User`s guide

Publisher's Message
Hal Goldstein
I
've seen history repeat itself twice, and it
is a real shame for everyone involved.
In the mid 1980s HP Corvallis engi-
neers created the HP Portable and
Portable Plus. These laptops were years
ahead of their time. They
had Lotus 1-2-3,
a time manager, a word processor, and a
terminal program built into
ROM. At the
time, laptop computing
was far from the
norm - working on an HP Portable at the
airport could create quite a stir. HP
Portable users loved the machine, and
with the help of our publication, The
Portable Paper, they created a whole after-
market of
useful knowledge, software and
hardware add-ons.
To the utter amazement of dedicated
HP Portable users, HP did not seem to
market their wonder. Word of mouth
advertising was responsible for most sales.
Then inexplicably HP, rather
than make
several (relatively inexpensive) PC com-
patibility changes,
started from scratch
and created something called the Portable Vedra CS. The Portable Vedra had potential,
but missed the mark and was not the machine the original HP Portable was. It took
years for
HP to regroup and get back into the PC laptop market with the OmniBook.
Sound
familiar? HP introduced the HP 95LX and then the HP 100LX and 200LX at a
time
when Palmtop computing was not the norm. Visionary users took advantage of
their pocket PC in a variety of ingenious
and practical ways. As chronicled in The HP
Palmtop Paper, a whole aftermarket of knowledge, software, and hardware emerged to
support
this tiny wonder. Once again to everyone's amazement HP has seemed to put
few resources in marketing and upgrading the 200LX platform. Instead, like the
Portable Vedra CS before it, HP started from scratch and created the HP OmniGo 100
organizer. Now in an attempt to be mainstream (similar to the HP OmniBook laptop),
HP has created the HP 320LX Palmtop running Windows CE.
Unfortunately, for
many users the HP 320LX is not nearly the machine the HP
200LX is. Yet HP 200LX sales have plummeted, thanks to a severe shortage of units in
retail stores over the summer, plus the introduction of the
HP 320LX. As you will read
in
my User to User column, the effect of few new users has been difficult on The HP
Palmtop Paper and our advertisers.
Despite
this drop in sales, we still seem to be in the golden age of HP 200LX com-
puting.
As you will see in my User to User column, 8 Megabyte upgraded palmtops are
now available. As you will see in Quick Tips, great new palmtop software continues to
appear.
It is now finally even possible to connect a keyboard to the palmtop, something
I've wanted for years,
and which we will review next issue.
Our challenge is how to continue The HP Palmtop Paper, given fewer new sub-
scribers. First
off, please renew. That will help greatly. In any case, we will be able to
continue with even a
much smaller subscription base in the same way we managed to
continue
The Portable Paper . What we will do is make pre-owned palmtops and other
palmtop products available to
our subscriber base. By doing so we can continue to help
keep the
palmtop community vibrant. We look forward to fulfilling your palmtop
needs for years to come.
The HP Palmtop Paper
Volume six / Issue five
September/October 1997
Executive EditorlPublisher
Hal Goldstein
Publications Director
Richard Hall
Managing Editor
Ralpfi C. Turner
Associate Editor
Carol de Giere
Technical Editor
Tom Gibson
Department Editors
Ed Keefe
Wayne Kneeskern
Carl Merkle
Contributing Writers
Robert Steckbeck
James
A. Robertson
Advertising/Marketing
Brian 1'eitzman
Margaret Martin
Tiffany Lisk
Circulation
David Brooks
Sharon Lloyd
Executive Advisor
Rita Goldstein
The HP Palmtop Paper (ISSN 10656189)
is published by Thaddeus Computing
Inc., at 110 North Court Street, Fairfield,
IA 52556. Periodical postage paid at
Fairfield, Iowa. Subscription rates
payable in U. S. dollars, checks drawn on
a
U.S. bank, or by credit card - one
year: $39; two years: $69. Postage: U.S.
and U.S. possessions free; Canada,
Mexico add $6 per year; other countries
add $18 per year. Published bi-monthly
plus
two bonus issues, one in April and
one in November . Please allow four to
six weeks for receipt of first issue.
Executive, Editorial, Circulation,
Marketing and Advertising Offices: 110
North Court Street, Fairfield, IA 52556.
Telephone: [phone], FAX: (515)
472-1879.
Copyright 1997, Thaddeus Compu-
ting, Inc., a1l rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced
without written permission. Reasonable
efforts are
made to provide accurate and
useful information, but the reader must
make his or her own investigations and
decisions; the Publisher and Editorial
Staff cannot assume any responsibility
or liability for the use of information
contained herein.
POSTMASTER: Please send any
address changes to The HP Palmtop
Paper, Attn: Thaddeus Computing, Inc.,
110 North Court Street, Fairfield, IA
52556.
THE HP PALMTOP PAPER SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 1997 1