Re: Where were A2 clones sold and advertised

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

"Ernest" <ernestls@home.com> wrote:

>I've been thumbing through my Byte mags ('79-85) and I haven't seen a single
>A2 clone advertised so far. Were clones sold through magazines like Byte?
>Did you have to buy them at local shops or were they mail order only?

Too old.  Try InCider and A+ (later InCider/A+ as a merged magazine)
from 1985 to 1992.  There was one line of very popular Apple IIe/IIc
clone called the Laser 128 series.  These were the computers that
were sold not only through mail order but through chain stores like
Sears.  They directly competed with the likes of the Commodore 128
and helped put the last nail in the coffin of that computer.

By the way, the Laser 128 series were LEGAL clones.  Video
Technology (VTech, which now makes cordless phones) reversed
engineered Apple's ROMs the same way Compaq did the PC and
the result?  Apple sued Laser in several different countries and
LOST in ALL the cases.  Funny, even when Apple was killing the
II in favor of the Mac, they STILL put money and effort into going
after clones of the Apple.  ;-)

I had a Laser 128EX/2 myself.  3.5 inch drive, expandable memory
to 1MB, 80 column card/double hires graphics, universal disk
controller, built in serial, parallel, and MIDI ports, real time clock
with NiCad battery, and 3.5x accelerated over the IIe/IIc.  It was
a IIc+ competitor, really, and in my opinion the best 8-bit Apple II
ever built, clone or otherwise!  Oh, and it had MouseText too (but
the copyrighted Open and Closed Apple symbols were replaced
with Open and Closed Triangles to avoid Apple's wrath).

Oh, by the way, if your are interested there was a GIF ad for the
Laser 128EX/2 on the Ground FTP server.  I have been away from
the Apple II world too long to know if Ground still exists but if it
does, you can download or view the ad there.  Perhaps someone
can provide a direct URL as I do not remember.