Hi Stephen,
Have been lurking here for a while, reading the various threads, along with looking at different websites, faqs etc. As a beginner, the QL world seemed very complicated, with strangely named Trump Cards, Gold Cards, and hundred of programs, expansions and websites uncomfortably squeezing their names around the letters "Q" and "L". Anyway, things are a little more clear now and i'm keen to give the machine itself a try.
Ah that sounds great. I'm not often on this list, but since I'm here at the moment, I'll use the opportunity to influence you right from the start :-)
What are your opinions on beginning this venture, for someone on quite a tight budget but with enthusiasm for computer meddling and unusual hardware. Just how much use would a standard QL be (there seem to be quite a few on EBay at any one time)?
I had a quick look into the latest QUANTA and QL Today mags for you, but saw no cheap standard QL at the moment. Sometimes standard QLs are given away for free, especially at QL meetings.
It seems to me that a floppy disk interface of some description is a necessity to connect the QL to the outside world (i.e. for downloading files from the net and transferring
them across). But oh, what about the disk format? Didn't think about that.
I'd say you need at least a GoldCard - otherwise most of the QL software that is developed nowadays won't be usable for you. The GoldCard already includes a floppy disk interface.
Is a Qubbide hard drive interface another must have?
Almost. The GoldCard allows to use floppies with 2.88 MB, so if you're extremely patient, you could start without harddisk.
One thing you must be aware of, is that you can not use a normal monitor for a standard QL. Either you need enough room for a second monitor (an old-fashioned beast that supports the QL video timings) or you need a QL mainboard replacement (Aurora).
More expense but then what's the point in getting involved with the QL if i'm trying to use hardware unrepresentative of the majority of current users. But then things start to become quite expensive and I risk spending a lot (for me) of money on something which i'll get little use our of.
This is difficult to resolve because a full featured QL hardware might contain even more components than you expect. It is not unusual that one has speeder card, mainboard replacement, keyboard interface, harddisk interface, improved serial interface, mouse interface, backplane. Plus, because all that never fits into the QL case, mechanical aids to mount all the stuff in a different case.
That was, by the way, one of the reasons why there's the Q40 ;-)) Which has basically the same video hardware, memory/interrupt structure and processor family as the QL, but most of the old peripherals are modernized/replaced/integrated on one board, and there's a muuuch faster CPU. I hesitate to recommend the Q40 for you, because it's usually not a low budget solution. But in the rare case someone offers you a 2nd hand Q40, it can't be wrong if you compare the price of the Q40 to the sum of all the QL components/interfaces you'd want otherwise.
All the best Peter
