Slashdot Mirror

The HP 100LX / 200LX was essentially abandoned by HP with similar reasoning. HP came out with the 320LX, a WinCE device. Yet, the 200LX persists to this very day. (A decade+later)

I think Sharp dumping the USA market makes perfect business sense. The average american consumer is just too ignorant for the C7xx/C860/C3000 line of PDAs. Most folks want something that 'just works.' They are ignorant of cross-compiling, and probably find the lack of a unified (stable) software set annoying at best.

The nicest thing about the 200LX was the software suite was extremely well designed and put together. For me, the 200lx 'just worked' right of of the box for everything I needed it for, and it was completely painless to make it do more. The Zaurus pales in comparison, but with a little diligence I think I can get it where I want it. It isn't much fun trying to port or fix botched ports of the software you want.

You may be right that this will be the last good PDA model Sharp makes.. but after carrying my 200LX for just over a decade, I've found my successor.

Just as before, the average consumer did not want a DOS palmatop in a sea of (then extremely crappy) WinCE devices. They want something that just works.

Me? I'm having a very good time cross-compiling things for the Arm, porting scripts and utilities and really turning this PDA into an ultra-portable laptop. I almost have a dos emulator running at a nice speed. I doubt that most folks want to do this stuff. Most of the techies I work with want a PDA that 'just works'. I can't say that I blame them, but I want another 10-year PDA.

I suspect this device will have the same cult following as the 200LX does, even though the software is a bit rocky with all the variations in the Zaurus famuly. I can only hope it persists for a decade.

It was? Right now I sit in front of my 1993 HP LX 200 and you tell me it was?

Pocket portage computing has been usable since the release of the HP 95/100/200LX beginning in 1991.

See here and the Palmtop Paper.

These little clamshell devices are the size of a check book but about an inch thick, and are little 1MB 186 DOS machines, and the 200 LX can run any software designed for DOS 5.0 and CGA graphics. They're quite useful, and I still use mine over higher powered "Palm" devices. The entire though small keyboard is usable for notetaking, and the standard PCMCIA card allows for much expandability.

Utility computing for me is the HP 200LX.

An entire 186 PC in a clamshell about the size of a checkbook and an inch thick. Runs MS-DOS 5.0, and has an entire keyboard and a numeric keypad.

Includes a graphic calculator, Lotus 123, Quicken, etc. Best money I've ever spent, and one of the best things developed by HP. Still kicks modern PDA butt.

And you can play old CGA games on it.

See The Palmtop Site for more information.

The real thing that made it useful for me is that it is a REAL computer that is small enough to take anywhere. And I can type about 20-40 WPM on it, which simply beats the heck out of Graffiti or whatever.

Someday, maybe someone will build a newer one around a 486, but for now, this thing rocks!

The 200LX is the best product HP ever made.

See Palmtop.net for more info. I still use mine after 5 years....

Look at the old HP LX200 Palmtops. They might be 8Mhz, but they can handle suspiciously many DOS games. I've gotten Prince of Persia and The Secret of Monkey Island to work on mine at least.

Also note that the clamshell design is one of the things that gave the HP LX100/200 suck a die-hard user base. (That and a viable OS)

I've praised the HP 200lx in the past, and while I will not claim that it is the most powerful palmtop in the world, it is certainly no executive toy. This is a truly useful and intelligently designed piece of equipment, despite being nearly 10 years old, and I use mine constantly.

The PIM software is absolutely amazing. It was designed by Lotus (as in Lotus 123, which is also built into the 200lx), who were purchased by IBM. Since the 200lx is out of production, perhaps HP/Compaq or IBM could release this great "abandonware" PIM suite so that it could be ported to a more modern platform. Let's have a truly useful modern PDA, for a change!

Carrying a separate keyboard to unfold and attach your Palm/Handspring
to is not the only way to have portable keyboard input. There are at
least two very usable PDA models that have a built-in keyboard: the
Psion Revo and the HP 200LX

I find that the Revo is just as portable as a Palm, and far superior
for text entry. The unit is about the size and weight of a checkbook,
and fits well in a front pants pocket or suit jacket inside pocket.

The keyboard works amazingly well considering its size. Since I'm not
a touch-typist, I find that text entry on the Revo is almost as fast
as with full size desktop keyboard.

The screen is 480x160, providing a full document width in the built in
word processor and spreadsheet. The included web browser works well,
and there is now a Revo Plus that comes with Opera as a browser and
supports 128-bit SSL, frames, etc.

The PsiWin software syncs to Microsoft Outlook, among others, and can
convert documents between MS Office and Psion formats.

If you like using a keyboard, but could never find a keyboard-based
PDA that was both usable and sufficiently portable, you should take a
close look at the Revo. Psion also makes some other models - the Series
5MX is quite nice but a bit large for a pocket, and the Siena is
extremely small but closer to a Sharp organizer than a full scale PDA.

Prior to the Revo I used an HP 200LX. The 200LX can also be carried in
a front pants pocket, but is bit bulkier. It runs DOS 5.0 in a full
80x25 screen, and as a result there are thousands (maybe tens of
thousands) of (generally older) programs that can run on it.

The 200LX has an RS232 port on the side, making it a good choice
for a portable terminal for people who have to administer devices via
a serial port. On the other side is a standard Type II PCMCIA slot.

The built-in PIM software is generally pretty good, and has some
quick-lookup features that I've still never seen any other PDA
surpass.

Unfortunately HP discontinued it a while back, but I expect they are
still available in the secondary/used markets.

Both systems can be used quite well without a hard surface - simply
hold under the system with your fingers, and type with your thumbs. It
sounds awkward, but it works pretty well, and I can usually enter a
contact faster than neighboring Palm users.

Cheers,
Dennis