HP LX Series

[DennisOS2]

Anyone out there ever use the HP LX series of 'PalmTops' from the early 90's? I still Have my 200LX sitting in the drawer. For its time, it was ahead of its time!

[iboar]

I had a HP OmniGo 100, released in 1995 after the LX series. It ran GEOS rather than DOS. It was way ahead of its time. You could actually use the keypad with fat fingers like mine. It opened into either -notebook form or tablet form. Try that with a -Clie UX! :p

I really like the form factor and size of the OmniGo. It is big by today's -PDA standards. But to be really useful I think it needs to be. The only thing I would change is it's thickness of 1 inch, but with today's advancements I'm sure that could be dropped to around .6 inch. If you created a new -PDA using this form factor and size, ran WM2005 OS, and put a 6 inch diagonal widescreen LCD in it (yes it would fit), it would be a -notebook killer. It would still be big, yet very portable and lightweight and still fit in a large shirt pocket and easily fit in a coat pocket or purse.

As you can see by the first image, I also own a RadioShack TRS-80 Pocket Computer. This thing was way ahead of its time too. I think I bought it in 1980 or 1981. It look like a long bodied calculator with an added QWERTY keypad. This thing actually ran DOS, came with BASIC, and was very programmable. I used it to create and run engineering applications. It only had a single-line display, but it is perhaps the "Grandaddy" of the portable computer. You used a common cassette tape recorder and a special cable to record programs. It also had enough -RAM to store a program.


http://www.jackswinden.com/images/old_pdas_01.jpg


http://www.jackswinden.com/images/old_pdas_02.jpg

[DennisOS2]

I had a HP OmniGo 100, released in 1995 after the LX series. It ran GEOS rather than DOS. It was way ahead of its time. You could actually use the keypad with fat fingers like mine. It opened into either -notebook form or tablet form. Try that with a -Clie UX! :p

I really like the form factor and size of the OmniGo. It is big by today's -PDA standards. But to be really useful I think it needs to be. The only thing I would change is it's thickness of 1 inch, but with today's advancements I'm sure that could be dropped to around .6 inch. If you created a new -PDA using this form factor and size, ran WM2005 OS, and put a 6 inch diagonal widescreen LCD in it (yes it would fit), it would be a -notebook killer. It would still be big, yet very portable and lightweight and still fit in a large shirt pocket and easily fit in a coat pocket or purse.
I don't think I remember the OmniGo at all. GEOS! another blast from the past. Liked that OS as well. What did you use it for? Was it instant on? Any apps other than the standard apps?

Dennis

[jk6000]

Yup, started out with the 95 and switched to the 100 because of the 100's 80x24 screen. I had an Omnigo for about a week and returned it because the screen was too dim for me. The 100 was my PDA of choice until I changed to Palm around 1998 or so for the handwriting input. Somewhere in between, I used a Poqet PC and a Sharp handheld PC but the 100 remained the best PDA during that time.

It's still in storage somewhere with my 95.

[iboar]

I don't think I remember the OmniGo at all. GEOS! another blast from the past. Liked that OS as well. What did you use it for? Was it instant on? Any apps other than the standard apps?

Dennis

It only had the apps it came with. I mostly used the spreadsheet. The problem with the OmniGo 100 was the same problem that plagued most PDAs of it's era, no real syncing with a PC. Yes you could backup files to a PC if you bought extra software and hardware, but syncing with PC apps wasn't a possibility. Another common plague of the era was the non-backlit screen. As jk600 mentioned, it was very difficult to read.

Before the OmniGo, I had tried a Sharp Zaurus, which in those days ran a proprietary Sharp OS. Form factor was good, but it was plagued by the same issues the OmniGo was. I also had a Sony, but I cannot remember what it was called. It too ran GEOS and was a piece of crap. It wouldn't hold a charge. It was a clone of a Motorola PDA.

I had actually written off the idea of a truly useful business PDA and decided not to throw any more money away on new models. Then I went to work for IBM and was assigned the IBM clone of a Palm IIIx. It actually synced with a PC! No more keeping separate contact lists, etc. Plus you could easily install third-part apps. I was hooked!

[Tam Hanna]

Well, I really liked the Psion Revo for the strong apps, but well-my revo only worked for 5mins(I had to repair it)...