ldg@yoda.byu.edu (06/05/90)
The Poquet PC sounded so interesting a few months ago, but I have not
seen any more ads, any reviews, or any comments here since then. Has
any reader of this newsgroup gotten one? Is the thing _real_?
For those of you who have not heard of the Poquet PC, it is (?) an MS-DOS
compatible computer with a full 25*80 LCD screen, about the size of a
VCR cassette, which would run for something like 40 hours on a set of AA
batteries. Hey, maybe it was 100 hours.
Lyle D. Gunderson N6KSZ | "Any technology without | ldg@yoda.byu.edu
350 CB/BYU | some attendant risk of misuse | CIS: 73760,2354
Provo UT 84602 | is probably trivial" | GEnie: L.GUNDERSON
| --Louise Kohl | AO: LGundersonhburford@enprt.Wichita.NCR.COM (Harry Burford) (06/08/90)
ldg@yoda.byu.edu writes: >The Poquet PC sounded so interesting a few months ago, but I have not >seen any more ads, any reviews, or any comments here since then. Has >any reader of this newsgroup gotten one? Is the thing _real_? >Lyle D. Gunderson N6KSZ | "Any technology without | ldg@yoda.byu.edu >350 CB/BYU | some attendant risk of misuse | CIS: 73760,2354 >Provo UT 84602 | is probably trivial" | GEnie: L.GUNDERSON Yes, it is for real. I looked at it at the fall COMDEX show and again at the recent spring COMDEX. Cute little critter. I would like to use one for a while before deciding on whether I like it or not. The only way to use the very small QWERTY keyboard is with the index finger of each hand. Disk drives are really solid state memory modules that plug in. I like the pocket size and the 100 hours on 2 AA batteries. You can hook it up to a serial interface and use a built in communication program to communicate with a desk top computer. I think performance is something like an XT. Worth looking at if you wan't something small and easy to carry in your pocket .... Or 'Poquet' as it were :-) hb -- Harry Burford - NCR Peripheral Products Division, Printer Products PHONE: 316-636-8016 TELEX: 417-465 FAX: 316-636-8889 SLOWNET: 3718 N. Rock Road, Wichita KS CALL: KA0TTY C-$erve: 76367,151 SS: 9.5 Harry.Burford@Wichita.NCR.COM
mckay@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu (Dwight D. McKay) (06/09/90)
Does anyone have the phone number handy for the folks who make the Poquet? I'd like to find out where a nearby dealer is and see one in person... -- Dwight D. McKay -- Engineering Computer Network, Purdue University -- mckay@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu
wayne@csri.toronto.edu (Wayne Hayes) (06/09/90)
In article <1990Jun8.193038.20227@ecn.purdue.edu> mckay@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu (Dwight D. McKay) writes: >Does anyone have the phone number handy for the folks who make the Poquet? I got the number from page 90 of the 1990 Mar 13 PC Mag. It's 1-800-624-8999 ext 1590 (Yes, it even works in Canada!) Outside the US and Canada, 44-753-580018. I got a cute little brochure the actual size of the Poqet with the usual non-technical jumbo. (ie, you probably won't learn anything you don't already know.) The drawback is that it took about 8 weeks to get the brochure. Then, inside the brochure, I got Bob Gerwer, VP Sales & Marketing Poqet Computer Corp, 650 North Mary Av Sunnyvale, CA 94086 U.S.A. Phone: 408/522-8203. (Hope they don't mind the free advertising...) -- Mathematics: That branch of Human Thought which takes a finite set of trivial axioms and maps them to a countably infinite set of unintuitive theorems. Wayne Hayes INTERNET: wayne@csri.utoronto.ca CompuServe: 72401,3525
mec@cbnewsj.att.com (michael.e.connick) (06/11/90)
In article <659@enprt.Wichita.NCR.COM> hburford@enprt.Wichita.NCR.COM (Harry Burford) writes: > > Yes, it is for real. I looked at it at the fall COMDEX show and again > at the recent spring COMDEX. Cute little critter. I would like to > use one for a while before deciding on whether I like it or not. The > only way to use the very small QWERTY keyboard is with the index finger > of each hand. Disk drives are really solid state memory modules that > plug in. I like the pocket size and the 100 hours on 2 AA batteries. > You can hook it up to a serial interface and use a built in communication > program to communicate with a desk top computer. I think performance is > something like an XT. Worth looking at if you wan't something > small and easy to carry in your pocket .... Or 'Poquet' as it were :-) > hb Of course 90% of the functionality of the Poquet can be had for about $300 by buying an Atari Portfolio. It's about the same size. It has a bunch of handy built-in functions including a Lotus 1-2-3 compatible spreadsheet. It runs "very well-behaved" MS-DOS programs just fine. It also has a QWERTY keyboard, and from what I've heard about the Poquet the Portfolio keyboard has a much better "feel." It runs off 3 AA batteries for between 4 to 6 weeks with HEAVY usage. It offers both serial and parallel interface units. It also has plug in memory cards that are treated as disk drives. I carry mine with me everywhere. It fits in an inside jacket pocket and weighs less than a pound. I've had my unit for 6 months and couldn't get along without it now. Sure, I'd prefer the 80 char by 24 line screen of the Poquet to the 40 char by 8 line Portfolio screen, but heck for about 1/6 the price of a Poquet I'll live with its limitations! ----------------------------------------------------- Michael Connick mec@mtfmi.ATT.COM 201-957-3057 AT&T Bell Labs MT 3F-113 (Dept. 79151)
sumner@usceast.UUCP (David Sumner) (06/12/90)
I'm curious about the Poquet vs the Atari Portfolio, and I know very little about either. Are they both really PC compatibles - It sounds like the Poquet is, but the Portfolio can't be really compatible if only because of its screen size. Just what are some of the "very well-behaved" MS-DOS programs" that run on the Atari? Thanks for any info. David Sumner
mec@cbnewsj.att.com (michael.e.connick) (06/13/90)
In article <3282@usceast.UUCP> sumner@usceast.UUCP (David Sumner) writes: > > > Just what are some of the "very well-behaved" MS-DOS programs" > that run on the Atari? You'll pretty much have to write them yourself. The Portfolio will work with any MS-DOS program that does ALL of its interaction with the operating system via ROM-BIOS calls. Virtually no commercial programs are so well behaved. Tiny BASIC 8086 is that well behaved, and I have it in my Portfolio at all times for knocking out the odd little program. In addition I've written a couple of Microsoft C programs for my Portfolio that run just great on it. Along with the standard ROM-BIOS interface, you can access the screen and serial and parallel port hardware directly if high-performance is needed. But the interfaces provided are completely different than a PC-clone would provide. ----------------------------------------------------- Michael Connick mec@mtfmi.ATT.COM 201-957-3057 AT&T Bell Labs MT 3F-113 (Dept. 79151)
holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Holtz) (10/24/90)
I know this doesn't have an internal disk; what does it have in place of a disk drive? How cheap can one get an external 3.5" floppy drive for it? Does it hook up to an external modem in any way? -- Brian Holtz (holtz@netcord.Eng.Sun.COM)