Apple's Improved MessagePad

Bug fixes, more memory, and third-party peripherals and software have improved MessagePad usability

Tom Thompson

Apple's new MessagePad 120 strengthens the company's role in vertical applications. Although it still doesn't read handwriting the way we'd like it to, it offers more memory, better ROMs, and growing third-party support in the form of PC Card peripherals.

With a cursory glance at the MessagePad 120's hardware specifications, you might think it's the original with a flip-top cover for the LCD. It still uses a custom system ASIC to manage hardware subsystems, the same 20-MHz ARM610 RISC processor, and a Type 2 PC Card slot. But its 4-MB ROM features Newton OS 1.3--with bug fixes, improved handwriting recognition, and a larger dictionary (13,000 words instead of 10,0 00).

The MessagePad 120 comes in 1- and 2-MB memory configurations, whereas the MessagePad 100 had just 640 KB. This gives you up to 1.4 MB of RAM for applications and information (2-MB system) versus 220 KB in the original. The MessagePad 120's low-power reflective LCD is slightly smaller than the original's (320- by 240-pixel resolution versus 336- by 240-pixel resolution, respectively).

The MessagePad 120 is taller and longer but less wide than the original, so it fits into more jacket pockets. A larger battery cavity holds four AA batteries instead of four AAA batteries. That boosts the PC Card slot power rating from 110 to 325 milliamperes, enough to support modem cards for wireless communications.

Now for the price: The MessagePad 100, sans peripherals, cost $699. For the same price, you can get a MessagePad 120 with 2 MB of RAM and an external modem (2400-bps data and 9600-bps fax), which is the unit we tested here.

Field Test

The MessagePad 120 come s preinstalled with Name and Date applications, as well as Notions 1.1, a PIM (personal information manager) application. Because the original MessagePad did a good job at recognizing my handwriting (a mix of cursive and printed text), it was hard to discern any improvement in that area. However, the MessagePad handwriting recognition engine now supports deferred recognition. This lets you rapidly jot down notes as "ink" or bit maps and capture them later as text--a big win for those using the MessagePad 120 as an electronic notepad.

The Newton OS has gained stability: During testing, we saw only one system error, and we never had to reset the device, despite inserting a variety of cards and downloading new software.

The PC Card situation is mixed. An Epson 2-MB memory card worked, but an Epson 20-MB flash memory card didn't. Neither did SunDisk's 1.8-MB FlashDisk card: We got an "Unrecognized type of card" message. Both cards use an ATA (AT attachment) interface for data I/O. PCMCIA storage car ds that mimic IDE hard drives don't work with the MessagePad 120. The Newton OS isn't hard drive-based, so it doesn't understand them.

To use third-party PC Card modems with the 120, you must first download additional software from AppleLink or eWorld--a modem interface module and several "enablers" that transparently manage the messy modem configuration details for you. We downloaded the ModemEnabler package (a package is analogous to a file) and the enablers for a generic Hayes modem and the Motorola Cellect 14.4-Kbps cellular modem card. (A variant of the Motorola enabler lets the modem communicate through a MC2 Microtac cellular phone.)

We copied these files to a PC and used the Windows version of Apple's Newton Connection Kit to download the software to the Newton. After inserting a Motorola Cellect PC Card modem, we picked the appropriate enabler from the Preferences settings on the MessagePad. With a few pen taps, we could fax notes using the Cellect. Installing a terminal emulation progr am called PocketCall from Ex Machina, we could log on to BIX and other character-based on-line services at 9600 bps.

Outlook: Good

For certain on-the-go business people, the MessagePad 120 is a handy communications device. Although the PC Card slot supports wireless communications devices, it's still too early to count on any wireless solutions other than a cellular phone hookup. However, the MessagePad is still best suited to specialty applications and getting better at it all the time.

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

MessagePad 120                    $699

  (2-MB configuration with Newton
  fax/data modem and PocketQuicken)

  
(1-MB configuration)              $599


Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
(800) 776-2333
(408) 996-1010
fax: (408) 974-6412

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MessagePad 120

photo_link (37 Kbytes)

The new, slimmer MessagePad 120 fits more easily in a pocket. With 2 MB of RAM and third-party support, there are more reasons to put one there.

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Tom Thompson is a BYTE senior technical editor at large and an Associate Apple Developer. You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at tom_thompson@bix.com .