Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!laird
From: laird@think.com (Laird Popkin)
Subject: Re: What kind of a beast is the HP95?
Message-ID: <1991Apr29.183820.27684@Think.COM>
Sender: news@Think.COM
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
References: <590@lysator.liu.se> <1991Apr26.005857.17320@Think.COM> <2818bbdc:2905.3comp.sys.handhelds;1@hpcvbbs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 91 18:38:20 GMT

In article <2818bbdc:2905.3comp.sys.handhelds;1@hpcvbbs.UUCP> akcs.falco@hpcvbbs.UUCP (Andrey Dolgachev) writes:
>Laird Popkin says that "The main differences are that the 95LX has more
>RAM and a larger
>display, while the PF costs half as much and is somewhat thinner."
>
>The 95LX can not be compared to the Portfolio.  The 95LX runs 2 and a
>half times fster than a PC-XT and is compatible with IBM software.  More
>importantly, the software is already there and is fasr better than the
>PF's versions.  This is real Lotus 123, guys, full functionality, along
>with an incredible term program including Xmodem and scripting, HP Solve,
>an awesome Appointment manager with World time, memo pad with full ASCII
>editing.  Check out the posting by the HP publicist on the 23rd, which
>details much more.  Not only are the functions awesome, however, the
>programs are FAST and amazingly integrated.  With a touch of the button,
>you instantly switch to the program you want, and you can swithc back to
>the last program, exactly where you left off.  Hey Apple, you got
>competition for Multifinder.  THe 95LX has 512k Ram built in, with a full
>megabyte of programs and DOS in ROM, plus a real memory card ful another
>half-megabyte.  ALso, ROM-cards will be and are abailable with programs
>on them.  

The Portfolio runs IBM software as well, under the _same_ constraints as
the 95LX (e.g. well behaved BIOS text programs will work, programs which
write directly to the screen don't).  The Portfolio has a 123-compatible
spreadsheet, though it doesn't have macroes or graphing (yet).  The serial
port comes with terminal software which includes Xmodem.  The PF also comes
with an appointment book and simple text editor.  And, according to a
Portfolio owner who works for HP (if I read his .sig correctly) he prefers
the Portfolio's software to the 95LX's.  Incidentally, the PF can switch
between multiple built in applications as well, and in fact can do so on
top of a "standard" DOS application.  The PF has RAM and ROM cards, with a
variety of programs available.

I just have to point out that you wrote an awful lot comparing two machines
that "can not be compared."  :^)

Now, I didn't say that the Portfolio was _better_ than the 95LX.  I said
that the 95LX provides somewhat more functionality for a significantly
higher price.  My _personal_ opinion is that the Portfolio is sufficient
for most people's desires, and costs $400 less.

>Laird also says that The PC
>Card Drive makes file transfers to the PF very easy.  Well, with the HP
>Filer, all you do is hook your 95 to your IBM and transfer by simply
>selecting what you want and it is moved over.  Since the 95 has a serial
>port, I'm sure that a third party hard-drive could come out, but it's not
>really needed with up to 1m of Ram, and ROm cards.

You don't seem to understand what the PC Card drive _is_.  It is a RAM card
drive that connects to your PC.  You stick a Portfolio RAM card into the
drive and copy files onto it, and then stick the card in the Portfolio.
There are, of course, programs that let you transfer files between any
computer and the Portfolio, including ones with nice friendly front ends
for the PC, Mac, and Atari ST that let you "point and shoot."  IMHO that is
a bit of essentialy functionality that any palmtop computer needs to have
to be usable by the vast majority of people, and both Atari and HP provide it.

A _serial_ hard drive?  What a pleasant thought.  You're right -- who on
earth would want a $900 512K RAM expansion and 20 Mb hard drive when they
can have a couple of $500 512K RAM cards.  Personally, if I were to put
that much storage on a computer, it wouldn't be _either_ a Portfolio or
95LX.  They both have tiny keyboards and limited displays, not to mention
incompatibility with normal graphics.

>Agreed, the 95 is not the first palmtop computer, but it is definetley
>the first of its kind.  Unlike the PF, with its hafl-hearted software,
>the 95 has real software, 123.  It might not be for everybody, since it
>is expensive, but for many people who use 123 and other business types,
>it is absolutely perfect.  I would advise anyone interested to read the
>annoncement posted on the 23rd, it says much more than I could explain. 
>Personally, I think that HP is going to make another killing.

You _must_ be a really big Lotus fan if you feel that Lotus 123 is the only
real spreadsheet.  And you must be a big Microsoft fan, if you think that
MS-DOS is the pinnacle of operating system development.  Apparently you
have not used a Portfolio, because if you had you would know that it's
software is hardly "half hearted."  There are a few things that the 95LX
does which the PF does not, as I pointed out in my comparison, though you
did not quote those sections.  And there are some things that the PF has
available which the 95LX does not, which, as I said but you did not quote,
was due to it's having been on the market for a few years and I found it
likely that similar options would appear for the 95LX.

The only _real_ innovation in the 95LX is connecting it to Motorolla's
beeper system, and that isn't available yet.  Aside from that, the 95LX is
a very nice machine, but between the Poquet and Portfolio the territory's
been covered before -- HP is just aiming for a middle ground in the
tradeoffs betweeen cost, size, and functionality.  It provides less
functionality than a Poquet, but at a lower cost and in a smaller package.
It provides more functionality than a Portfolio, but at a higher cost and
in a larger package.  It seems rather straightforward to me.  It's
certainly not a complaint about HP's engineering, just their marketing.

>      ---Falco

- Laird

