E-Mail in Your Pocket

Howard Eglowstein

In its 100LX palmtop PC, Hewlett-Packard has managed to stuff a 7.91-MHz 8086-compatible processor, a full-function keyboard, 2 MB of memory, and a PCMCIA 2.0 slot into a package that easily slips into your jacket pocket. More important, HP includes a special version of cc:Mail Mobile in ROM, along with a half dozen or so other software packages. I recently took the tiny 100LX along with me on a trip that took me through several thousand miles and several airports.

The HP cc:Mail package shares some similarities with Lotus's cc:Mail DOS Remote client software. The interface is character-based and uses pull-down menus accessed through the 100LX's Menu key. Function keys across the bottom of the screen offer you relevant choices, depending on what you're working on. As you move from screen to screen, the function-key labels constantly update to suggest your next action.

Squeezing a full mail package into a 100LX requires some compromises. When you enter a name into the directory of any other cc:Mail client, for example, you store the post-office name and address first; then you use that post office to address other names. On the 100LX, you have to enter the post office as part of every name. It seems like a small thing, but when you're standing by an airport pay phone juggling luggage, it seems especially annoying.

HP doesn't sell a PCMCIA modem for the 100LX, but you can use a third-party modem card, or you can connect a pocket modem to the 100LX's serial port. A PCMCIA modem is much more convenient, but they suck the very life out of your batteries. Depending on the model you use, a PCMCIA modem can reduce the HP's normal 60-plus hours of operation to less than 15. It's best to save the PCMCIA slot for a storage card.

The rest of the software is quite handy, too. I would have liked the 100LX a lot b etter if it had security features to protect sensitive information. My electronic address book holds backup credit-card information and sensitive phone numbers. If I were planning to replace this gadget with an HP 100LX, I'd want some way of keeping prying eyes from reading it.

While I am not ready to replace my Toshiba T4600C (which weighs 12 pounds with batteries and case) with the svelte HP 100LX, I found that the HP unit makes a perfectly usable second machine. The next time I have to write a review while I'm on the road, I could happily leave the Toshiba at home and rely on just the 100LX. I'll end up fixing a lot of typographical errors that I wouldn't have made with a larger machine's bigger keyboard and more capable software, but that's the price you pay for progress.