A Brief History of HP Palmtops

Timeline

April 1991: HP95LX (512KB)
February 1992: HP95LX (1MB)
April 1993: HP100LX (1MB)
January 1994: HP100LX (2MB)
June 1994: HP200LX (1MB and 2MB)
October 1995: OmniGo 100
February 1996: OmniGo 700LX
September 1996: OmniGo 120
February 1997: HP200LX (4MB)
April 1997: HP300LX and HP320LX

DOS-Based Palmtops

HP95LX: (April 1991) HP's first palmtop computer, and one of the best of its time. It had a 4.77 MHz CPU, 40x16 (text) display, and 512KB RAM. It ran DOS 3.3, an earlier text-based System Manager, Lotus 1-2-3, and a few basic PIM applications. It had a slot, compatible with an early PCMCIA standard, and a 4-pin serial port. A 1MB model was introduced in February 1992.

HP100LX: (April 1993) Compared to the 95LX, the 100LX was a huge leap forward. Nearly every area of the system was improved. The screen became a 640x200 CGA, and the CPU was boosted to almost 8 MHz. The slot became PCMCIA 2.0 compatible, and the serial port gained hardware handshaking. The System Manager was overhauled, and the built-in applications rewritten to use the new features. Even the battery life got better. The basic model had 1MB of RAM; a 2MB model was released in January 1994.

HP200LX: (June 1994) An evolutionary upgrade to the 100LX. The hardware is substantially similar to that of the 100LX (other than cosmetic changes), and the software has no major changes other than the addition of Pocket Quicken. (A few bugs were fixed, a few small features added, but otherwise it is the same.)

HP1000CX: The VAR/OEM version of the 200LX, with identical hardware but no built-in software other than DOS.

OmniGo 700LX: (February 1996) Despite the name change, the OmniGo 700LX belongs in this series. Currently available only in Europe and select US cities, it is a 200LX with one major addition: it docks with a companion Nokia GSM cellular phone. The phone clips right onto the 700LX, and the hardware to use it for data communication is built in. A few bits of software have been added (fax, SMS, etc.) but otherwise the 700LX is compatible with the 200LX.

GEOS-based Palmtops

In October 1995, HP broke with tradition and introduced a new series of palmtops based on GeoWorks' GEOS operating system. These new products are based on hardware vaguely similar to that of the LX, but with both pen and keyboard input and a lower price.

OmniGo 100: (October 1995) The first GEOS-based HP palmtop, the OmniGo 100 has a 16 MHz CPU, 1MB of RAM, one PCMCIA slot, a standard mix of PIM software and general applications, and Graffiti for pen-based text input. Its most notable feature is the dual input system, and the way in which its screen can be flipped around so that it can be used like a pen-only machine. Though its hardware is similar to that of the 200LX, it costs less.

OmniGo 120: (September 1996) An incremental upgrade to the OmniGo 100, the 120 adds Pocket Quicken in ROM, a Compact Flash slot, and a more reflective, greenish screen that is supposed to be easier to read.

Windows CE-based Palmtops

HP300LX: This product, and its cousin the HP320LX are HP's first offerings in the Windows CE arena. In addition to the features common to Windows CE handhelds, the HP products have a 640-pixel wide screen, a CompactFlash slot (in addition to the Type II slot), printing capability, and software for accessing corporate e-mail systems. The 300LX has 2MB of RAM, and the screen is not backlit.

HP320LX: The HP320LX is identical to the HP300LX, but includes 4MB of RAM, screen backlighting, and fax software.