Prolinear 386 PalmBook ?
Ed Moore
booth person why it should look so familiar. He said Prolinear built
the Zeos Pocket PC, and the 386 is a derivative model. I have not seen
this little machine mentioned in the PC press nor in USENET.
It looks like the same case size as the Zeos, so it's bigger than an HP
100LX and smaller than an HP OmniBook or Gateway Handbook. The weight
is advertised to be 710 grams with battery (1.56 lbs). Since that is
half the weight of an OmniBook or a Handbook, the tradeoff in usability
might be suitable for some users. It has a 20 MHz AM386SXLB chip.
DOS 5.0 and MS Works 2.0 are in ROM, just like the Zeos. It has a
serial port, parallel port and two PCMCIA 2.0 slots. RAM is 2 MB,
expandable to 4 MB. Prolinear sells various FLASHRAM PCMCIA devices,
up to 20 MB ($1022). The basic machine costs $995.
Has anyone used one of these?
--
Ed Moore
Hewlett-Packard
Vancouver, WA, USA
edm...@vcd.hp.com
David R Rausch
I have a Prolinear 8086 running at 7.5 MHz. It sound about the same size you
are describing ie. larger than an HP 100XL, but smaller than an HP OmniBook.
It weights 1.3 lbs. with batteries. It has DOS 5.0 and MS Works 2.0 in ROM.
It also has a pocket organizer called RacePen II. It has two PCMCIA 1.0
slots, a serial and parallel port. I purchased this machine about a year ago
for $495.00.
I am very happy with the machine, BUT would love to upgrade to the
Prolinear 386 that Ed detailed above. Does anyone know where to get the
Prolinear 386? If I can get it, my wife would love to have my Proliner 8086.
--
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David R. Rausch /\ /\ Motorola Cellular Infrastructure
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sd...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
> are describing ie. larger than an HP 100XL, but smaller than an HP OmniBook.
> It weights 1.3 lbs. with batteries. It has DOS 5.0 and MS Works 2.0 in ROM.
> It also has a pocket organizer called RacePen II. It has two PCMCIA 1.0
> slots, a serial and parallel port. I purchased this machine about a year ago
> for $495.00.
>
> I am very happy with the machine, BUT would love to upgrade to the
> Prolinear 386 that Ed detailed above. Does anyone know where to get the
> Prolinear 386? If I can get it, my wife would love to have my Proliner 8086.
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> David R. Rausch /\ /\ Motorola Cellular Infrastructure
> Voice(708) 632-6730 / \/ \ 1501 W. Shure Dr. Suite 3223B
> Fax (708) 632-4734 / \ Arlington Heights, Ill 60004
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
What you ALL are describing is what I think is the most widely maketed
computer in history. It's the Zeos Pocket PC/MITSUBA
Palmtop/PS1000/DAK/Microsoft Palmtop/I don't know who else. It's all
the same machine: about 4"x9"x7/8" (letter-size envelope), NEC V30
processor, 640K (although many claim 1MB, the other 384K is the E:
drive). Microsoft Works and RacePen, 2 PCMCIA 1.0 slots, uses 2AA
batts, etc, etc. It's all the same machine, guys! We've been through
this before! The OEM of this machine is not Zeos, no not Microsoft,
not Prolinear, but MITSUBA, and actually they make them over in Asia.
I had one of these for a year before I sold it last month. Mine had
the Zeos name on it. It's a good little unit. They're cheap, and
they feel cheap, but I still liked my PPC.
I would suggest not bothering with the 386 version of this palmtop.
Granted it does have an almost-386 chip, it still lacks in memory and
storage just as the V30 version does. It also still only has a CGA
screen. From what I understand, it is slightly bigger and heavier,
uses more batteries and still has less battery life. You really won't
be able to run more than what you can run now on the V30 version,
it'll just be a little faster, but so what--the V30 is not slow, given
its applications that it runs. Stick with the V30 version. The 386
version WILL NOT perform like a 386, first of all, and it is twice as
much as the other, at $995. After you spend a couple hundred more on
PCMCIA cards (which you gotta have with this machine) and whatever
else you get, you could have gotten a nice 486 with 4MB RAM and an
85+MB hard drive for probably less!
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Ed Moore
: Does anyone know where to get the Prolinear 386?
This is all on the business card I picked up at Comdex.
Prolinear International Corp.
Tidal Technology Corp.
150 N. Santa Anita Ave., #300 8F-3, No. 420, Section 1
Arcadia, CA 91006 Gi-Lung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: (818)821-1881 Tel: (02)345-1221
Fax: (818)821-1879 Fax: (02)729-7435
Ed Moore
: I would suggest not bothering with the 386 version of this palmtop.
: Granted it does have an almost-386 chip, it still lacks in memory and
: storage just as the V30 version does. It also still only has a CGA
: screen. From what I understand, it is slightly bigger and heavier,
: uses more batteries and still has less battery life. You really won't
: be able to run more than what you can run now on the V30 version,
: it'll just be a little faster, but so what--the V30 is not slow, given
: its applications that it runs. Stick with the V30 version. The 386
: version WILL NOT perform like a 386, first of all, and it is twice as
: much as the other, at $995. After you spend a couple hundred more on
: PCMCIA cards (which you gotta have with this machine) and whatever
: else you get, you could have gotten a nice 486 with 4MB RAM and an
: 85+MB hard drive for probably less!
I would actually prefer a V30 (to reduce power consumption). But without
at least 2 MB of "disk" storage it would be useless to me. The little
gadgets look like this to me:
100LX I'd carry it everywhere, but I wouldn't type on it.
the V30 I'd carry it almost everywhere and be willing to type a
moderate amount, but 384KB storage makes it useless.
the 386 Similar to the V30, but now with useful storage.
3-lb machine I wouldn't carry it everywhere, so I don't need it.
My opinions, not HP's.
ZWILL...@delphi.com
>100LX I'd carry it everywhere, but I wouldn't type on it.
>the V30 I'd carry it almost everywhere and be willing to type a
> moderate amount, but 384KB storage makes it useless.
>the 386 Similar to the V30, but now with useful storage.
>3-lb machine I wouldn't carry it everywhere, so I don't need it.
V30 microprocessor, 1 MB RAM, 20 MB hard disk drive, PCMCIA slot,
A4 size. A bit heavier than the Mitsuba palmtops you mentioned.