(I tried replying to this on Friday, but was at home, accessing work email
with Outlook Web Access, which my company requires. The reply didn't make
it.)
There were 3 Poqet models, referred to as the "Classic" (PQ-0164), "Prime"
(PQ-0181) and "Plus". My information comes from Brian Mason's Poqet PC Web
site
http://www.bmason.com/PoqetPC/index.shtml, an excellent source. The
last one is the Fujitsu model that California Digital sells. It has
backlighting, built-in rechargable NiCads (which often are dead by now), 2MB
RAM, and Type I/II PCMCIA slots. It is the only model that can use Flash RAM
(up to 32MB, reports to the contrary notwithstanding) and modem cards (only
certain ones).
The first model had 512KB RAM, and the second 640KB, as well as better
built-in programs. Both use two AA batteries for power. There is no backup
battery -- you have about 30 seconds to change AA's before the internal RAM
disk goes blank. (I asume Steve is refering to the backup batteriues in his
SRAM cards.) Both can only use Type I PCMCIA SRAM cards or small linear
Flash cards (as ROM cards).
The expansion connector on the back is a female 80-pin edge connector. It
brings out most of the PC bus, as well as the serial lines. Pinouts are in
Brian Mason's FAQ and in the Fujitsu technical manual, which Brian has on
his web site (
http://www.bmason.com/PoqetPC/techref/toc.html). The Poqet
serial adaptor is rather bulky, so I created a bitmap for etching a small PC
board to use as a serial connector. I can email the bmp file to anyone who
is interested.
The Poqet PC web site also has archives of a mailing list, with lots of
useful info. The list has been dead for about 2 years now. There was an
attempt to revive a list, but it is only sporadically active.
Used Poqets are popular with QRP radio fans. The New Jersey QRP web site has
info on replacing dead Nicads in the Plus model.
BTW, the spelling of the name is "Poqet". It is pronounced as "pocket", I
believe, although I pronounce it "PO-ket".
All-in-all, I think the HP LX palmtops are better and more useful computers.
(I have a Poqet PQ-0181, HP 95LX and HP 200LX.)
<plug>
I also have two early PQ-0164's, both with broken LCD's, missing keys,
opened cases, etc. (this is the way they were when I got them). The newer is
serial number 5224, with PC boards made in Japan. The earlier is Poqet
Computer Corp Asset #02778, with boards made in the US. This one also has a
"US Govt. Prop. DOE" sticker on the screen. I'm willing to part with either
or both of these. Contact me offline.</plug>
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Jones [mailto:classiccmp_at_crash.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 8:43 PM
To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Poqet PC
I've muddied the waters a bit... The link I included was for the
later Fujitsu Poqet PC Plus. Fujitsi bought out the original
company before or while the second generation product was being
offered. CA Digital is giving specs for the Plus model, which is
what I believe they're selling. Gee, I wonder if this is covered
on one of the timelines people have been discussing...
The original Poqet PC has _no_ backlight, uses 2 std AA cells, and
MS-DOS 3.3 in ROM. Not sure how much memory is in there, ISTR at
least 512K and maybe more. There's a small ramdisk on D: for
AUTOEXEC/CONFIG.SYS, and the DOS ROM is C:. The two PCMCIA slots
at A:/B: are nice, especially with the 2MB SRAM cards - however I
appear to have forgotten to refresh the lithium backup batteries
in mine :^}
Fred's right, the original Poqet brings pretty much the whole XT
bus out to a connector on the back. I like the idea of hooking
this up to a backplane... B^P
Somewhere I have the docs from when I bought the thing, but it
may be years before they surface again.
--S.
Received on Mon Dec 02 2002 - 11:31:00 GMT