HP has discontinued the original HP 95LX PC Serial Cable. The new PC Connectivity Cable (HP F1015A, retail: $24.95) works with the HP 100LX and comes with a little adapter so that it can be used with the HP 95LX or the HP 48SX calculator.
The new HP 100LX Macintosh Connectivity Cable (HP F1016A, retail: $24.95) also comes with adapters so it can be uses with the 95LX or 48SX.
Finding an HP 100LX Dealer
HP's 24-hour automated dealer locator service (call 800-752-0900) should help you find an HP dealer in you're area. If you're in a small town not close to a metropolitan area, the automated service may not be able to help you.
Fortunately the Calculator Division has it's own locator service (call 503-752-7736; business hours: 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday). You go through a couple of computer options and then talk to a customer service representative who will look up the closest dealer to you that has received shipments of the HP 100LX.
There are also VAR's (value-added re-sellers) like ACE Technologies and EduCALC that market the HP 100LX. Contact ACE Technologies at 800-825-9977 or 408-428-9722; Fax: 408-428-9721. Contact EduCALC at 800-677-7001 or 714-582-2637; Fax: 714-582-1445.
Continuous "Main Battery Low" Warning
The HP 95LX can develop a problem that causes it to continuously show the MAIN BATTERY LOW warning, even after installing fresh batteries. Try running BATT95 (ON DISK) from the 1993 Power Disk to correct the problem. If this fails, you're experiencing a hardware problem. HP may fix it for free under Extended Warranty.
International Connectivity Packs
Connectivity packs for the HP 100LX are in the process of being localized. German, Spanish, French shipments were expected by mid- September. Contact local HP dealers for more information.
Other International 100LXs
French, German, Spanish versions of the HP 100LX are now shipping. European users should contact their local HP dealer for more information.
Japanese Orders for the HP 100LX Strong
International sales of the HP 100LX is going very well. Japanese orders are stronger than expected. A number of Kanji (Japanese character set) drivers have been developed for the HP 100LX. Another software program lets you phonetically input Japanese words and output Kanji characters. Masakiyo Tanaka, Market Development Manager, Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, Tokyo, JAPAN.
Russian HP 100LX
Cherus, a Moscow-based computer company has begun shipping a Russian-language version of the HP 100LX. The Palmtop has been modified to accept Cyrillic characters as well as the standard ASCII characters seen in the west. It also has a Russian keyboard layout.
The retail price of the Russian version of the HP 100LX is $1,161.
OmniBook / Flash Card Prices Reduced
Hewlett Packard recently announced new prices for the HP OmniBook 300 and Flash memory cards.
OmniBook 300
(F-1032A) w 40MB Hard drive . . . . . $1,750
(F-1031A) w 10MB Flash ROM card . . . . . $2,000
Flash memory card
(F-1012A) 5MB, doubled w Stacker . . . . . $375
(F-1013A) 10MB doubled w Stacker . . . . . $600