HP DOS computer selection advice sought

From: Bob Shannon <bshannon_at_tiac.net>
Date: Mon Jul 5 09:43:09 2004

An HP21MX running HP-IPL/OS with the HPIB extensions loaded, using a 59310B
interface board.

This allows rapid, interactive development of HPIB command sequences
with grreater ease
than using RTE-IVB or RTE-6VM.

Jay West wrote:

>I have a large multi-tier printer stand on casters that I use for my HP
>logic analyzer setup. 1631D analyzer, 9122 dual floppy drive, 2225 printer,
>probe hangers, etc. It's nice to have on that stand because I can roll it
>around the work area from system to system easily.
>
>I would like to put a computer on that stand too, that has HP-IB interface
>(all the gear above is HP-IB). The primary purpose of the computer is to
>interface to the logic analyzer, but I will also use it for interfacing to
>my Data I/O programmer, various DOS programs like IC stat lookup, etc.
>
>My problem is I'm not that familiar with HP DOS machines. I have particular
>requirements for this and I'm not sure what model to look for. Perhaps those
>familiar with HP's DOS machine lineage can suggest a machine I should look
>for. Here's the criteria:
>
>1) It has to be an HP. My TI3100 would look out of place with all the HP
>gear on the rack :)
>2) It has to allow putting an 8 bit ISA HP-IB card in it (or dare I say
>already support HP-IB)
>3) It really needs 1mb of RAM for some of the programs I want to run on it.
>4) DOS version needs to be 5.0 or better, would be nice if I could use the
>free DR-DOS
>5) It would have to have an external serial port
>6) I would like to get it on the wireless network. I was thinking of using
>the zircom parallel port adapter I have, and then getting an ethernet to
>wireless bridge. Of course, I have to find DOS TCP/IP drivers for the
>zircom, if such a thing exists. I'm open to options here.
>7) Vertical space is a premium on the rack, so I would prefer something
>without a full-size monitor, preferrably an all-in-one unit rather than
>separate cpu, keyboard, monitor, etc.
>8) Would need at least 40mb hard disk.
>9) Need a somewhat standard size keyboard (this rules out my 200LX).
>
>So far from my looking around, the HP 110 seems very close to what I'd want.
>The small vertical height of the screen is a big plus, but, I really have to
>have 80x24. Plus the 110 seems to be stuck with 256k ram and only DOS 2.11.
>I would LOVE to use my HP-85 for this, but alas, it isn't going to be
>running promlink anytime soon. Can anyone suggest a vintage PC machine for
>this purpose?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Jay West
>
>
>---
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>
>
Received on Mon Jul 05 2004 - 09:43:09 BST