An overview of the 100LX Palmtop Computer by a 95LX owner.

Caution: This is written after only a couple of days with the 100LX.  There
are bound to be significant errors; my intention is only to give 95LX
owners a better idea what the 100LX is all about.

General
-------

The 100LX is the same size and weight as the 95LX, but the cases have
almost no parts in common.

The card slot is, as expected, a PCMCIA 2.0 type II slot.  It can take
cards up to 64MB.  It also supports I/O devices.  Some important warnings:
First, MEMORY CARDS MUST NOT BE REMOVED OR INSTALLED WHILE THE 100LX IS
TURNED ON.  Doing so can cause real problems, which I'll explain later.
Second, be very careful about using I/O cards; some can draw huge amounts
of power.

Flash cards are another matter.  The 95LX takes 5-volt cards; the 100LX
uses 12-volt cards.  The 5-volt cards are problematic when used in the
100LX.  They are usually slow, and they can, I'm told, force the system
into backup mode which will lose any data currently
in memory.

The display is 80x25, but it also has a 95LX-compatible mode (40x16) and a
64x18 mode.  The 80x25 mode _is_ readable, but I find the other two modes
more useful for data entry.  There's a ZOOM key that, in many applications,
will rotate among the three resolutions.

In graphics mode, there's a 4-color (shades of gray) CGA mode -- and a
95LX-compatible mode.  Actually, the display appears to ALWAYS be in
graphics mode; in a number of the apps, there are clearly different size
fonts in the menus and the data area.  HP has built in a bit-blitter to
ensure that performance is quite good.

Batteries are going to make everyone happy.  First, the great news: The
100LX should get about three times the life from a set of batteries.  That
means eight weeks from normal alkalines and six months from a set of the
Eveready Lithium cells.

Next, the 100LX takes NiCDs -- and they can be recharged in the system.
It's not automatic; you have to enable the charger from the SETUP
application.  Takes about 6 hours to recharge -- but you should get at
least two weeks from a single charge.  Because of the discharge curve, the
battery gauge is disabled when using NiCDs.  One tip: Use _good_ Nicads;
the low end brands like Radio Shack won't work particularly well.  The new
high-quality Nicads not only last longer, they have virtually no memory
effect (according to the manufacturers).

While the 100LX can run on Nickel-metal hydrides, you MUST NOT try to
charge them in the unit.  NMH batteries are not adequately vented to be
charged inside the 100LX.  Ditto for other forms of rechargeables.

The optional 100LX power supply is a nice piece of work.  It's small, flat,
and works with international power -- all one need do is change the plug.
It puts out 12-volt DC, which is what the 100LX expects.  The center pole
is negative, so it matches up with several other HP products.  Note that
the charger will get hot in normal use.  It does appear to have a trickle-
charge feature.

More good news on the right side of the unit: The 4-pin serial port has
given way to a 10-pin.  It's still non-standard (for the same reasons as
before -- strain relief), but it now has full modem control.  It's also
fast -- 115kbps.  The same speeds are supported by the infrared port,
too!!  It's not clear whether the 100LX can actually sustain those rates;
stay tuned for more reports on the forum.  For those who will use both the
95LX and 100LX, there's a little 10-pin to 4-pin widget so that one serial
cable can be used for both systems.

The keyboard has changed a bit, but 95LX users will find it familiar.
There's a new "FN" (function) key that is used to access the non-standard
functions of the 100LX (like the ZOOM key).  This approach appears to have
been taken so that the 100LX can generate PC-compatible scan codes for just
about all keystrokes.

All of this adds up to a big jump in PC-compatibility: CGA-compatible
display, more standard keyboard.  There's even a PC-compatible speaker,
though that means an end to the really fancy sound we enjoyed with the
95LX.  <Sigh>

As long as we're talking about less than great changes, the 100LX is a
"CUA" machine -- with pull down menus, radio buttons, check boxes --
instead of the more familiar (and efficient) Lotus 1-2-3-style interface.
Three are some minor frustrations -- the cursor doesn't move 'naturally' in
some places, but...

Back to the good stuff.  The Clipboard functions in the 100LX are much-
improved.  Cut, copy, and paste seem to work just about everywhere -- and
they don't take up function keys.  A couple of other nice touches: One can
paste TIME and DATE with ease.

In the mixed-blessings category, the resident apps no longer read the
entire file into memory.  That means there are no longer any 64KB file size
restrictions, but it also means one must be very careful not to play with
an open file.  For instance, if the data file is on the A: drive and you
remove the A: drive from the slot, you will get an error.  Also, the
internal apps take up a LOT more room by themselves.  For example, APPT on
my system used to take up less than 64KB -- and 34KB of that was to hold
the data file; now APPT takes up 72KB.

Now for the real sleeper: The 100LX has a database which is deceptively
simple to use.  The more I work with it, the more I am impressed.  The
database engine is actually used by many of the internal applications.  For
instance, phone books and appointment books are simply database files.  You
can define your own databases and database entry forms.  It goes beyond the
normal alpha and numeric fields; one can also easily define radio button
fields, and groups of check boxes.

Two field types deserve special attention: Notes and Categories.  A note
field is a free form memo area.  There can be only one note field per
record, but each note can be up to 32,000 bytes.  A category field lets
each record put into a specific category, and the categories themselves are
dynamic.  Suppose you have a database of CDs with categories of Classical,
Jazz, and Blues. Then someone gives you a Country album.  No problem; just
add Country to the list of categories by entering it into the current
record.

HP has provided password protection on a file level.  File passwords can be
up to 16 characters long and they are case-sensitive.  Also, don't lose
your password(s) as they are not hidden anywhere in the machine.

The warranty includes Express Exchange: If your 100LX breaks, HP will
express ship a new unit to you; you return the defective unit in the
packaging provided by HP.

A subtle but very important change: The 100LX is being sold through HP's PC
dealer channels -- not through the calculator channels.  That likely means
you will not be able to get your 100LX from the same place you got the
95LX.


Application Specifics

There are several new applications, and all the old ones have been given
facelifts.  Let's start with the latter group, where everything old is new
again:

SETUP is mostly the same, although there are now battery control options
(which type of battery is installed and whether to recharge), and options
to control the remote access.  No more having someone else wake up your
machine with FILER and swiping files; you can shut those functions down or
password protect them.
FILER gets a tree mode and a sync mode; together, they make FILER look like
File Manager in Windows.

COMM seems to be about the same, though I haven't played with it, yet.  Of
course it handles the higher transfer rates and modem handshaking, and adds
support for YMODEM and ZMODEM file transfer protocols.  From a quick
glimpse, it appears to also have better Kermit support and more useful
scripting.

APPT is completely revamped -- and HP was paying attention.  There are
revised (and customizable) Appt (day) and ToDo views.  But there are also
week, month, and 6-month views that are great.

One can now create "Events" -- appointments with no specific time; great
for birthdays and multiple-day things like COMDEX.  One can also create
repeating ToDo's which are good for tasks that must be completed
repeatedly.

There's more flexibility in scheduling appointments -- complete with things
like the "last" Monday in a month, and every 14 days.  Not enough?  There's
a custom feature that gives even more control.

The APPT alarms area has been improved.  You can now mute the alarms with a
single command that does not turn off the rest of the sound in the 100LX.
You can also choose from several pre-defined alarm sounds or even load your
own.

The customizable views are nice.  In ToDo mode, for instance, one can also
see a small one-month calendar, and a scaled down list of appointments.
Very nice, although I wished for a digital clock display instead of the
analog version provided by HP.

PHONE is also significantly better.  It's a database and picks up all of
the features of the database engine.  Only drawback is that the conversion
from a 95LX phone book is not particularly smart.  I suspect users will
fill the gap with some conversion tools.

Perhaps the best way to describe the new MEMO is to tell you that Everett
Kaser wrote it.  It shows.  Apart from being fast, MEMO now supports
formatting commands and has a _nice_ outline feature.  (I used it to create
the outline for this article.)

CALC has added many goodies, but not <sigh> any programmer's mode.

System macros gain some new features -- including the ability to chain
macro keys together and to have multiple files of macros.

The 100LX has 1-2-3 release 2.4.  As with the 95LX, there are some
differences from the desktop version, but they should not cramp anyone's
style.


Then there are the new application....
Let's start with cc:Mail.  It's in there.  If you use cc:Mail, you'll
probably think this is great.  For the rest of us, it's a yawner.

The stopwatch and world time features have been pulled out of APPT and made
separate apps.  The world time app now includes a map of the world.  Very
nice, particularly since one can highlight particular cities.

NOTES is a simple note taker.  Works well; has a cute graphic.

DOS is task-switchable in the 100LX.  No longer any need to exit all your
apps before running a DOS app.  There are seven ways to get to DOS from the
100LX; we'll cover them later.  There are problems, however, with using DOS
comm apps under SYSMGR.  It's not clear whether these problems are just
small matters of configuration or something more serious.

Application Manager is new.  It lists all the applications installed in the
100LX, with their status and the activating keystroke.  For open apps,
Application Manager shows how much RAM is being used.  One can also use App
Manager to launch applications.


Well, that's it.  Overall, I think the 100LX is a major improvement.  The
more I use it, the more I like it.
