Any news on Sharp's PT-9000?

James W. Barr

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May 22, 1994, 11:17:06 PM5/22/94

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Does anyone have any news about Sharp's proposed PT-9000 pad computer?
It looks like a neat system.
When will it be sold?
How much will it be?

Thanks!

-Jim
--
James W. Barr, N9ONL | Using GEOS for Amateur Packet Radio
jb...@mcs.com | in Buffalo Grove, IL, USA!

Nigel Ballard

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May 23, 1994, 4:38:46 AM5/23/94

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In article <none> jb...@MCS.COM writes:
>Does anyone have any news about Sharp's proposed PT-9000 pad computer?
>It looks like a neat system.
>When will it be sold?
>How much will it be?

Jim

There are now a few PT-9000's out and about. Sharp it appears are going
to keep the marketing of this product focused on industrial/vertical
markets. So don't expect to see too much in the popular computing
press. Expect to pay about $1400 for a typical setup.

Cheers Nigel

James W. Barr

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May 23, 1994, 4:57:18 PM5/23/94

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Nigel Ballard (Ni...@dataman.demon.co.uk) wrote:

: In article <none> jb...@MCS.COM writes:
: >Does anyone have any news about Sharp's proposed PT-9000 pad computer?
: >It looks like a neat system.
: >When will it be sold?
: >How much will it be?

: Jim

: There are now a few PT-9000's out and about. Sharp it appears are going
: to keep the marketing of this product focused on industrial/vertical
: markets. So don't expect to see too much in the popular computing
: press.

IMHO, this sucks. To me, this is just another example of a great GEOS-based
product not looking for a main-stream audience. I realize that Geoworks is
trying to capture a market share by "backing-in" to it by hitting
rather target markets other than the desktop, but for a loyal desktop
user who would like to go mobile, this strategy really ticks me off. I
have used the Zoomer, and think it's great, but it seems too limited for
my desires. The PT-9000 looks like quite a good set-up.

:Expect to pay about $1400 for a typical setup.
^^^^^
That is unfortunate. Given that the actual hardware costs of PC's have
come down so much, it is a shame that a 286-class computer system has to
sell for about the same as a good, multi-media-loaded 486 desktop PC. If it
were sold around the same price as the original Zoomer price ($700.00), it
would be really attractive. The Zoomer now sells for between $400.00 and
$500.00 and the price will probably be slashed even more. Does the
PT-9000 really have that much more sophisticated hardware to justify the
price or is it just the typical
price-it-high-because-businesses-will-buy-it-anyway atitude? I guess I'll
just have to keep dreaming and wait 'til I can afford one. :)

: Cheers Nigel

: ***************************************************************
: * Nigel Ballard | INT: ni...@dataman.demon.co.uk | I'M PINK *
: * Bournemouth | CIS: 100015,2644 AOL: Pelham123 | THEREFORE *
: * U.K. | Pen Computing Magazine | I'M SPAM *
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Thanks for the info!

Nigel Ballard

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May 25, 1994, 11:08:18 AM5/25/94

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In article <none> jb...@MCS.COM writes:
>IMHO, this sucks. To me, this is just another example of a great GEOS-based
>product not looking for a main-stream audience. I realize that Geoworks is
>trying to capture a market share by "backing-in" to it by hitting
>rather target markets other than the desktop, but for a loyal desktop
>user who would like to go mobile, this strategy really ticks me off. I
>have used the Zoomer, and think it's great, but it seems too limited for
>my desires. The PT-9000 looks like quite a good set-up.

I hear what you say Jim.

Yesterday I was at the Hand Held Computing exhibition in London. Much
in evidence were pen and touch-screen based devices, ALL of which were
doing superb jobs at running vertical applications. It's clearly where
the money is at present. They don't require flakey recognition, just
the ability to store a signatire as a bitmap image which they all do.

Cheers Nigel

***************************************************************
* Nigel Ballard | INT: ni...@dataman.demon.co.uk | I'M PINK *
* Bournemouth | CIS: 100015,2644 AOL: Pelham123 | THEREFORE *

* U.K. | PCMCIA Affiliate Member | I'M SPAM *
***************************************************************