jnh@ece-csc.UUCP (Joseph Nathan Hall) (05/05/88)
(This is basically the same material I posted to comp.sys.handhelds a while ago, but I think it'll get better netplay here.) I've come to love my HP-28S, even though I haven't had it all that long. I'm sure that, in the HP tradition, it has an assortment of "undocumented" features that are either intentional (for HP application/debugging use) or merely added to pad out its ROMs. Can anyone out there provide a list of them, or a source for such a list? On another subject, I've come up with simple specs for a "dream handheld." Laptop PC clones don't do much for me. I'd like to see (and I'm sure I eventually will see) a *real* handheld number-cruncher that didn't pander to MS-DOS/IBM compatibility. Odds are that it'll be HP that makes this machine, whenever it gets made. Right? Here are the "dream specs": Folding format like the HP-28S, but "landscape" instead of "portrait." To wit: +-----------------------+ |+---------------------+| ||large alpha display..|| ||.....................|| |+---------------------+| +-----------------------+ +\ \ <-- downsized QWERTY keyboard \\ \ + "calculator" keys \+-----------------------+ +=======================+ Specs: a little more "footprint" than a checkbook, but not much; max. 2/3" thick--about the size of existing handheld computers optional stainless steel or titanium body 16/32 bit CPU (68020, 68030, etc.) + FPU 256K+ low-power RAM fast backlit hi-res LCD display w/ pixel-mapped graphics runs for 24-48+ hrs. on one set of 4 AA batteries (or on NiCd) "calculator mode" w/ HP-28S-like object-oriented features incrementally-compiled object-oriented programming language for REAL number-crunching @ .5+ mflops tons of built-in operations, constants, formulae, etc., say, the best .5Mb of the CRC Hdbk etc. built-in Macsyma-like symbolic manipulation (the 28S++) serial & parallel device drivers built-in interface port(s) for usual peripherals: printer, modem, video, Ethernet, portable floppy/hard disk, etc. a nice, fast portable plain-paper printer w/ excellent graphics capability My deadline, which I think is entirely reasonable: 1992. Price in current dollars: $500-1000 for the base version. 120+cps printer: $750 Floppy disk drive (battery-powered, 3-1/2" or smaller): $300. 40Mb 3-1/2" hard disk: $1500. Plug-in 1+Mb ROMs: $100+ CD-ROM drive: $500 Any counter-proposals? -- v v sssss|| joseph hall || 201-1D Hampton Lee Court v v s s || jnh@ece-csc.ncsu.edu (Internet) || Cary, NC 27511 v sss || the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of my -----------|| employer, north carolina state university . . . . . . . . . . .