Ibm Pc110, The Game-Less Father Of Pandora

[timofonic]

The IBM PC110 is the exact opposite of the USR Pilot. Rather than serve as an extension to a desktop computer, it seeks to completely replace it. The PC110 is a full-fledged minicomputer running on an Intel chip and DOS. It takes the first step towards merging the features of a laptop in the form factor of a PDA.

http://www.basterfield.com/pc110/pictures.htm

http://www.basterfield.com/pc110/whatisit.htm

http://www.komotch2.com/tps/pt110.htm

 

[WolfSpider]

The only thing is that its way less powerful than the Pandora.

 

[gruso]

Now that's a DOS Box. Want!

 

[mindlord]

Want one? FIGHT!

 

[wermy]

Cool! Never seen this before. You can grab one for $250.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-IBM-PALM-TOP-PC110-PORTABLE-COMPUTER-WORKING-GREAT_W0QQitemZ260535085986QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item3ca919eba2

 

[timofonic]

Cool! Never seen this before. You can grab one for $250.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-IBM-PALM-TOP-PC110-PORTABLE-COMPUTER-WORKING-GREAT_W0QQitemZ260535085986QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item3ca919eba2

Cheaper than Pandora.

Able to run DOS and Win 3.x games.

Available now!

 

[gruso]

Want one? FIGHT!

Damn, I'd totally fight but he only ships to the US. And I don't think I like the buy it now price of the other one.

Something to keep an eye out for anyway, I love little things like this. It's more powerful than my first DOS based PC.

 

[fiveseven]

If I had a spare £200...

 

[slaanesh]

One thing to watch out for is.... the LCD screen. Those old screens were terrible when it came to displaying anything that was fast moving.
Screen refresh on these older machine's LCD were great for relatively static displays but absolutely the pits for games.

I still think the Pandora with DOSBOX will be a much better DOSBOX machine. DOSBOX is so much easier to run old games than an actual DOS box!

In fact DOSBOX for the Pandora could be one of it's killer apps - especially with that neat little keypad and analog nubs.

 

[fischju2000]

Palm Top PC! (Can also be called a PPC, or Pandora PC) Pandora should resurrect the moniker, it was also used by the first MS-DOS handheld (and later versions), the HP 95LX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_95LX - Which also bears a large resemblance to the Pandora.

 

[chickendung]

One thing to watch out for is.... the LCD screen. Those old screens were terrible when it came to displaying anything that was fast moving.
Screen refresh on these older machine's LCD were great for relatively static displays but absolutely the pits for games.

I still think the Pandora with DOSBOX will be a much better DOSBOX machine. DOSBOX is so much easier to run old games than an actual DOS box!

In fact DOSBOX for the Pandora could be one of it's killer apps - especially with that neat little keypad and analog nubs.

I hope we get a new port of DOSBox for Pandora that has the same input methods as PC/Mac. Setting up games for the GP2X/Wiz version is too tedious.

 

[Asmo]

Palm Top PC! (Can also be called a PPC, or Pandora PC) Pandora should resurrect the moniker, it was also used by the first MS-DOS handheld (and later versions), the HP 95LX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_95LX - Which also bears a large resemblance to the Pandora.

I have a 95lx, solid lump of a thing. Nice clunky HP calculator style key action!
It wasn't strictly the first of it's species though, both the Poqet and Atari Portfolio were out by then. The lx series outlived them by years.

 

[fischju2000]

Palm Top PC! (Can also be called a PPC, or Pandora PC) Pandora should resurrect the moniker, it was also used by the first MS-DOS handheld (and later versions), the HP 95LX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_95LX - Which also bears a large resemblance to the Pandora.

I have a 95lx, solid lump of a thing. Nice clunky HP calculator style key action!
It wasn't strictly the first of it's species though, both the Poqet and Atari Portfolio were out by then. The lx series outlived them by years.

I picked up an HP 320LX http://www2.tokai.or.jp/naoto/computer/images/HP320LX.JPG - Many years ago at a yard sale for $15, it was surprisingly useful. 44mhz CPU, 4mb RAM, Windows CE, compact flash and PCMIA expansion slots, and a surprisingly comfortable keyboard. Thing still works flawlessly, it's a beast! It really is a great formfaction, thumb and regular typing both, not something the now more popular 8"+ netbook variety can claim.

 

[hch]

Palm Top PC! (Can also be called a PPC, or Pandora PC) Pandora should resurrect the moniker, it was also used by the first MS-DOS handheld (and later versions), the HP 95LX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_95LX - Which also bears a large resemblance to the Pandora.

ah, the 95 lx! what fond memories i have of it. i learned object oriented programming there. until it was stolen 14 years ago, it really was my favorite. you could actually code on this thing for hours (lying on the sofa) and its 2 aa batteries lasted for weeks. ever since then i wanted a machine like this. the zaurus was close, but not as comfortable to work on and underpowered (relative to full-grown computers of the time of course). and now i hope for the pandor to fill this spot.

 

[cbox]

I have a similar palmtop computer made by Mitsubishi, got it for like 100 bucks new. It came with Windows95 installed, I upgraded to 98 later, but the hard drive is pretty small (2.1 gigs) so not a lot of room for storage, and when I looked into replacing the hard drive, I heard it was nearly impossible. Fun little handheld though. Has an 8 inch screen, 800 x 600.

 

[igboo]

One thing to watch out for is.... the LCD screen. Those old screens were terrible when it came to displaying anything that was fast moving.
Screen refresh on these older machine's LCD were great for relatively static displays but absolutely the pits for games.

FWIW, the old CRTs for the original Dos PCs were no speed demons either. I remember how the cursor on the command line would blink on, then fade out. Those phosphers were so slow.

igboo

 

[Prometheus]

Wow, I never even knew that such a thing existed. How awesome.

By the way, you guys haven't lived until you've successfully played Jazz Jackrabbit on a DSTN screen.

 

[skeezix]

Pfft, talk Atari Portfolio for grandparent of the PDA I say

jeff

 

[gruso]

Pfft, talk Atari Portfolio for grandparent of the PDA I say

jeff

And they can hack ATMs! Eeeeasy money.

 

[j.pickens]

I wanted that little IBM so badly when it first came out I could almost taste it!
I'd been dreaming about such a form factor for years.
Back in 1979 I wrote a paper for my ceramic engineering class in which I outlined such a device.
Nothing like anything ever sold, except for the miniature keyboard, LCD display, and folding notebook form factor.
The ceramic engineering bit was mostly the LCD, but the IC's also use lots of CE in their manufacture.
I went on to work in thin film semiconductors, and our team at Solarex produced the first large area amorphous silicon photovoltaic panels with
sunlight to energy conversion efficiencies exceeding 10%.
The machines I designed were also useful in making transparent thin film transistor arrays.
IBM bought several of these machines, and these were used to make some of the first mass produced color TFT LCD's for notebook computers in 1988.

Long story short, I've been wanting a powerful, miniature, long battery life pocket computer since around 1977, when articles in IEEE spectrum and elsewhere started conjecture about the possibilities for such a thing.

I've owned many, many small portable computers, but I honestly believe that the Pandora will be the first to really fulfill a dream of 33 years.