This was the last in the famous line of Poqet PCs developed by Poqet Corporation and later Fujitsu. I do not use this any more because the hinge cracked and the NiCd battery went bad. I did not have the ability to repair the hinge nor the battery at the time. For more details on this machine, click here.
These are some nice, compact XT compatible DOS machines that run on two AA batteries for an insanely long time. They have lots and lots of uses, even today.
I don't use them as daily drivers per se, but my HP LX palmtops are good for many daily needs (programming, light gaming, distraction-free writing, and terminal emulation for console access into more powerful Linux machines). I especially like my HP 95LX (see other posts). The batteries are common (2 AAs), the battery life is amazing (1 month on alkalines with regular use; more with NiMH cells), the keyboard has great feedback in spite of the size, lots of useful software is available (vim, vde, frotz, MS-Kermit, Forth, C, and such), the display is small but pleasant to read (I prefer the 95LX's 40x16 to the 100LX's standard 80x25), and most importantly the simple architecture means I can do low-level programming (assembly) much more easily than I could on a modern PC. It's so much easier to bite into the bare metal and deeply understand the hardware.
While it used to be that the internet was a challenge, I've discovered portable routers that run Linux, which completely solves this problem. No more searching for WiFi or Ethernet PCMCIA cards. Over a 9600 baud (56K max for the 95LX and 115K max for the 100LX) terminal connection via USB-serial adapter (MS-Kermit), I can send email (ssmtp), post tweets (via IFTTT), do IRC (irssi), use telnet (for BBSs) and ssh (for work), and even browse the web with lynx. As long as I just stick to the text-only internet, the old DOS palmtops are still definitely relevant. It's even easy to transfer files from palmtop to router over serial via MS-Kermit on the palmtop and gkermit on the router. Theoretically a PPP connection over USB serial is possible as well, although the packet drivers and relevant DOS apps probably take much more finagling.
Above: playing Zork I on my 1MB HP 95LX with DOSFrotz.
Although it is the technologically weaker of the two models, I love the HP 95LX for its low price and its crisp, readable characters relative to the 100 and 200LX. The display is 40x16, but it actually just shows a portion of a 80x25 Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) text window that can be scrolled with the ALT and arrow keys. I have two 1MB models and at least three 512K models. They are inexpensive and common on eBay (as of 2019).
Contrary to popular belief, given the appropriate driver, the HP 95LX can use FAT12-formatted (NOT FAT16 or FAT32) CF cards - up to 32 MB, the maximum size supported by MS-DOS 3.22 - in a CF/PCMCIA adapter. I am using two inexpensive Sandisk SDCFB-32 cards formatted with the SDISK and SFORMAT utilities that come with the HP 95LX Sandisk flash card driver. As stated before (but worth mentioning again!!), these CF cards will work if they are formatted FAT12 first (before sdisk and sformat).
Unfortunately, however, a common issue with many 95LXs - especially 512KB models - can make using CF cards difficult. This biggest practical issue for using CF cards is the write protect that occurs when the battery is low. Many 95LXs have bad capacitors on their motherboards that cause battery level measurement in the BIOS to fail. After fiddling a bit with Christian Felique's IDA-disassembled HP95SDP.SYS assembly source, I replaced the INT 15H (AX=5000H) BIOS call to check the main battery level with an instruction that indicates the battery always has a satisfactory level. I then assembled and linked the patched code with TASM 5.0. Those interested can find the device driver along with patched source (HP95SDPX.SYS and HP95SDPX.ASM) below.
HP95SDPX.SYS - patched Sandisk device driver (Jon Moller, March 2019).
HP95SDPX.ASM - patched Sandisk device driver assembly source (Jon Moller, March 2019 - from Christian Felique's source).
My driver is patched from Christian Felique's source, so it should work with non-Sandisk/Sundisk CF cards.
Thanks to this driver, my 1MB 95LX is happily loaded up with a ton of software (roughly 9 MB total). I have VDE (1.65?), vim 3.0, MS-Kermit 2.29, frotz 2.32, ZigClimb (a tiny rogue-like), Pygmy Forth 1.7, the ARROW/VAL assembler and linker, ForthCMP (Tom Almy), and a smattering of 95LX-specific games (Diversions Disk) all installed. I compose notes and programs in VDE and vim and use MS-Kermit regularly for my OpenWRT console sessions. Overall, the CF card makes the 95LX WAY more useful and a great machine for writing, programming, terminal emulation (and thus internet browsing), and text-based gaming. All that and a 1 month battery life (alkaline AAs - more with high-capacity NiMH AAs) to boot.
ZigClimb - a tiny roguelike patched to work on the small HP 95LX screen.
FNTSHL.ZIP - Tiny and big font drivers for the HP 95LX, developed by Dave Goodman (dkgoodman@gmail.com).
cpack95.zip - the Connectivity Pack for the HP 95LX.
For more details about the HP 95LX, check out the following links.
VCFED Forum Archive - evidence that you can use 32MB memory mode CF cards in your 95LX, along with some interesting uses of the machine.
Retro Isle HP95LX, 100LX and 200LX Utilities - source of the HP 95LX Sundisk/Sandisk flash card driver, along with many other fun HPLX apps.
FUNET HP95LX Software Archive - an assortment of 95LX-compatible software, including lots of games.
Also, be sure to watch my 95LX review below!
Above: connecting to my RAVpower FileHub Plus running OpenWRT with MS-Kermit on the HP 100LX.
More details coming soon. I have been using my 1MB HP 100LX for Turbo C development. I prefer the 95LX due to screen readability, but indeed I can zoom in to 64x18 (or 40x16) on the 100LX, which partially resolves that issue.
I will soon have more information about a portable battery-powered OpenWRT-capable router I am using to get the 95LX and 100LX on the internet.
LXV8 - Marcel de Kogel's Vision-8 CHIP-8 interpreter patched to work on the HP 95LX (HP95V8.EXE) and HP 100/200LX (HP100V8.EXE). Includes source code. For more details, go to this page.
Check out my review of the HP 100/200LX!
This is a nice, large DOS portable with full keyboard that is a bit larger than a 8.5"x11" piece of printer paper. It runs on 4 AA batteries (alkaline or rechargeable) for an insanely long time (50-100 hrs). It is very similar in form factor to the older TRS-80 Model 100, Epson HX-20, Epson PX-8, Amstrad NC100, Cambridge Z88, and Laser PC4/5/6 (none of which I own). It also resembles the Alphasmart series of portable computers (Dana) and word processors (Neo, Pro, 2000, and 3000). Its biggest weakness is definitely the lack of intensive software engineering. It seems both the built-in applications and the DOS programs that do work on the QuickPad Pro fail to adequately take advantage of its hardware capabilities.
You can find lots of resources about the QuickPad Pro at Victor Alvarado's site as well.
Check out this great review of the QuickPad Pro from Tutoringby Pop (YouTube):
Here is my YouTube review (under construction).