Whether you travel for business or pleasure, or
simply bring work home from the office, a laptop,
notebook or other portable computer may be part of
your plans. Perhaps you're considering a laptop
because of space considerations or as a second (or
third) computer.
  
Hosted by sysops Dave Thomas and Ted McKosky,
GEnie's Laptops RoundTable is an information
clearinghouse for notebook, palmtop, laptop, and
portable PC-compatible computers. It's the place
to find software for the latest palmtop computers,
CP/M laptops like the Geneva and Starlet, the
Model 100/Kyocera family of laptops, and other
specialized types like the Cambridge Z88 and Tandy
600. The Laptops RoundTable can be found on GEnie
Page 655 by typing LAPTOP at any page prompt.
  
Folks and Facts
  
"Laptop RoundTable members help each other and
gain insights in exchanges on the Bulletin Board,"
says Dave Thomas. "Lots of folks have been steered
in the right direction by members who have
experience with a variety of vendors and
products."
   
Dave adds, "Our main strength has been the product
information that's available for so many different
laptop/palmtop related products, plus the software
we have for generic computers, such as the HP 95LX
and 100LX." Library 10 is full of product
information on hundreds of computers and
peripherals from dozens of manufacturers,
including specifications for all Toshiba
laptop/notebooks, and detailed product
descriptions of modems, LAN connectors, external
disk drives, and a host of other products.
  
RoundTable member Bob Tullis agrees. "Researching
product specifications in the Library was a huge
help when I decided to upgrade to a new color
laptop," he says, "Having so much quality
information available in one place was a great
help."
  
FAQs and Files
  
Further broadening the base of information
available in the Laptops RoundTable, sysop Ted
McKosky uploads Internet digests on a weekly
basis, giving easy access to the views, opinions
and experiences related by Internet members on
different laptop, palmtop, pen interface and
handheld computer products. Up-to-date listings of
these and other new files are available by
selecting option 5, RoundTable News, from the menu
on page 655.
  
Special files of continuing interest from the
Laptop Library include:
  
TOSHIBA.$$$, from Toshiba America Information
Systems, lists the prices of current computers and
their peripherals; PRICES.OLD similarly lists the
stock numbers and prices for peripherals of
Toshiba laptops/notebooks that are no longer in
production. COMPAQ.$$$, from Compaq Computer
Corporation, lists the prices of that company's
current offerings. File numbers of these files
will change as they are updated, but the filenames
are always the same.
  
File #4884 CHESS.COM is a tiny chess program for
Starlet computers. It's   only 8192 bytes in
size and runs in only 32K!
  
Toshiba owners will appreciate file #4800
FNPOPUP.ZIP, a little program to   run any program
under Windows 3.0 or 3.1 with the FN+POPUP key.
  
Business Start Manager 1.0 is a powerful Personal
Information Manager (PIM)   that's perfect for
using on a laptop. Full-featured, with a
calendar/daily   planner with notes, telephone
database and dialer, to-do list with   reminders
and more, it's in file #4754 BUSPIM.ZIP.
  
Beating the Blues
  
The Laptops RoundTable hosts two weekly Real-Time
Conferences. Tuesdays feature Laptop Basics
starting at 9:30 PM Eastern time. On Sunday
evenings at 6:00 PM Eastern, there's Basic BASIC,
a Conference devoted to BASIC programming. Drop in
and meet your Laptop sysops and fellow RoundTable
members.
  
Whether you're in the market for new portable
computing technology, looking for the latest
drivers for a still-reliable machine, or searching
for specialized programs for a discontinued but
favored older model, GEnie's Laptops RoundTable is
the place to be. If you're not a laptopper now,
who knows? By next year, maybe you'll be beating
the winter blues on a hotel terrace overlooking a
tropical beach, sipping a cool one as you send GE
Mail to friends via modem from your laptop. Hey,
it could happen!
