A Pc To Fit In Your Palm
The Sun Herald
Saturday May 4, 1991
JUST over 10 years after it first became widespread, there are signs that the desktop personal computer may already be dying - or at least feeling a little sick.
Ever smaller and lighter laptop and notebook computers are being rushed into the market every week.
In Australia this culminated in last week's announcement of a new "palmtop"model jointly developed by US computer hardware maker Hewlett-Packard and software giant Lotus Development.
The HP 95LX Palmtop PC weighs only 312 grams, and is about the size and shape of a chequebook.
But at $1,225, including tax, and with the famed Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet built into its read-only memory (ROM) chips, as well as the industry-standard MS-DOS operating system, Hewlett Packard claims it won't break your bank balance.
Available in quantity from July, the HP 95LX will compete with two other palmtop computers on the Australia market: the $2,995 Poquet PC and the $500 Atari Portfolio, both US-produced.
Competition is set to grow in the future as Japanese makers enter the market, and the bigger notebook PCs come down in size and weight.
Dataquest, an American-based research group, has predicted palmtop PC sales should increase from around 400,000 worldwide this year to more than 5 million by 1995.
A more modest 20-30 per cent increase is likely in laptop and notebook sales.
Over the same period, according to Dataquest, desktop sales will drop from their present 89pc of the market to slightly above half.
This rosy vision is not endorsed by all makers, especially those without notebook or palmtop models.
But it was buoyed last week by release of another US survey suggesting that overwhelming numbers of American companies intend to buy notebook or laptop computers as a substitute for desktop computers.
The new Hewlett-Packard machine goes well beyond the capabilities of"personal organisers" like the Sharp Wizard or the Atari Portfolio.
Powered by two penlight batteries, it has 512 kilobytes of random access memory, all of it available for file creation and storage, since the DOS operating system and Lotus 1-2-3 are built into the permanent ROM chips.
Other built-in applications include software to keep track of appointments, edit letters and reports, handle complex financial calculations, organise phone numbers and contact lists, and to communicate with other computers or electronic information services.
Theoretically other well-known programs, including word processors, accounting packages could also be run under the DOS system.
But the HP 95LX lacks either a floppy disk or hard disk drive: the usual way of accessing such programs.
It does have a slot for accessing programs or more memory imprinted on a card about the same size as a credit card.
Few pre-programmed cards are available in Australia, but industry standards have been finalised and they should become plentiful as the market for notebook and palmtop PCs strengthens.
According to US reports, Hewlett-Packard is also planning future wireless communication links for the HP 95LX.
A one-way "pager modem" should be available by the end of the year. Messages could then be sent to the HP 95LX from paging networks or from a new"electronic mail broadcast" service being planned by the Motorola communications group.
For the moment, Hewlett-Packard's main target market is the installed base of more than 14 million Lotus 1-2-3 users worldwide.
Many want to take their 1-2-3 worksheets to places they can't take desktop PCs, according to HP and Lotus market research.
Some may find palmtop computing a little more awkward than they are used to.
The HP 95LX's keys are very small, and its liquid crystal screen can display only 40 characters to a line, compared with the normal 80.
Operators must use direction keys to see all the text or numbers in programs which haven't been specially modified for the small screen.
The rival Poquet PC, by contrast, has larger keys set out in the standard PC layout and a screen that displays 80-character lines. Its two penlight batteries are claimed to power it for up to 100 hours.
DOS and personal organiser software are built in. Other programs, including Lotus 1-2-3, can be accessed either through programmed ROM cards or via an optional battery-powered floppy drive.
In the US - possibly in response to the emergence of the Hewlett-Packard machine with its built-in spreadsheet - new Poquet buyers are being given a free Lotus 1-2-3 card.
Legend Technologies managing director George Szilasi at mid-week was negotiating with Poquet in an attempt to secure a similar deal for Australian purchasers.
Further details on the Hewlett-Packard HP 95LX can be obtained from HP's distributor, Twinlock Acco, (03) 544 4000.
For information on the Poquet range, contact Legend Technologies on (02)489 3388.
© 1991 The Sun Herald