mark@sickkids.UUCP (Mark Bartelt ) (03/20/86)
I'm posting this for a colleague; I know next to nothing about HP150s,
so apologies in advance if the questions seem silly, or if the answers
are obvious ...
One of the people in our group has a pair of HP150s, one in his office
and one in his secretary's office. They'd like to be able to move files
back and forth between them, as easily as possible. (He is definitely
NOT a computer person, so minimizing crypticness and maximizing ease of
use is crucial.)
[ Side note: Don't ask me WHY he has a pair of HP150s. It's the
only desktop computer that I dislike more than the IBM PC (and
its relatives). I certainly didn't recommend that he buy them.
This is what happens when people who don't know anything about
computers go out and buy things without asking for advice first. ]
Right now, this is done by carrying diskettes back and forth. What I'd
like to find out is what (if anything) is available in terms of software
(and hardware?) for moving files between HP150s. I presume that there
are probably versions of kermit and/or xmodem kicking around, so that one
could connect the two machines through their RS232 ports. However, this
approach is far from ideal, since whoever wants to move a file from[to]
his/her machine to[from] the other one would have to first ensure that
the appropriate program is running in the remote machine.
What would really be nice is either a cheap ethernet (or other type of
LAN), with appropriate software to support it in both systems, so that
a file transfer could be initiated in either direction by issuing a
single command on one of the systems. Is anything like that available?
If so, have your experiences with what you've used been good/bad/mixed?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Mark Bartelt
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
{utzoo,ihnp4,decvax}!sickkids!mark
PS: I suppose I should put in a disclaimer ... The opinions expressed
above are my own. They may not (probably don't, in fact) reflect the
opinions of HSC, its affiliated organizations, or its other employees,
many of whom (for reasons that I will never be able to comprehend) seem
to actually LIKE the HP150.michael@hpcehfe (03/25/86)
The product they want is called OfficeShare, it does networking between 150s, Vectras, and 3000s. Any local HP-PC dealer should have information on it, if not call 1-800-FOR-HPPC and ask about OfficeShare, and 150 networking. Michael
billw@Navajo.ARPA (William E. Westfield) (03/26/86)
There is, or was, an ethernet interface available for the HP150. I doubt whether its cheap, and i dont know if it has any supporting software. BillW
jrc@hpcnof.UUCP (04/04/86)
OfficeShare is a LAN for HP150s, Vectras and IBM PCs. However, OfficeShare needs a dedicated server and you may not find this very attractive if you only have two nodes. OfficeShare is sold through HP sales offices, not the dealer channel. Before I joined HP, I used a number of different PCs whose capability began with the Z80 and ranged up through the 16032 chip set. The advantages of the HP150, as I personally see them, are its small foot print, 3 1/2" disks, and relatively good graphics. It's small enough to set on your desk without dominating it. And then of course there's the touch screen if you like em. Jim Conrad hplabs!hpcnof!j_conrad