Digest Articles I LOVE MY "NEW" POQET PC! by Andrew Fox From: "Andrew Fox" Subject: I LOVE MY "NEW" POQET PC! Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 18:27:11 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Dear Poqet Community, I've been using my "new" Poqet PC, purchased used from Jim Quan in Salt = Lake City, Utah, for about a week now, and it's just about everything I'd = hoped it would be. The serial number of this particular machine is = 016400027510. In many ways, the Poqet is what I was looking for when I purchased my = first portable computer back in 1990 (around the time the Poqet first hit = the market, in fact; I remember the ads in the computer magazines back = then). It is a machine that I can easily take with me anywhere, that runs = practically forever on cheap, omnipresent batteries, that is "instant-on," = and that runs a version of WordPerfect, my word processor of choice. My first portable was a Panasonic Business Partner 150B, co-developed with = Tandy, which also sold a version. This was good, because it meant that = replacement batteries were available at my local Radio Shack, and, unlike = many laptop batteries, relatively inexpensive (about $30 or so). The = Business Partner was one of the first "notebook"-sized portables, which = meant it weighed around six pounds. It had a whopping 640K memory, DOS in = ROM, and ran its programs off a single 720K floppy drive (good enough for = WordPerfect 4.2). In its favor, it gave me a solid three hours of life = per battery, and its green-text-on-mustard-color backlit screen, although = made fun of by several computer magazine reviewers, was very readable and = easy on the eyes. I was very happy with this machine, but it was = partially done in by Hurricane Andrew (I dropped it while carrying it to = the car to get the hell out of New Orleans, and after that, the battery = never charged again), and I finally had to mothball it when the single = floppy drive gave out. My next portable was a reconditioned Gateway 2000 Handbook 286, which was = less than half the weight of my Panasonic, plus sported a 40 meg hard-drive= , to boot. One of the features which made the Handbook so attractive to = me was the availability of an alkalyne battery pack to use in place of the = rechargeable battery. Unfortunately, when I bought the machine, back in = 1995, I quickly discovered that Gateway had stopped selling accessories = for that model two months before, and I was unable to find anything at all = for the Handbook (no replacement batteries, floppy drives, or alkalyne = battery packs). Even so, the Handbook has given me three years of = satisfactory service, and is now in semi-retirement only because of a = cracked hinge. The Poqet is absolutely marvelous, because it's with me practically all = the time, so whenever I find myself with a spare fifteen or twenty = minutes, I can be productive (I'm one of the thousands of unpublished = novelists littering the American landscape). Plus, I don't have to worry = about how much of a charge is left on my battery, how many recharges my = battery has left in it before it dies and I'm forced to spend $150 or more = on a replacement (if I can find one), or where the nearest AC outlet is = (and whether the owner of the coffee house will give me a dirty look for = plugging in). The Poqet PC is proof-positive that you don't need the = latest-and-greatest technology to be happy -- you only need what does the = job for you in the most convenient way. By the way, I purchased a soft carrying case called The Pouch from a = little company in Arizona which makes cases for all brands of handhelds. = They had never heard of the Poqet PC before, but I gave them the measuremen= ts of my machine, and they custom-sewed a Pouch for me, at no additional = charge (Pouches for handhelds cost $18, plus $4.95 for shipping). It's a = very nice case, made of vinyl and wetsuit-type material, which clips to my = belt with a backpack-type buckle. If anyone is interested in a Pouch, the = company can be reached at 1-800-727-6824, and the folks there are very = pleasant to do business with. Also, in case anyone is looking to buy another Poqet, California Digital = has some "opened-box" specials which they are selling for $117, a savings = of nearly $80 from their regular price. These are machines which were = returned by customers who found the Poqet wasn't what they were looking = for, so most have only a few hours or days of use. C.D. also has some = Poqet printer cables available for $30. I went ahead and bought one of = the machines on sale, figuring it would be good to have on hand whenever = the hinge and/or ribbon cable gives out on my used Poqet. I have a few questions for you denizens of PoqetLand: 1) I'm using WordPerfect 4.2 on the Poqet, and I've found that my cursor, = along with the alphabet letter I've just typed, disappears every few = minutes or so. There's a software fix on the Poqet web site for use with = WordPerfect version 5.1; has anyone ever used this fix successfully with = version 4.2? Also, I'm having trouble downloading these fix files from = the web site; Brian, maybe you can give me some pointers? I'm using = Netscape Navigator version 2. 2) Has anyone used disposable lithium AA batteries in their Poqet? Do = these batteries pose any problems? It sounds like they could run the = computer for 300 hours or more. 3) When I use Poqet Link, I find that I have to tell the program to copy = files to the Poqet's D: drive in order to get them to copy to the B: = drive. Has anyone else encountered this? Not that it's a problem; I'm = just curious why it works this way. Thanks to all of you who responded to my earlier message concerning SRAM = cards. I'm sure that as I live with the Poqet more, I'll come up with = more questions for you all. I'm also sure that I'll have some good = stories to share, as the Poqet is such a charming little tool. Best wishes to everyone, Andy Fox Poqet download, Address Group Field, Vertical Reader update by MOY, WILLIAM From: "MOY, WILLIAM" Subject: Poqet download, Address Group Field, Vertical Reader update Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 11:46:17 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain As Andy Fox mentioned, I too am having trouble downloading from the Poqet website, the System Clock Fix in particular. I have a question in using the Poqet's Address utility: as far as I know the Group Field remains undocumented (is this true?) and I'd like to know how to use this one digit field properly (or creatively.) Any suggestions, PoqetPeople? Also, there is a new version of Vertical Reader, version 1.11. You can get that at this website for HP palmtop: http://www.palmtop.net/super.html. This is a great software site for palmtops but many programs run only on the HP platform. You'll have to experiment. One program in particular, "PALRUN (12 K) added 08/18/97 Version 1.01 by Harry Konstas PALRUN is an application that allows PAL applications to be run on any IBM compatible computer. Latest version fixes a minor bug. Freeware. " runs on my 286 laptop but won't run on the Poqet although it purports to run on any IBM compatible. For it's small size, I don't think it would require more than 512K RAM. If it did work, it would open up PAL applications and games for Poqet users. My email to Harry Konstas was always returned and the Webmasters at SUPER could not able to help. If anyone has any ideas.. -Bill. WP 5.1 on Card by Art Taylor From: Art Taylor Subject: WP 5.1 on Card Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 13:26:41 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Does anyone have a 5.1 version of WordPerfect on an SRAM card (or in some other usable form) that they're looking to sell? A version of XyWrite that will run on the Poqet would also be nice if anyone knows where I may be able to get that. Thanks, Art