Message-ID: <007901c08c51$96d11ba0$0508e289@mpaul> From: "Matthias Paul" To: References: Subject: Re: Hand-Held DOS-Based Computer? Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 02:12:57 +0100 Organization: Rechenzentrum RWTH Aachen MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by delorie.com id IAA16966 Reply-To: opendos AT delorie DOT com On 2001-01-31 Paul O. Bartlett wrote: > Does anyone know of any similar-sounding DOS-based hand-held > computers available? These days it seems like the choice is between > Palm-type organizers (too small) and Windows-based laptops (too big). Well, a bit smaller than your device might be the HP 200LX (or HP 100LX). These are (or were) DOS 5 based 80186 PCs, 16mm x 8,64mm x 2,54mm, ca. 300g with batteries, serial & IR port, CGA graphics, a keyboard with "click", 1-4 Mb SRAM pre-installed (extendable by PCMCIA 2.0 cards - only for memory and XIP cards), various "organizer applications" pre-installed, but you should be able to run almost any normal DOS software as long as it runs on XT hardware. From what I recall they have been very extendable with all kinds of adapters (as long as there are DOS drivers for the 200LX, since PCMCIA 2.0 does not provide SS & CS). There also was a model with a built-in GSM modem called HP OmniGo 700LX, and you could "piggy-pack" a Nokia 2110 onto the back of the display. Due it its size and weight, some called it Omnibrick... ;-) Last time I looked (ca. two years ago), they were still available around here, but I donīt know if they are still in stock now. Price was "HP-like" - ca. 1100,- DM (ca. 500,- USD) for the base model. Much older (from 1989-1991) and less powerful, one of the first PDAs ever was the Poqet Computer from the original initiators of the PCMCIA standard (1989), Poqet Computer Corporation, which was later sold off to Fuji. IIRC, there were three models, and approx. two years ago you could still get a few items of them from a distributor in the US for ca. 100-150 USD. (I donīt remember the name right now, but Iīm sure I have a snapshot of their web-page as well as technical data sheets somewhere in my archives, in case you would be interested in this.) AFAIR they also had a CGA display, DOS in ROM, and I think 512 Kb DRAM. Maybe a serial and parallel port, but Iīm not sure any more. The three models had rather different sizes and were larger than the HP 200LX above. Some DR-DOS related trivia: One of the founders of Poqet, Ian Cullimore, took part in the development of DR PalmDOS later in 1992. Even less powerful might be the Atari Portfolio, also from the late 1980th, a 8086-based PC with ca. 256 Kb RAM, DOS 2.1x in ROM and some kind-of-reduced-CGA display. Last time I saw them (ca. 3 years ago), refurbished devices where selling for ca. 50-100 DM (25-50 USD) at electronics/computer shows (like Hobbytronic in Dortmund, Germany). Hope it helps, Matthias ------------------------------------------------------------ Matthias Paul, Ubierstrasse 28, D-50321 Bruehl, Germany http://www.rhrz.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokeng.html ------------------------------------------------------------