Retro Review: HP 95LX
Essentials
Company: Hewlett Packard
Years: 1991 - 2003
Type: Palmtop PC (a very early version of the
laptop)
Applications: HP Calc, Lotus 1-2-3, Memo, Phone, DOS Prompt
Memory: 512,000 byte ROM, 1 MB RAM
Operating
System: Microsoft MS-DOS 3.22
Original
Price: around $550 to $699
Today’s Price:
can be very reasonable, anywhere from $40 to upwards of $200
Batteries: 2 AA batteries to run it, 1 CR2032 backup
battery, can be powered by AC connector
This review
will mainly focus on the HP Solve and Lotus 1-2-3 apps, as if I had not have
the chance to try other apps at the time of this review.
Special Thanks
Thank you to
Dave Bitten for this wonderful computer! This is the first portable computer of
the 1990s HP series that I have. I
traded my Casio fx-Algebra 2.0.
Features
The HP 95LX has
a rich variety of applications, including:
* Appointment Book
* Phone Book
* Memo
* Lotus 1-2-3
* HP Calc (what the HP 19C would look like if
it became a graphing calculator)
The HP 95LX can
also hold a RAM disk, for permanent storage.
HP Calc
The HP Calc is
based off the HP 19B calculator, but adds a graphing calculator component. The HP Calc can be operated for in either
Algebraic or RPN (reverse polish notation).
HP Calc had financial solvers (time value of money, interest conversion,
cost/sell/margin/markup), conversions (currency, length, area, volume, mass),
and scientific functions (random numbers, logarithms, exponentials,
trigonometry), and list editor.
The solver is
also based off the HP 19B, and also includes all the advanced features of the
type of solver that was present on the HP 17BII+, HP 17B, and HP 27S.
* IF: If statement with one command then and else command. If statements can be nested.
* SIGMA: The sum of a sequence. The increment is specified. Similar to Σ(f(x), x=a, b).
* S: Solve:
Used in an IF statement, dictates which calculations to make depending
of which variable is solved.
* L:
Let: stores a value in a variable during a formula.
* G: Get: recalls a variable during a formula
Example: 0*L(var:f(var)) + h(G(var) and other constants)
Lotus 1-2-3
Before
Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 was the favorite of spreadsheet applications. Lotus 1-2-3 is easy to use with a good
resource, like the awesome HP 95LX manual, download here: http://hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?hwdoc=202.
What is really
nice about the Lotus 1-2-3 is the ease of creating macros. The only caveat is the macro is typed in code
(depending on key stroke, such as \ for Menu, the first letter to choose
commands, a tilde (~) for an enter, and other commands to move the cursor or
ask for input). Macros are assigned to
the keyboard (called by Alt + letter).
On Lotus 1-2-3,
date functions handle years between 1900 and 2099.
Keyboard
The ON key
toggles the HP 95LX on and off. No
waiting for the computer to start up, which is nice. The keyboard is a QWERT keyboard. Even though the keys are little small, they
are pleasure to press and keys are responsive.
Display
I am also
impressed with HP 95LX’s sharp display.
The text on screen is very readable. The screen is not backlit,
understandable for the technology of the early 1990s, which backlighting would
put a high demand on its battery.
Verdict… so far
I am very happy
to have an HP 95LX. If (really when) I
get a chance, I want to take a look at DOS programming, playing around and
expanding the limits of both HP Calc’s solver and Lotus 1-2-3. So far, so good.
Source:
Hewlett Packard. “History of the HP 95LX computer” http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/personalsystems/0025/0025history.html Retrieved October 17, 2017.
Eddie
This blog is
property of Edward Shore, 2017