[TenTec] Display color

[Ron Notarius WN3VAW]

Just one comment on the color display:

If all else were equal, then yes, having a color display is superior in many
ways to a monochrome one.  As others have pointed out, it gives you the
capability of using multiple colors to provide more detailed or additional
information.

But, having said that, and having seen the Orion and the pictures of the
IC-7800... it takes more than a color screen, and that ICOM sure looks
"busy" and complicated.  The Orion is almost intuitively easy to use.  I'd
feel a lot more comfortable sitting in front of one of those cold than many,
many other radios.

Now, having said that,  I'm hoping that by the time the Orion II comes out
in a few years, the cost of small color LCD screens will drop to the point
where a color display is an affordable and practical addition.  Why?
Because even though the monochrome vs. color screen issue is truly one of
cosmetics, the fact remains that cosmetics often sell over the features --
sometimes you need the sizzle to sell the steak.  And I keep in mind as I
type this all those times, way back when, when I put an Argosy on the store
bench along side a TS-430, and proved that it was a better radio in most
operating respects... and sold the 430 because it was a 100 W out rig, not a
50W, and it had the neat display and memories etc.  So it goes...

73, ron wn3vaw

"And if I claim to be a wise man,
It surely means that I don't know"
---- "Carry On (My Wayward Son)," Kansas