> -----Original Message-----
>
> Hello!!
>
> I have recently learned of the model t and have fallen head-over-heals.
Welcome! I was in your shoes a couple of years ago, and this is a great
community - very helpful, and lots of interesting development activity going
on. I have some ideas for you, see below:
> 100s, but the article listing the differences between models on
> club100.org suggests it is better to acquire a 102 than a 100.
FWIW, regarding M100 versus T102, one consideration which might be important to
you is the keyboard. The T102 (and T200) use a keyboard design which is
quieter but has a softer feel than the original M100 keyboard. If you prefer
quiet above all else, then the T102 is the way to go, but if you are a typist
who enjoys a more tactile keyboard you will really appreciate typing on the
M100.
Some of these used machines will have stiff keys and require some work to get
them operating smoothly, but once they are cleaned up a Model 100 is a joy to
type on. (For insight into my perspective, I am coming at this as an owner of
several M100s, one T200, and a daily user of an IBM Model M keyboard on my PC
which I would not give up for anything.)
I would definitely second the recommendations already made re: getting a REX
module for your new machine. The same REX physically fits the M100, T102, and
T200 (with a different software load for the T200) so you could order one even
before you've found your ideal Model T to purchase. The REX lets you backup,
restore, and move between several different RAM images, which you'll learn is
important because the filesystem is entirely in the machine's RAM and it's
invaluable to be able to easily save backups on the fly and move between
different images containing different documents or software programs.
If you're going to be using it as a writing tool, you're going to need a serial
cable and a serial port for your computer (most likely a USB serial adapter) so
you can transfer data in and out of the Model T. There are several options for
software to run on the computer end of things, most of which emulate the old
Tandy Portable Disk Drive (you'll see the acronym TPDD a lot) so you can store
files from your Model T in a folder on your PC as though that folder was a
floppy disk.
As also mentioned already, the word processor ROMs such as T-Word don't really
add a lot of functionality unless you plan to print your documents directly
from the Model T machine - if you're going to upload your documents to a modern
computer it's not worth worrying about. Having one of the SARDINE ROM images
on your Model T is handy if you want to spell check things as you're writing.
Caveat: as cool as that might sound, bear in mind that it's not a speedy
process, and that the self-contained dictionary is kind of limited (7000 words)
unless you have it attached to an external device to access a virtual floppy
containing the larger dictionary (33000 words). (I'll leave the gory details
on that for another email if you want; I could go on but this would start to
get to be a drinking-from-the-firehose email and I remember what it was like
trying to learn everything all at once when I was starting out with these
machines...)
jim
