The Node DataPac (TM) RAMdisk provides Model 200 and Model 102 users with the first significant memory expansion beyond that offered by Tandy. However, to confuse the Node RAMdisk with prior "expansion RAM" such as that pioneered by PG Design and Cryptronics (PCSG) for the Model 100 is to confuse -- and to underestimate -- the potential of the Node product. Hence, this is less a traditional "review" than an explanation of the product and what it does. As I do not have a Model 102, and since some modifications to the M102 are necessary to utilize the RAMdisk, this review will focus almost exclusively on the M200 version. WHAT IS A DATAPAC? If you think of the DataPac as a big, high-speed storage device -- like a floppy or cassette rather than an expansion RAM -- you'll better understand what it is and how it does -- and does not -- work. If you use an M200 as a remote writing and communications terminal, you may discover that, with the DataPac, you no longer need a disk drive or cassette recorder at all. HOW DO I USE IT? Essentially, you save to and load from the DataPac like you would to and from any other storage device -- only FAR faster, well within a second for a 15K file. Like a disk drive, you can save either from a "DOS" menu, or from the main menu of the M200, using small basic programs (typically 100-200 bytes). WHAT CAN'T IT DO? You cannot access Telcom from within the DataPac -- and if you run a basic program within DataPac, you will corrupt"RAMDSK", the 80-byte "DOS"-loading program on the main menu. That hasn't caused a cold start yet -- it does mean that you increase the size of RAMDSK to whatever the size of the program you just ran within DataPac. (You can then kill RAMDSK and restore it with a "Call 61167,2" from basic.) WHY IS IT SO GREAT? Since the DataPac connects to the 40-pin bus on the back of the M200 ( and M102), it leaves the RS232 free for a 1200-baud modem of the TravelComm/WorldComm type. By using the Telcom enhancements of the Disk Power (Ultrasoft Innovations) TDD operating system, you can stay connected to a data base with EITHER an external OR the internal modem -- and take up to about 265K of files before having to disconnect. How does one calculate "265K"? Well, because the size of the file one can shuttle between the main memory and the DataPac is determined by the free space in the Model 200 main RAM bank from which you are operating. The combination of Disk Power DOS and four basic programs reduce any main RAM bank to about 15,600 bytes -- and you need about 500 bytes of headroom to run some of the basic programs to shuttle files to and from the DataPac. Node has included 3 enhancements to the Model 200 text-editor: 1. A search-and-replace function 2. A toggling "insert" or "write-over" correction mode 3. A word and character counting mode WHAT ARE ITS BIGGEST DRAWBACKS? The DataPac is controlled by software written on a Polar Engineering ROM supplied with the DataPac; the DataPac cannot be accessed without it. The documentation and basic program files are on an 11,700 byte file on the ROM -- suggesting a major design error by Node: If there's 11,700 bytes free on a Polar ROM, one could put a DOS and a word processing program (eg, Disk Power and Lapword) on it -- and avoid the single biggest obstacle to giving up the ROM socket: loss of the ability to use a multi-program ROM! MOST -- BUT NOT ALL -- of the basic program supplied by Node work very well. (I have yet to find one that enables reading of the RAMdisk menu while online, without disconnecting.) One must be careful not to accidentally kill a file the same way one can in Telcom by hitting the F2 (download) key when one intends to hit F3 (upload). If, from the M200 main menu, you run the DataPac basic program designed to LOAD a file FROM the DataPac TO the main menu -- when you actually intend to SAVE a file TO the DataPac FROM the main menu -- you will WIPE OUT THAT FILE. I modified the "load" program to sound a tone alarm that makes me think -- do I want to "load" or "save"? PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION The DataPac is contained in a beautifully finished 10-ounce black anodized metal box ,about 1.5 x 1 x 10 inches, shaped so that when attached under a Model 200 or Model 102 with supplied velcro, it acts like prop-legs. There are no rubber feet on the box, it could mar or slide on furniture; I attached some small stick-on silicone rubber pads sold by Radio Shack. The combination of box and pads has not posed any problem with changed maximum tilt-screen angle in either office or the coach seats of the many 727s, 747s, 767s and DC9s in which I have used the M200/DataPac combination. Attachment and initialization takes about 5 minutes. The paper documentation is crude, but sufficient. The DataPac is available in 2 forms -- a 128K version costing $179, and a 256K costing $249 (MC/VISA/COD, free second-day UPS air). It consists of either 4 or 8 static RAM chips like those in the M200 memory banks, backed up by a small rechargeable cell that, after 2 hours of connection to a Model 200 in use, will provide a minimum of one month of backup. CONCLUSION: A WORTHWHILE PRODUCT In the 4 years since I first bought a Model 100, every new memory device (except RAM chips) -- expansion RAM, disk drives, DOS, even machine-code cassette-loading programs like T-Backup -- have caused cold starts. The Chipmunk/CDOS experience has been a real bummer for some). The lone exceptions (knock on silicon!) -- DataPac and Disk Power. DataPac is a true enhancement of the M200. At $1 a kilobyte, it is a bargain. The limitations of DataPac are those of the Kyocera designs -- no single RAM bank can be bigger than a main-menu bank. However, with DataPac, the M200 gains the text-file capacity of many MS-DOS laptops without the weight and loss of static-RAM...and NO current or projected MS-DOS machine operates on alkaline cells that can be changed mid-flight and/or bought at an airport kiosk. With the greater legibility of the 40-character screen, and a 200K disk drive from Tandy in the wings, the M200 may just have received a BIG new lease on life, thanks to NODE. For additional information or ordering, contact: Node Computer Systems 408 Broad Street Nevada City, CA 95959 (916) 265-4668 NOTE TO SIG MEMBERS: Quantity discounts begin at 3, according to Node's latest "Computer Shopper" ad.