Re: //c

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article gorom@sag.bekkoame.or.jp writes...

>I was offered a //c for free.  One had icons for the "keyboard", "40/80"
>buttons, and the other didn't.  Which is better?

    The Apple IIc with the icons symbols above the keyboard is the
international version, the one with the English wording (i.e. "Power",
"Disk Use", "Keyboard") is the American one, sold only in the United
States. Apple used pictorial images/icons as they are universally
recognized (usually), regardless of what language you speak.

    The international version has a local character set in ROM, which
can be activated by pressing the 'keyboard' switch (whereas on the US
version it will toggle between Qwerty and Dvorak layout). The keyboard
will also differ from a US IIc, notice the extra characters printed on
some keys (letters with accents, etc) or arrow symbols for keys like
Return, Tab, Shift and Delete. Which is better is relative. What is
more important to you, foreign characters (French Canadian, Italian,
French, German, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, U.K.) or the ability to
switch to Dvorak layout?

    Actually, if you really want to know which IIc is better, take
no concern with the above and instead pick the higher ROM revision.
Simply type "PRINT PEEK (64447)" from the Applesoft BASIC prompt
and examine the number reported by each IIc. Avoid a IIc that reports
'255' and get one the one that says '0', '3' or '4' instead (I doubt
it's one of the latter two revisions, as you would have noticed the
keyboard is a platinum color). Nothing wrong with the '255', but a
number of them had a serial port bug (mine doesn't), in addition to
not supporting a UniDisk 3.5 or diagnostic routines.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca