User`s guide
NEW
S
User
to
User
Hal's
candid
opinion of Windows
CE;
the
future of
THE
HP
PALMTOP
PAPER;
Thaddeus
Computing
to
sell
upgraded
8 Mg
double-speed
200LXs; plus
three
classic
games.
By
Hal
Goldstein
I
really
want
to
like
the
new
Windows
CE
platform
and
the
new
HP
320LX
Palmtop
Pc.
Frankly,
the
future
of
our
compa-
ny,
Thaddeus
Computing,
largely
depends
on
the success of
our
new
Handheld
PC
Magazine which focus-
es
exclusively
on
Windows
CE-
based
Handheld
PC's
such
as
the
HP320LX.
I
am
convinced
the
platform
(and
our
new
magazine)
will
be
successful. Microsoft,
by
working
with
HP, Philips, Casio,
Compaq,
LG Electronics, Hitachi,
and
NEC
to
create
Windows
CE-based
Handheld
PC's has selected power-
ful
teammates. Factor
in
hundreds
of
third-party
companies develop-
ing for the platform. That is a lot of
engineering
and
marketing muscle
working
to
make
Windows
CE
handhelds
successful. Microsoft is
famous for keeping
at
projects until
it
gets
them
"right".
Examples
l
such
as
Word,
Excel,
Internet
Explorer,
and
even Windows itself
demonstrate
how
Microsoft
ends
up
dominating a market
and
doing
a
pretty
good
job
on
the
product
itself. In other words, for those of
us
not
yet satisfied
with
Windows
CE
handhelds,
eventually
we
will
probably switch, if for
no
other rea-
son
that
almost
all
the
new
and
useful
applications
and
hardware
developed
for
Handhelds
will
be
developed
for
Windows
CE
machines.
Whether
that
takes
one
year, or five, is
the
question.
Still, every time I think I
want
to switch, or
at
least
try
to
run
the
HP
320LX
in
parallel
with
the
HP
200LX, I stop. Just check
out
James
Robertson's
article
on
his
experi-
ence switching from the
HP
200LX
to
the
HP
320LX
to
understand
why.
I
don't
have
the
patience
of
the
author,
and
besides,
I've
got
lots
of
Notetaker
files,
Database
files,
HP
Solver equations,
and
1-2-3
spreadsheets
with
macros
that
won't
translate directly.
Stand-alone Palmtop vs
"PC Companion"
The
thing
I really
don't
like
about
the
HP
320LX is its
dependency
on
a
PC
-
one
that
must
run
Windows
95
or
Windows
NT
. I
can't
use
my
200LX flash
card
to
directly
transfer
Lotus
files
or
Comma
Delimited
Files
created
from
200LX
NoteTaker
and
Database files directly to
HP
320LX
Pocket
Excel. I
have
to first
send
the files to Excel
on
a
Pc.
Similarly,
I
can't
directly
transfer
my
200LX
Phone
or
Appointment
files. I have
to first copy the files to the
PC
and
run
the translation
program
there.
I
am
used
to
just
sticking
my
200LX
Palmtop'S flash card into
my
PC
or
notebook's
flash
card
slot
when
wanting
to transfer data.
Not
with
the
HP
320LX.
The
only
200LX
files
on
a flash card readable
on
a 320LX
are
MEMO
and
other
ASCII files,
importable
in
Pocket
Word.
Right
now
everyone
at
Thaddeus
Computing
uses
a
200LX.
To
give
everyone
a
Windows
CE
machine
would
require
upgrading
all
desktop
PC
hardware
and
software
to
run
Windows
95.
In addition, one real-
ly has to give
up
a PC serial port,
since transferring
data
between
an
HP
IC
Palmtop
and
a
PC
using
a
PC
Card
is
not
well supported.
Even
now
I
am
not
a big fan of
Windows
and
I
am
not
a big fan of
serial
connections
.
The
reason
is
simple. Their costs
in
terms of time
and
money
have
far
outweighed
the
benefits.
The
Windows
user
interface
and
serial
transfer
are
supposed
to "just work." The gory
details
are
hidden
from
the
user.
When
all
works,
great. The
prob-
lem
is
that
when
things
don't
work,
trouble-shooting
often
is difficult
and
time-consuming.
To
Microsoft's
credit,
Windows CE works pretty well for
the first version. However,
in
truth
I
don't
want
a
handheld
"PC
Companion." I
want
a stand-alone,
self-sufficient
PC
in
my
pocket that
can
interface
with
other
PCs
as
needed. That said, it seems I
(and
many
others) will be
using
an
HP
200LX for
some
time.
In
this con-
text, I
want
to discuss the future of
The
HP
Palmtop
Paper
with
you.
THE HP PALMTOP PAPER
SEPTEMBER
/ OCTOBER 1997 5