy is to transfer/do stuff/save data on them. What extra hardware you use and how easy to find?
Can I just compile and run a raw z80 binary? Does it have amsdos or something else?
I am thinking to try code something for it, even something very simple, just fill the videoram with graphics or something.
You could transfer raw binaries via serial port using XMODEM and the internal terminal application, then load the file to memory and CALL it using BASIC. All you need is a nullmodem cable and a terminal program on the PC.