Quite frankly, I am not sure how to talk about third party products. For example, I have been using the PAMCO Card Drive attached to my HP Vectra PC to read files from my ACE RAM Card. I simply connect the PAMCO drive into a parallel port of my desktop and can read the RAM card I use in my 95LX the same way I read a disk in any other disk drive. The PAMCO drive retails for $169 and can be bought for less at such mail order companies as EduCALC.
I am satisfied with both the PAMCO drive and the ACE card and both companies have a good reputation among users. (I do wish the PAMCO drive had a parallel port so I could use only one PC parallel port for both my printer and the drive.)
However, when I share this with you, please understand, I am making no comparative statement about the competition. I have not tried other manufacturers' RAM cards (except the HP 128K card which is too small for my needs), or any of the other PC card readers.
In general, I recommend RAM cards and PC card readers. PC card readers are a great, painless way to transfer files back and forth between a PC and the HP 95LX. RAM cards allow 95LX users to store more useful programs and data when using their HP 95LX. Expect to see further discussion of PC card readers and different kinds of PC cards in future issues of The HP Palmtop Paper.
Recently, I received an ACE double card. Unfortunately, the PAMCO drive does not read the ACE double card properly. Both PAMCO and ACE are reportedly working on a solution. The ACE double card uses a technology developed by Stacker to compress files. The process is invisible to the user and results in approximately doubling the amount of files that can be stored on an ACE double card. So a 2MB card with Stacker preformatted on it can hold roughly 4MB of information.
Apparently, Stacker cannot be used on the C drive, but can be used on other RAM manufacturers' cards. However, the installation of Stacker is not straightforward and we will discuss it in a future issue. DIET, discussed on page 17 of the Fall 1991 issue, is an excellent alternative to the Stacker technology for the C or A drives.