Re: school needs info on IIGS!!!!

[dcrutch@iglou.iglou.com (Dan Crutcher)]

>1. Is it worth it to buy a CD drive for a IIGS in a school?  Is there enough 
>software out there?  I know about Diskquest (at $265 from Alltech), but was 
>told it would be slow and I could only run text CDs.  Alltech said go ahead 
>and get one, and get DiskQuest.  Quality said not to.  (Alltech sells DQ, 
>Quality does not).  One option is also to just buy 1 CD rom, and only have it 
>on one computer...however, I'm not sure it's worth it for just reading 
>instruction, no science, social studies, etc.

Although I have not seen DiscQuest, I think you would be better off 
getting a Mac to use as a server for a network and hooking a CD to the 
Mac. You will find _many_ more CDs that will work with the Mac and give 
you full video and text.

>2. How much can be run on IIGS computers through a networked Mac?  Is that 
>even logical to try with only 3 computers?

Yes, I think a networked Mac is probably the best solution for you. 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can have a ProDOS 
partition on your Mac harddrive that the GS could access. If your Mac has 
large enough hard drive you might be able to get away with not buying 
hard drives for the GSs.

>3. What is Microsoft Works like?  Is it very similiar to Microsoft Word?  Does 
>it have the WP functions standard on MSWord ?  Is that the only WP for the 
>IIGS?

There is no Microsoft Works version for the IIGS. The closest thing in 
the Apple II world would be AppleWorks or AppleWorks GS. AppleWorks is a 
three-in-one program with word processor, database and spreadsheet; very 
fast and easy to use, but not a lot of bells and whistles. AppleWorks GS 
is like a Windows version of AppleWorks; it currently has a lot of bugs, 
but Quality Computers is working on a new version that we all _hope_ will 
be a lot better.

>4. Would 4 mg extended memory ($119), 80 mg HD w/SCSI ($295) , Zip Chip ($159) 
>be enough to run a good WP and basic games to be loaded on the HD?  Those were 
>the cheapest prices I've been quoted so far, but I don't know if they are 
>'good' or not.

Those are all pretty good prices. If you could get all of those for each 
GS you would have all the storage, speed and RAM that you'll ever need. 
The RamFAST SCSI card, although it costs a little more than the Apple 
card, will give you more speed and more flexibility in working with other 
SCSI devices (it's also a little more complicated to set up).

>5. If I got a CD Rom, what kind is best?  Alltech sells one for $199 (don't 
>know much about it) and Quality for $499 (double spin w/5yr war.).  And again, 
>is there enough stuff to warrant one w/out DiskQuest?

Again, if you can afford to get a Mac and a CD player with it, that might 
be a better way to go. Does anyone know if a CD connected to a Mac can be 
accessed by the DiscQuest software through AppleTalk? If so, would it be 
worth doing, or would it be just too slow to bear?