If you're going to Tokyo, you can have your HPx00LX timer
chip sped up while you are there.  This doubles the speed
at which the processor operates, but does not appreciably
speed up I/O operations (e.g., disk reads and writes).
 
The Palmtop Paper mentions Mr. Hashimoto at (0426)21-2462
in Hachioji city as the source for the chip.  Hachioji
city is only about one hour by train from Tokyo station.
If you call Mr. Hashimoto, you'll find out that he is
located at some distance from the train station, and does
not deal at the retail level.
 
However, his upgrade is sold at the retail level right in
Tokyo.  The dealer is Wakamatsu Trading at Chiyoda-ku,
Sotokanda 1-11-4, Mitsuwa Building (across the street
from the LAOX Building).  Their phone number is 3251-8933.
Due to difficulties locating street addresses in Tokyo,
I've included a map below (the store is less than half
a block from the intersection):
 
 
     N
     ^         Not to scale
     |
                                          |  | Chuo-
                                          |  | Dori
                          ________________   |
                          Hongo-Dori         ___
                          ________________   ___ ?-Dori
                                     X    |  |
                             Wakamatsu    |  |    X Akihbara
                      (sign in Romanji)   |  |      Station
 
 
When you get there, take the stairs down to the basement,
and ask about "clock-up."  The people there don't speak too
much English, but you'll manage (if all else fails, print
things out).  The cost is 6,000 Yen (about $70 US) for just
the chip and Japanese instructions, or 10,000 Yen (about
$120 US) if they install the chip overnight for you.
 
The clock-up process corrupts the c: drive, so copy your
files from c: to a: before the clock-up is done.  They'll
install the device drivers and Japanese doc files on your
A: drive (and give you a disk with a copy of the drivers
and doc files), but they won't put the drivers into memory
for you.  So, when you get the unit back, you'll have to
reformat the c: drive, copy your files from a: back to c:,
add the drivers to your Config.sys {the SYS file) and
Autoexec.bat (the COM file), and then re-boot.  They charge
a 5% premium for credit cards.  Wakamatsu also has software
for creating a Japanese environment (display Japanese
characters) on the x00LX available for 6,000 Yen.
 
Mr. Hashimoto told me that it will be a few months yet before
he distributes in the US, because he wants a patent on his
driver software before doing so.
 
David Hamachek
Compuserve ID# 7300,2250
 
 
Note 1:  The driver software does not get along with Acecard.com
(at least not the Beta version).  You'll have to remove
Acecard.com from your Config.sys file.
 
Note 2:  Installing the speed-up crystal will void your
warrantee.  Although HP will still repair your unit, you'll have
to pay full price for the repair, and there will be no warrantee
on the repair.
 
