werner@vax1.informatik.fh-regensburg.dbp.de (Ralf Werner) (08/05/90)
Dear 48ers,
some time ago I posted the question if somebody could compile a short list
of all available add-ons for the 48. I'm especially interested in devices such
as the external disk drive, which was mentioned in this newsgroup some time
ago. Is it from HP or from another company? The same question about the CASINO
card...
Yes, it's a shame: when I called HP Germany (and I was talking to a *very* nice
young lady) and asked about the availability of the disk drive and the CASINO
card all I've got was a couple of "accoustical question marks" ;-) (that
solved the mistery of "are these things made by HP")...
But, I also have good news for all buyers of the 48 here in germany: as far
as I know there will be some kind of "we'll take back your pre-revision X
48"-action in january or february '91. That will be done for all 48s with
serial numbers <= 3019????? (the 19th production week). Boy, I'm glad
that I finally got that answer (got a 3007xyz number with good(?) old A ROM).
I don't know if the update action mentioned above will cost something or
not; neither do I know of the exact date. But I'm willing to post the phone
number of the young lady (office, not private, sorry :) here if anybody
wants to ask more specific things.
Sorry again for the last 20 "non-international" lines; there's no "local"
HP newsgroup here (and if you can imagine that I've got NO serial cable for
the 48 after 6 weeks waiting - you'll guess the reason...).
Keep up the good information flow! COMP.SYS.HANDHELDS seems to be the best
non-moderated newsgroup I've encountered. Moderating it will surely top'em
all (perhaps the adding of a "BEGINNERS.48" file to GMUVAX2.GMU.EDU would
help in solving some problems??).
Ralf
[ Ralf Werner - werner%vax1.informatik.fh-regensburg.dbp.de@relay.cs.net ]
[ ...or whatever your mailer tells you. ]
[ AX.25: DF1RW @ DB0RGB.DEU.EU ]Jake-S@cup.portal.com (Jake G Schwartz) (08/06/90)
As for an HP48 disk drive, Educalc sells one from Corvallis Micro Technology which hooks up to the serial port. It uses 3-1/2 inch 1.44 M or 720K disks. It is ruggedized, works on a wide range of baud rates and can also be hooked up to a PC. Unfortunately, the thing lists for $785.00 and sells from EduCalc for $659.95. There is a rumor of another outfit working on a disk drive for the HP48 where their goal is to have it cost no more than the calculator itself.... whether it materializes or not will be interesting. The Casin48 ROM card is from Preston Brown, who happens to work for HP. Approximately 20 ROM cards have been "announced" for the HP48, but hardly that number have shipped so far. Cards are promised in the surveying, games, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry and other fields from a number of third-party outfits. It seems to me that the best way to find out the status of these is to get on EduCalc's mailing list and receive their catalog. The next one will be edition #49, and I suspect it will be out on or before Labor Day. Educalc may be reached at 27953 Cabot Rd. Laguna Niguel, Calif 92677 USA 800-677-7001 714-582-2637 Jake Schwartz