Leading Edge D/LT386SX Plus. (laptop computer) (evaluation)
by David Sears

Nothing makes the time go by on a long plane ride like a good laptop, andwhether you use yours for spreadsheets or Star Control, the Leading EdgeD/LT386SX Plus certainly beats a talkative stranger when it comes to airbornecompanionship. Whatever your reason for carrying a laptop, you'll want tobalance weight, display readability, and price against its usefulness. Aclose look at this laptop reveals a perplexing mix of fine and somewhatbelow-average features.

On the plus side, the D/LT does run a 16-MHz 386 processor, providing thenecessary micro horsepower to make Windows run at a usable speed, and the 40MBhard drive provides more than ample storage space for on-the-road applicationsand their data files. The 3 1/2-inch 1.44MB floppy drive port faces you, soyou can keep an eye on disk activity. All the standard ports--serial,parallel, and PS/2 mouse--further enhance the D/LT's versatility. For youavid telecommunicators, the roomy modem bay looks as if it should easilyaccommodate the Leading Edge $199 proprietary modem. Should you have thechance to plug the D/LT into a color monitor, you won't be disappointed by thegraphics; this laptop's crisp-VGA 640 x 480 pixel output does justice to yourgames as well as your chart generators.

Leading-edge security with End-of-Lease feature Standard wireless connectivity for easy placement and mobility Virtually maintenance-free triple air-feed paper handling option.

A winner all around, the D/LT's keyboard doesn't complicate typing byshrinking its keys; they're the same size as those of larger, stay-at-homemachines. While the keyboard won't detach from the D/LT entirely, it doeshave the surprising ability to sled forward away from the rest of the machine,putting just enough distance between you and the LCD screen for a comfortableworking relationship at your hotel room desk. Well, maybe not quite farenough for some; the glare from this laptop's 8 x 6 inch backlit display canquickly tire your eyes. Compared to many other laptop displays, this one'sdownright fatiguing. And despite a purported antiglare feature, text on theD/LT display, like text on many laptop displays I've looked at, is best readin indirect light. The brightness and contrast sliders do little to improvethe situation. Also problematic is the screen's tendency to fall forward atthe slightest disturbance and to resist proper positioning. Setting thedisplay in place often requires multiple attempts. Practice patience here;the manufacturer warns against bending the screen back too far, though itremains a constant temptation. A more effective locking and tilting mechanismis definitely in order.

Those traveling computerphiles who remember the heyday of the KayPro luggablewon't much mind carrying the hefty D/LT for short distances. After all, thiscomputer's 13 pounds doesn't compare to the weight and bulk of most earlierportables. More contemporary users, though, might not want the burden of thismuch weight, especially in this age of 386 notebooks. The D/LT thankfullybalances on its edge quite well. Even if the D/LT should fall over, Iwouldn't worry much about damage--this machine's case could stop bullets.

This laptop doesn't spare you the cold reality of mysterious battery charges. You should expect about two hours of use per full recharge of the ni-cadbattery. Expect less if you access your hard drive and floppy frequently. Leading Edge has built in some features to help you conserve power and keeptrack of the D/LT's battery life. Left unattended, the D/LT dims its screento conserve power. A battery check light flashes when power's low, and if youdon't soon save and shut down, you might damage your hard drive and willcertainly lose your work.

Alarm software, such as Battery Watch, warns you when battery failure willoccur, but you'll need to buy such software separately. The D/LT comesbundled with DOS 4.01, Windows 3.0, and Microsoft Works.

You might think that a laptop with a VGA port makes the perfect go-between forhome computing and computing in your hotel room, but think again. Mostlaptops just don't offer the expandability that full-size PCs do, and even thelarger-than-average D/LT won't adequately serve as a substitute. With a 2MBRAM limit and no card slots, the D/LT won't replace your versatile desktop PC.And for true portability, you'll want to try the Leading Edge NB 300S notebookcomputer. The standard unit packs less RAM and hard drive space than theD/LT, but its reduced weight and increased operating time per battery chargeprobably bring it closer to your idea of what constitutes a laptop these days.At only about $400 more than its larger cousin, the notebook warrants afrequent traveler's attention.

So, who needs the D/LT? Well, for shoppers who appreciate a bargain, the D/LTcould turn out to be a surprise hit. To compete with other manufacturers inthis market of increasingly smaller and lighter portable computers, LeadingEdge lowered the suggested retail price of the D/LT laptop by about $1,000. Any further price cuts could carve out quite a niche for this machine,especially with computer users who travel only from time to time but want tomake sure they can work out of town if they need to.

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3. 1 Specifications may vary depending on model and/or region. All models subject to availability. 2 802.11ax 2x2 160MHz enables 2402Mbps maximum theoretical data rates, 3X faster than standard 802.11ac 2x2 80MHz (867Mbps) and nearly 6x faster than baseline 1x1ac (433Mbps) Wi-Fi as documented in IEEE 802.11 wireless standard specifications, and require the use of similarly configured 802.11ax.

The terminology around dimmers can be confusing. Luckily, it’s just different ways of saying the same thing.

Here’s the scoop. First of all, let’s be clear that this post is talking only about the common wall-slider-type dimmers made by companies like Lutron, Leviton and Legrand. This type of dimmer has been in use for decades, originally used for dimming incandescent bulbs.

How do they work? Well, they chop the AC power waveform. What’s that? The power to your outlets and fixtures is AC power (“Alternating Current”), (generally 120 volts in a house). It’s called that because it “alternates” like a sine wave, 60 times a second.

Dimmers change the shape of the AC wave by chopping off part of it. This reduces the power available to the bulb, which becomes less bright. Magic!

What does Triac mean?
The key electronic component in a dimmer that makes wave-chopping possible is called a “triac”. So all these type of dimmers are “triac dimmers”.

What’s Leading Edge and Trailing Edge?
When chopping a sine wave, you can chop the beginning of the wave, or the end of the wave. In both cases you achieve dimming by reducing the outgoing power. The more you chop, the dimmer the light.

So if the triac chops the beginning of the sine wave, it’s “Leading Edge” dimming. And guess what it’s called if you chop the end of the wave? Right! “Trailing Edge”.

What’s Forward Phase dimming and Reverse Phase dimming?
Forward Phase is another term for Leading Edge dimming. It’s just another way of saying it. And, Reverse Phase dimming is another way of saying Trailing Edge. That was easy!

Now the fun part begins.

What’s an MLV dimmer?

MLV stands for Magnetic Low Voltage. Hmm. So that must mean the dimmer is magnetic, and it’s low voltage right?

Nope!

It actually means it’s a dimmer for Magnetic Low Voltage lights.
Huh? How can a light be magnetic? This is really confusing.

It’s a bit of a long story. After the incandescent light bulb, a “new” type of lighting was introduced called halogen. It became very popular starting from the 1970s onward. The most common type of halogen bulb was an MR16, about 2″ in diameter. The big advantage was they could be spotlights, small and bright. This enabled much more subtle and controlled lighting effects than simple incandescent bulbs that shine all around.

For technical reasons, using 12 volt power at high current allowed halogen MR16s to be much brighter than if they ran from the 120 volt / low(-ish) current coming from the wall. The 12 volt conversion was easily achieved with a simple transformer to reduce the voltage and increase the current.

These transformers were very effective. But also heavy and bulky, and because they were just a couple of coils, worked like an electromagnet. So they became known as “magnetic transformers”.

So the combination of a 12 volt MR16 halogen bulb and a “magnetic” transformer became known as “Magnetic Low-Voltage” Lighting. Or MLV.

Whew!

Coming back to dimmers … how do you dim a 12 volt MR16 bulb powered by a magnetic transformer? Well, exactly the same way you’d dim a regular incandescent bulb! Just chop the beginning of the AC waveform. In other words, a “Leading Edge Dimmer”. Or a “Forward Phase” dimmer. Or, an MLV dimmer! They’re all the same thing.

Still hanging in? One more to go.

What’s an ELV dimmer?

Back to the MR16 halogen light story. When track lighting came out, people wanted to put MR16 bulbs on tracks so they could highlight different areas easily. But their bulky heavy transformers weren’t suitable for this. So a streamlined electronic version was developed to save space and cost. Basically it was an electronic power supply for MR16 12-volt (low voltage) lights, that could mount on a track system. Hence, Electronic Low Voltage lighting.

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And how do you dim a combination of a 12 volt MR16 bulb and an “electronic” transformer? The same way as an incandescent bulb, right?
Well, not quite. Turns out that if you chop the beginning of the AC wave, it causes the electronics to hum and buzz unpleasantly because of the sudden wall of AC power coming into the device. So the solution was to chop the trailing edge of the AC wave instead of the beginning, giving it a more gentle start to the power.

So this was a new type of dimmer on the market. An “ELV” dimmer, made for a 12 volt MR 16 and its electronic power supply.

“ELV dimmer” doesn’t mean the dimmer is electronic and low voltage, it means it’s for dimming an electronic power supply of a low voltage halogen light.

An ELV dimmer cuts the trailing edge of the power wave, to reduce hum.

So ELV, Trailing Edge and Reverse Phase actually all mean the same thing.

Even though most halogen MR16s have been replaced by LED lights by now, the terms MLV and ELV persist in the marketplace. But the meaning has become a bit blurry.

Aren’t there any dimmers that can do both Leading Edge and Trailing Edge?

Yes, they are usually called something like “universal dimmers”, and they include a way to switch them from Leading Edge/Forward Phase/MLV to Trailing Edge/Reverse Phase/ELV.

What about LED lights? They’re all electronic, so they need ELV right?

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Not necessarily. Some lights can work equally well with leading edge and trailing edge, some prefer one or the other. Same goes for LED power supplies for LED flexible strip lights. It depends on the device, there is no hard-and-fast rule.

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Is there such a thing as a Magnetic LED Driver/Power Supply?

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Yes, there are some dimmable power supplies for LED flexible strip which are mostly just a large transformer and a few other components. These are called “Magnetic” power supplies. They should be dimmed with leading edge/forward phase/MLV dimmers.