Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site cbosgd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!ihnp4!cbosgd!djb From: djb@cbosgd.UUCP (David J. Bryant) Newsgroups: net.micro.hp Subject: Re: HP-150 comments Message-ID: <1140@cbosgd.UUCP> Date: Fri, 23-Mar-84 10:02:25 EST Article-I.D.: cbosgd.1140 Posted: Fri Mar 23 10:02:25 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 25-Mar-84 08:00:11 EST Distribution: net Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus Lines: 71 We have seven or eight HP-150's here. I have one of them sitting on my desk, and have been wrestling with it for the past three or four months. I the hopes that someone at HP is watching and reading this newsgroup, and for all of you that may be considering purchasing an HP-150, I offer the following comments: 1) The 150 is only usable as a computer if you like to program in BASIC or run a few canned applications. Naturally, around here we want to be able to program the thing, but have absolutely no intention of doing so in BASIC. There is no available programming package (C compiler, programmer's editor, assembler, debugger, etc) period. None. Rumor has it that HP is working to rectify this extremely unfortunate situation, but until then, the 150 is not a computer for anyone that wants to do serious programming. (You'd be better off with an Apple II) 2) The documentation is terrible. It looks nice and is well assembled, but there is not much content. For example: I spent the better part of a month putting together a graphics driver for the HP-150, and all I had to go on was a terse and incomplete listing of the escape sequences in the appendix. (With good documentation, I can write a graphics driver in 4 hours). In fact, the key to my success was finding some old code that had 2648 graphics command sequences in it. (Interesting aside: The graphics are pretty nice, with some interesting features, but, alas, there is no HP-150 graphics command to draw a circle.) Other folks here have complained about how useless the manuals are as a reference. I don't know if non-computer types like them, but around here the manuals are shoved in a drawer and forgotten. 3) The touchscreen is really great, and seems to be the most outstanding feature of the 150. Naturally, the documentation for using the touchscreen is lousy. If it weren't for the example program that BYTE ran in their HP-150 issue, I wouldn't know how to use the touchscreen at all. 4) As a result of 1) and 2), we've been relegated to using our HP-150's mostly as terminals. Here is where they shine, and reveal considerable potential. The new keyboard is great, although (as expected) the key layout is different from every other keyboard in the universe. HP still has CTRL and CAPS in the wrong place so people wind up in CAPS mode and get extremely confused. DEL/ESC is now down next to Z, and is hard to find. The keypad is great, but the big key isn't return/enter, it's tab. On the otherhand, if you do graphics, you'll love the graphics mode for the keypad. (The 150 has separate graphics and alphanumerics screens, and you can flip back and forth easily - a nice feature). The small footprint is a plus too. Bottom Line: If you're in the market for a terminal, the HP-150 is a good candidate (and certainly much better than the 2621-B) at a fair price. If you want a canned-program-processor, and can wait for the software to come out, it's probably O.K. If you want a computer, look somewhere else. Here's hoping that someone at HP can get the word through to the right people that the documentation needs real work, and that HP should spare no expense and effort to provide a professional programming environment. Failing that, perhaps enough customer pressure could motivate them appropriately. If we could get a decent editor/compiler, we'd buy HP-150's by the truck load. As it is, everyone around here is spending their money somewhere else. Too bad... * * David Bryant AT&T Bell Laboratories * Columbus, OH 43213 * (614) 860-4516 * . : djb@cbosgd.UUCP cbosgd!djb@Berkeley.ARPA * *