• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Hp 95lx

M

Micom 2000

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Messages
1,284
Location
Manitoba North of 50 degrees Latitude
Anyone have a RS232 connector for an HP95lx or instructions on how to build one ?
I pulled out an old Win 3.1 program of ACT, a "contact program" and was amazed to see that they had instituted an interface with the 95LX. I'd also like to be able to install some of the programs that are still available for the 95LX which would require an interface cable.

Also are there any online sources of the 95LX manual ? Google hasn't turned up any for me.

So far the 95LX seems much inferior to the Atari(DIP 1) Portfolio and even more-so to the Sharp PC 3000(DIP 2) even tho the 95LX was multiple times more expensive than either.
After all of Tony Duehls promotion of it on classiccmp I'm disappointed.

Lawrence
 
Micom 2000 said:
Anyone have a RS232 connector for an HP95lx or instructions on how to build one ?
I pulled out an old Win 3.1 program of ACT, a "contact program" and was amazed to see that they had instituted an interface with the 95LX. I'd also like to be able to install some of the programs that are still available for the 95LX which would require an interface cable.

Also are there any online sources of the 95LX manual ? Google hasn't turned up any for me.

So far the 95LX seems much inferior to the Atari(DIP 1) Portfolio and even more-so to the Sharp PC 3000(DIP 2) even tho the 95LX was multiple times more expensive than either.
After all of Tony Duehls promotion of it on classiccmp I'm disappointed.

Lawrence
Click to expand...
---
Any help:?
http://www.daniel-hertrich.de/rs232/#95lx

m
 
I had the upgraded 200LX for many years. The big selling point of the LX line was that they are real MS-DOS machines. With an 8088 clone, 640K RAM, RAM disk and ROM disk with a few apps. (The 200LX had Quicken!) I was taking programming classes, and our 'workstations' were a mix of 286 and 386 machines that were on a network. There were only five compiler licenses, so they had a queue for compiling. Often, the queue was so long that I could compile it on my 200LX faster than waiting for the queue.

I still have my old serial cable, and would be willing to part with it for maybe $5 plus shipping from Portland, OR.

edit: Apparently the 95LX used a different physical serial port than the 100LX and 200LX. My cable won't work with yours, sorry. But I did find a link that shows how to build your own... Which, upon looking, is the same link as MikeS's. :-D
 
Micom 2000 said:
So far the 95LX seems much inferior to the Atari(DIP 1) Portfolio and even more-so to the Sharp PC 3000(DIP 2) even tho the 95LX was multiple times more expensive than either.
After all of Tony Duehls promotion of it on classiccmp I'm disappointed.

Lawrence
Click to expand...

I know the feeling, L. That's why you now have one and I don't. I'll send you the cable and manual as soon as I find 'em again (prob'ly tomorrow, I'm working on it).

--T
 
Cool T. I'll cross my fingers. There are some programs available for it that makes it more usable. I still can't comprehend why it was held in such high esteem. To me, the DIP handhelds which were also DOS-based were much more usable. The main drawback with the Sharp3ks (DIP2)which Tramiel rejected was the nonstandard ports, undoubtably insisted on during development, by Tramiel, who had a fixation for the aftermarket in proprietary connecters. DAMN YOU SAM TRAMIEL !

The Sharp 3Ks still have a semi-active mailing list and massive file archive based in Germany.

http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~utcke/Private/Palmtop/sharp-pc3100.html#links

Since these are MSDOS based programs I've often wondered how many could be used on early memory-starved MSDOS based machines, but have never followed up on it. One hacker. Mark Gardiner even had Win 3 istalled on his Sharp 3k. He had a great site but it appears to have gone, altho he is still active on Sven Utcke's Mail list. Apparently there is also a Minux kernel originally for the HP 100LX which works on the Sharp 3K, and is available from the 3K FAQ site. Minux (Minux Is Not UniX) was also used by some early developers to get the Atari ST on the I-net.

After clicking on the original 3K link I got a not-available message and changed it to this above. I'll have to post a request to Sven to get an update on available URLs. Mark Gardiner is still active on the ML and I can't imagine he has let his site lapse.

>>RANT
The search engines have become virtually useless because of the commercial clutter. I was an early user of Google when it displaced Yahoo precisely for this reason. just as Yahoo had displaced the DEC Alta Viista search engine because it had become overwhelmed by academic papers. It's time that a new search engine replaces Google and restricts commercial clutter. Perhaps commercial sidebars could be used for financing it. And Google still serve the clammering AOL hordes eager to buy something, anything, to enliven their barren existence. << close RANT

Just wishing.

Lawrence
 
Last edited:
I search with Dogpile which I find quite appropriate considering all the S**T you have to wade through to find anything now-a-days.

Stop me before I start with the "Well, back in MY day....."
 
Bad news, L. I got to the bottom of the pile, and it hasn't shown up yet. That means that it's probably in storage (at the bottom of a whole 'nother pile), and won't be found before Spring (if ever, it may have gone into the black hole). But hey, on the upside, my computer room looks great!

--T
 
I have run Windows 3.0 on my HP 200LX, although that was more out of 'can it be done', than for actual useful productivity. Hacking a mouse to work on it was a chore, though. (The serial port on the 200LX doesn't provide enough power, so I had to hack a cable that tapped into the power pins of another computer. If Windows had actually been useful, I would have rigged up some sort of battery power, or maybe tap into the power for the PCMCIA slot.)

On the other hand, I would run Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 daily. (Gotta do something between classes...) It's funny, I could fly using only a keyboard just fine on my LX, but not on my desktop computer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top