sennhauser%urz.unibas.ch@cernvax.BITNET (Michael Sennhauser) (12/02/90)
Hello out there! Seeing the occasional PORTFOLIO query, I wonder wether there might already be someone with a little experience on the POQET PC. Apart from being rather expensive (in Switzerland anyhow) it seems to be a rather impressive piece of equipment. But before I go and spend a year's worth of lovely dinners on some electronic junk I would like to get some comments on it. Does it work? Thanks for any answer! Michael Sennhauser, Basel, Switzerland
cs441219@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs441219) (12/08/90)
Comments on the Poqet PC:
Pros:
1. Runs on standard AA batteries.
2. Independent tests indicate at least 40 hours of hard use with batteries.
Company claims up to 100 hours. All other portables get only around 3 hours
3. It is the smallest portable IBM PC compatible computer (8.75"x4.25"x1").
It weighs sleightly over a pound.
Cons:
1. No hard drive or internal floppy drive. (But what do you expect with
something this small?) (It comes with PqLink to transfer files to and
from other PCs).
2. Low memory (512K RAM, 21K RAM drive, slots for up to 2 512K RAM cards)
3. Small screen. (CGA compatible, monochrome, non-backlit)
Other notes:
List price: $1,995 without extra cards.
Features: 7-MHz 80C88 CPU
1 serial port
optional external floppy drive and ROM cards (WordPerfect, etc.)
Opinion: I'd buy it right now if I had $2,000 to spare. To me, battery life
makes a portable computer truly portable, and this one beats the
other portables hands-down in this aspect. I hope they come out
with a Poqet PC II soon with more memory and at least EGA graphics
and larger RAM disks. I'd probably buy the improved version I
envisioned even if it cost as much as a full PC system.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Sang J. Moon |
| Disclaimer: These ideas are mine unless they are not. |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+sennhauser@urz.unibas.ch (Michael Sennhauser) (12/08/90)
Yours was the first answer, thanks a lot. I for my part just bought a 512k RAM upgrade for my good old Sinclair Z88, which still is the only truly portable machine for a journalist... The Poqet seemed to my to be an alter- native. But it is simply too expensive for all its drawbacks. First option should really be a backlit screen, optionally to switch off or on as the circumstances require... By the way: I just signed off the Handhelds, so far it did not work. But save replies on the subject Poquet PC better go to me directly now: Michael Sennhauser <SENNHAUSER@urz.unibas.ch> (That's Switzerland...)