[comp.sys.hp] HP-28S, dreams, etc.

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 . . . . . . . . . . .