<s>
The	O
Epson	B-Device
QX-10	I-Device
is	O
a	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
running	O
CP/M	B-Application
or	O
TPM-III	O
(	O
CP/M	B-Application
-80	I-Application
compatible	O
)	O
which	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
Zilog	B-General_Concept
Z80	I-General_Concept
microprocessor	B-Architecture
,	O
running	O
at	O
4MHz	O
,	O
provided	O
up	O
to	O
256KB	O
of	O
RAM	O
organized	O
in	O
four	O
switchable	O
banks	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
separate	O
graphics	O
processor	O
chip	O
( µPD7220	O
)	O
manufactured	O
by	O
NEC	O
to	O
provide	O
advanced	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
USA	O
and	O
Canada	O
,	O
two	O
versions	O
were	O
launched	O
;	O
a	O
basic	O
CP/M	B-Application
configuration	O
with	O
64KB	O
RAM	O
and	O
the	O
HASCI	O
configuration	O
with	O
256KB	O
RAM	O
and	O
the	O
special	O
HASCI	O
keyboard	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
the	O
bundled	O
application	O
suite	O
,	O
called	O
Valdocs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
TPM-III	O
was	O
used	O
for	O
Valdocs	B-Device
and	O
some	O
copy	O
protected	O
programs	O
like	O
Logo	B-Device
Professor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
European	O
and	O
Japanese	O
versions	O
were	O
CP/M	B-Application
configurations	O
with	O
256KB	O
RAM	O
and	O
a	O
graphical	O
Basic	O
interpreter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
had	O
internal	O
extension	O
slots	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
extra	O
serial	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
,	O
network	O
cards	O
or	O
third	O
party	O
extensions	O
like	O
an	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
processor	O
,	O
adding	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
product	O
line	O
included	O
the	O
TPM-II	O
and	O
III	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
Valdocs	B-Device
,	O
a	O
robust	O
BASIC	O
language	O
implementation	O
,	O
a	O
graphics	O
API	O
library	O
used	O
by	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
products	O
which	O
initially	O
supported	O
line	O
drawing	O
and	O
fill	O
functions	O
and	O
was	O
later	O
extended	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
QX-16	B-Device
color	O
boards	O
,	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
assembler	B-Language
,	O
and	O
low	O
level	O
Zapple	O
machine	B-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
monitor	I-General_Concept
which	O
could	O
be	O
invoked	O
from	O
DIP	O
switch	O
setting	O
on	O
the	O
rear	O
of	O
the	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Abacus	O
"	O
is	O
a	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatible	O
machine	O
released	O
in	O
1985	O
booting	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
2.11	O
from	O
64KB	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
a	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8086-2	I-General_Concept
CPU	O
at	O
8	O
MHz	O
,	O
128	O
to	O
512	O
KB	O
of	O
RAM	O
and	O
two	O
3½	O
"	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
(	O
360	O
KB	O
format	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
was	O
also	O
support	O
for	O
custom	O
ROM	B-Device
cartridges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
successor	O
,	O
the	O
dual-processor	O
QX-16	B-Device
,	O
added	O
a	O
16-bit	O
Intel	O
processor	O
with	O
Color	B-Device
Graphics	I-Device
Adapter	I-Device
enabling	O
it	O
to	O
also	O
boot	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
2.11	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
case	O
of	O
the	O
QX-16	B-Device
was	O
enlarged	O
to	O
provide	O
enough	O
physical	O
space	O
for	O
an	O
internal	O
hard-drive	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
'	O
s	O
dual-floppy	O
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VALuable	O
DOCumentS	O
by	O
Rising	O
Star	O
Industries	O
is	O
a	O
pseudo-GUI	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
integrated	O
software/OS	O
for	O
document	O
creation	O
and	O
management	O
,	O
written	O
as	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
interactive	O
application	O
and	O
system	O
modules	O
which	O
ran	O
only	O
on	O
Epson	O
's	O
QX-10	B-Device
and	O
QX-16	B-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Valdocs	B-Device
shipped	O
to	O
beta	O
testers	O
c	B-Language
.	O
late	O
1982	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beta	O
and	O
initial	O
production	O
releases	O
of	O
Valdocs	B-Device
 '	O
application	O
modules	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
Forth	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
while	O
its	O
system-oriented	O
modules	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
E-Mail	O
and	O
disk	O
utilities	O
)	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
Z-80	B-General_Concept
Assembly	B-Language
Language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
releases	O
of	O
Valdocs	B-Device
 '	O
applications	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
C	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
with	O
some	O
modules	O
written	O
in	O
compiled	O
RSI	O
Basic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
release	O
of	O
Valdocs	B-Device
included	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
word	O
processor	O
and	O
spreadsheet	O
applications	O
(	O
with	O
onscreen	O
fonts	O
,	O
an	O
UNDO	O
key	O
,	O
keyboard	O
macros	O
and	O
multiple	O
screen	O
formats	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
cardfile	O
database	O
,	O
an	O
E-Mail/communications	O
module	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
desktop	O
manager	O
with	O
an	O
address	O
book	O
,	O
mailing	O
list	O
manager	O
,	O
notepad	O
,	O
spell	O
checker	O
,	O
ValDraw	O
&	O
ValPaint	O
,	O
calculator	O
and	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Valdocs	B-Device
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
environments	O
that	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
embed	O
items	O
like	O
spreadsheets	O
and	O
figures	O
in	O
word	O
processing	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chris	O
Rutkowski	O
and	O
Roger	O
Amidon	O
worked	O
on	O
the	O
preliminary	O
QX-10	B-Device
design	O
;	O
Amidon	O
continued	O
designing	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
QX	O
system	O
after	O
Epson	O
and	O
Rising	O
Star	O
Inc	O
.	O
stopped	O
production	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Graphic	O
and	O
other	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
and	O
QX-16	B-Device
were	O
developed	O
by	O
program	O
designers	O
such	O
as	O
Dan	O
Oja	O
and	O
Nelson	O
Donley	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Switching	O
between	O
programs	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
pressing	O
an	O
associated	O
hotkey	O
on	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
'	O
s	O
keyboard	O
(	O
which	O
was	O
specifically	O
designed	O
to	O
support	O
Valdocs	B-Device
,	O
including	O
an	O
UNDO	O
key	O
)	O
or	O
by	O
selecting	O
a	O
program	O
from	O
a	O
menu	O
the	O
hotkey	O
invoked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Valdocs	B-Device
on	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
was	O
very	O
slow	O
and	O
buggy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoWorlds	O
1983	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
described	O
the	O
software	O
as	O
"	O
great	O
idea	O
,	O
questionable	O
implementation	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
reported	O
that	O
Valdocs	B-Device
on	O
the	O
computer	O
"	O
is	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
magazine	O
added	O
that	O
"	O
VALDOCS	B-Device
crashed	O
(	O
failed	O
)	O
numerous	O
times	O
while	O
we	O
were	O
using	O
it	O
to	O
write	O
this	O
review	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
praising	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
itself	O
(	O
"	O
Physically	O
this	O
is	O
an	O
excellent	O
machine	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
Valdocs	B-Device
 '	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
,	O
Jerry	O
Pournelle	O
wrote	O
in	O
BYTE	B-Application
in	O
August	O
1983	O
that	O
"	O
the	O
first	O
problem	O
is	O
obvious	O
from	O
the	O
other	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
room	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Valdocs	B-Device
system	O
is	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
believed	O
that	O
the	O
software	O
"	O
has	O
pushed	O
the	O
Zilog	B-General_Concept
Z80	I-General_Concept
chip	O
past	O
its	O
limits	O
...	O
</s>
<s>
I	O
do	O
n't	O
think	O
Valdocs	B-Device
will	O
ever	O
run	O
properly	O
until	O
something	O
like	O
the	O
8086	B-General_Concept
or	O
68000	O
is	O
used	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
simply	O
takes	O
too	O
darned	O
long	O
to	O
get	O
a	O
business	O
letter	O
out	O
using	O
Valdocs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
reiterated	O
that	O
"	O
the	O
hardware	O
is	O
fine	O
"	O
,	O
but	O
wondered	O
if	O
"	O
the	O
industry	O
need	O
yet	O
another	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
computer	O
for	O
more	O
than	O
$2500	O
"	O
without	O
usable	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pournelle	O
concluded	O
,	O
"	O
I	O
cannot	O
in	O
good	O
conscience	O
recommend	O
 [ Valdocs ] 	O
to	O
anyone	O
who	O
has	O
actual	O
production	O
work	O
to	O
perform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
president	O
of	O
one	O
QX-10	B-Device
user	O
group	O
complained	O
in	O
April	O
that	O
the	O
word	O
processor	O
was	O
"	O
slow	O
compared	O
to	O
my	O
mother	O
running	O
the	O
mile	O
...	O
</s>
<s>
Creative	B-General_Concept
Computings	I-General_Concept
mostly	O
favorable	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
and	O
software	O
in	O
June	O
also	O
noted	O
the	O
slow	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
Valdocs	B-Device
editor	O
,	O
calling	O
it	O
"	O
maddeningly	O
slow	O
in	O
many	O
cases	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
QX-10	B-Device
'	O
s	O
4MHz	O
processor	O
was	O
not	O
at	O
fault	O
,	O
because	O
other	O
word	O
processors	O
ran	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
on	O
other	O
8-bit	O
CP/M	B-Application
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Epson	O
's	O
promise	O
of	O
speed	O
improvements	O
,	O
Valdocs	B-Device
2	O
remained	O
slow	O
;	O
InfoWorlds	O
1985	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
QX-16	B-Device
reported	O
that	O
the	O
computer	O
was	O
"	O
severely	O
limited	O
by	O
 [ Valdocs' ] 	O
slow	O
operation	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pournelle	O
concluded	O
that	O
year	O
that	O
Valdocs	B-Device
"	O
was	O
fatally	O
flawed	O
"	O
,	O
noting	O
that	O
Epson	O
advised	O
Valdocs	B-Device
2	O
users	O
to	O
share	O
data	O
between	O
the	O
chart	O
maker	O
and	O
word	O
processor	O
with	O
"	O
scissors	O
,	O
tape	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
copy	O
machine	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
