Bondwell 12
BIOS and Character Generator.
ImageDisk archives
http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/cdrom/SIMTEL/ARCHIVES/CPM/8608-1.TXT
Date: Saturday, 2 August 1986, 13:05:03 EDT
From: Bruce Waldman
To: info-cpm@AMSAA.ARPA
Subject: Bondwell CP/M computers
I have just seen an ad for a Bondwell model 12 for $399. Anyone have any
experience with this portable? Does it intrinsically emulate any common
CP/M machine? Also a model 14 with double-sided drives and 128K for
$100 more. Seem like bargains unless ..... ????
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 86 19:34:18 PDT
From: Matt Smiley
To: crash!noscvax!info-cpm@AMSAA.ARPA
Subject: Re: Bondwell CP/M computers
Yes, I owned a model 12 for a month or so before I picked up my Kaypro. I must
say it was an excellant machine. The thing is essentially a Kaypro 4-84, with
a 4 meg clock, two drives, and a 9" amber monitor. In addition you get
function keys, an external monitor output, and (in my case) WordStar,
DataStar, CalcStar, and a couple other Star's with complete documentation,
i.e. copies of Micro Pro's complete manuals. The cabinet design is far
superior to the Kaypro's. It is made of a thick plastic, with all the controls
(power, contrast, reset) on the front next to the monitor. The cord stores in a
compartment on the back, which, when closed, protects all the plugs, (monitor
output, 2 RS-232, 1 serial, power input). The only reason I didn't keep it was
that I needed double sided drives, which your $399 model probably doesn't have.
(although they *are* manufactured with DSDD drives, for what would have cost me
$400 more). It also comes with a program that allows it to read and write to
Kaypro II, Osbourne, and some other strange make disks, although it cannot
format Kaypro, etc.
I would avoid the model 14, which uses CP/M 3.0 like the Commodore 128. Not
that there's anything wrong with 3.0, it's just that there evidently isn't a
whole lot of machines that use it.
BTW, Kaypro is selling model 1's again for $595! You may want to look into one
of those. You can buy them directly from the factory at that price.
