HP 200Lx

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The HP 200LX is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1994. It was one of very few palmtops ever developed that was, with some exceptions, 100% MS-DOS compatible. Input was entered via a very small QWERTY-keyboard with a numeric keypad, enclosed in a clamshell-style case, about 25% of the size of a standard notebook computer. The palmtop runs about 30 to 40 hours on two size AA alkaline or Ni-Cd cells and can charge batteries via a 12V DC wall adapter.

The 200LX has an Intel 80186 central processing unit which runs at ~ 7.91 megahertz (which could be upgraded or overclocked to up to 15.8 MHz) and 2 or 4MB of memory, of which 640KB is RAM and the rest can be used towards EMS or memory-based storage space. Aftermarket updates can enhance the memory chips to up to 64MB, which frees up the PCMCIA slot for modem or ethernet card use (Silicom and Accton 2212/2216 supported). Being IBM PC/XT compatible and running MS-DOS 5.0 from ROM, the HP 200LX could run virtually any program that would run on a full-size PC compatible computer as long as the code was written for the Intel 8086, 8088 or 80186 CPU. It could also run programs written for the 80286 CPU, provided they did not require protected memory. It also has a 16-bit PCMCIA Type II expansion slot that supports 5V at 150mA maximum, a SIR compatible infrared port, and a full serial port (but with proprietary mini connector for space constraint reasons).

The built-in software suite runs from ROM and includes Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, calendar, phone book, terminal, Lotus cc:Mail and a capable business calculator (among other titles). With a large compactflash storage card and a serial mouse, even Microsoft Windows 3.0 can be run on the palmtop, although that is not practical. The 640x200 resolution CGA compatible 4-shade greyscale LCD screen has no backlight and the pixels are tiny (the space bar can be used a zoom switch). A complicated EL technology backlight installation is available from a 3rd party since 2004, but good eyesight is still required to use the tiny palmtop effectively without resorting to using its 2x and 4x zoom modes.

The HP 100LX (Project Cougar) was a direct precedessor of the 200LX, almost the same, but with 1MB memory and earlier built-in software versions. It was based on the still earlier HP 95LX, which had an Intel 8086 CPU and could not be considered truly PC-compatible because of its quarter-VGA resolution LCD screen.

The HP 1000CX was an economy version of the 200LX but without any built-in software, except the MS-DOS 5.0 operating system in ROM. It was in widespread use among e.g. Coca-Cola warehouse managers, who loaded their own logistic software onto the machine. It had a black clamshell, while the 200LX used a dark green casing.

The HP 700LX was an interesting project of the HP calculator branch in Singapore, essentially a 200LX redesigned to piggyback a Nokia 2110 GSM mobile phone for wireless mobility. The 200LX motherboard was factory-hacked to support a second PCMCIA slot for the Nokia Data Card. Owing to the relatively large size of the Nokia phone, the 700LX had a large, pebble-shaped casing, no longer a palmtop, but a handheld and a heavy one with the phone attached. The production of HP 700LX ceased soon, as the Nokia 2110 was rendered obsolete with the fast evolution of smaller, nicer and faster GMS phone.

Although this product line was discontinued by HP in order to introduce their Windows CE product line (beginning with the 300LX), a strong interest in this hardware continues today as it is the last palmtop from HP which ran DOS. There is a thriving second-hand market for the machines, with prices in some cases exceeding the original list prices. The HP 200LX was a typical old school, engineering-driven american HP product with a lot of functionality and little convenience. Most of its users are tech-savy people, engineers, senior businessmen and the military. The device is solidly built and lasts long in daily use, its weak point is the screen open latch, which can be repaired with rubber eraser. Only quality AA rechargables should be used in the LX, as battery leaks may destroy the LCD's flat video cable.

Owing to its small size, the 200LX was popular in Japan, so much that its demise prompted an open-source initiative to design and market an AMD Elan SC400-based replacement to fill its place. This "Morphy One" club organization created blueprints for the device but no prototype was ever built for reasons unclear. Some argue it was a scam scheme as hundreds of people lost deposits they placed on the new palmtop in advance. The project leaders argued key electronic components were unavailable because of strong demand from the mobile phone manufacturing industry.

[edit] Exceptions to 100% MS-DOS compatibility

The HP 100/200LX do not have a Digital-to-analog converter and cannot make different tones. It is instead used to monitor battery charging. Although the LX can play back MIDI and WAV using Stefan Peichl's software, it is lacking in quality. The CPU is not strong enough to process any MP3 or video and no compatible PCMCIA sound card exists.