Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!lsuc!jimomura
From: jimomura@lsuc.on.ca (Jim Omura)
Subject: Re: HP Customer Service and the Serial Kit SCAM
Organization: Consultant, Toronto
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1991 18:21:52 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Jun27.182152.3944@lsuc.on.ca>
References: <1991Jun25.182629.1803@njitgw.njit.edu>

In article <1991Jun25.182629.1803@njitgw.njit.edu> jfa0522@hertz.njit.edu (john f andrews ece) writes:

...

>Just called HP about the upgraded "serial Interface Kit". I am quite
>sure this has been discussed here, but did it make any difference???
>
>I paid $50 for a kit to enable me to connect my new $300 calculator to my 
>PC (a prime reason for upgrading to the 48) only to find it was nothing
>more than a cable and KERMIT????? 

     Huh?  Do you mean Kermit on a ROM card for the HP-95LX or Kermit
on a floppy to put on a computer?  If for the computer, did they give
the source code for people who don't use MS-DOS machines (like me)?

     Also, how many cables and adaptors do they supply?  Can you
describe it all in detail for us?  For instance, do they use extra
fine, flexible cables that are easier to carry than most normal
shielded cables?  Also approximate lengths would be interesting.

     This isn't just academic.  It all impacts on the portability
of the whole thing.  My Portfolio becomes quite a large "package"
when you include a serial adapter, a bulky full-support 9 wire
cable and modem.  I could make a lighter wire and use faked signals
like on the HP cables, but I prefer to have all the signal lines
present (helps for debugging when the telephone lines get flakey),
yet other people might prefer to travel lighter.

     Also, while we're on the subject of telecom, what are the file
formats on the HP like?  Are the standard database files (phone list
and calendar) purely text files like on the Portfolio or do they use
ESCape codes or other special characters?

     How are the "notes" tied to the calendar dates?  Are they
included as part of a single file or are they referenced via pointers?


>The customer Service rep emphasizes that not everyone knows about KERMIT,
>and those great utilities on the disk are also only available (to many people)
>in the kit. Geee... I never knew HP was one of those companies that scams
>its customers. 

     Welllll, it might be justifiable.  No doubt they're going to
have to provide "service" for people who try to use the Kermit.
I assume by the above it's for the main computer rather than the
HP-95LX?

>Alas, they will, for an additional $30, give me the software *only* from
>the new-improved "programmers development link"... when I queeried the
>effluent salesman on the technical details, he informed me (in many, many
>words) that it allows you to do wonderful things you can't really do
>with the Serial Interface Kit, like execute programs on the HP from your 
>PC, send commands without the need for difficult escape characters, etc. In
>short, all the things the serial interface kit was supposed to do.

     Uh, actually, if the Kermit server mode is implimented, there
*should* be a lot of this stuff do-able already.  Of course this
could be a UUCP interface, or an X-Window interface, or just a new
"command.com" which is aimed at the serial port -- just like "good old
CP/M". :-)

>So is this true... HP rips us off and stands in our faces admitting it, but
>with no intention to make things right? Geeesh.... HP is taking a serious
>dive in the PR department on this one. Who do they think buys a 48sx? I,
>for one, will unquestionably look at Casio/other brands now. Before I 
>never even bothered (I am a 15 year HP user). 
>
>Anybody had any luck with this? Anybody upgrade for $30? What did you get
>(in real words, not package descriptions!)


-- 
Jim Omura, 2A King George's Drive, Toronto, (416) 652-3880
lsuc!jimomura
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