User`s guide
W
TO
USE
YOUR
PALMTOP
Making The Transition
To
The
New
HP 300/320LX Palmtop PC
Transferring
data
from
his
HP
lOOLX
to
a newly
purchased
HP
320LX
Palmtop
PC wasn't
effortless
for
this new Windows
CE
user,
but what
he
learned
can
help
others
out.
By
James
A.
Robertson
A
s soon as I
saw
the description
of
Hewlett-Packard's
new
Windows
CE
palmtops,
I
knew
I
would
have
one.
After
using
my
2Mb 100LX for the last four years I
have corne to rely
on
it for most of
the
tasks
I
used
to
carry
one
of
those
ubiquitous
planner
note-
books for.
So
when
I read after COMDEX
96
that
HP
would
soon introduce a
Windows
CE
palmtop,
I
hoped
-
maybe
expected
would
be
more
like it - that it
would
do
the kinds
of
things
for
handhelds
that
Windows
95
did
to
improve
DOS
and
Windows
3.l.
Now
that
I've
been
through
the
transition
process,
I
have
to
confess to being mildly disappoint-
ed
by
the
amount
of effort
it
has
taken,
and
by
the missing features
in
the Windows CE software that I
enjoyed
in
the
100LX. The
jury
is
still
out
on
whether
the 300/320LX
platform
will
be
as
good
as
the
100/200LX has been.
This
article
will
describe
the
process
I
went
through
to
set
up
my
new
320LX
and
to
import
files
from
my
100LX.
I'll
mention
the
strengths
and
weaknesses
I
have
been
able
to
observe
in
the
new
platform
during
my
first
week
of
use.
I
will
also
describe
how
I
solved various problems I encoun-
tered.
My
solutions
may
not
be the
best,
but
they
worked
for me. I will
not
repeat
the
300/320LX
hard-
ware
and
software
specifications
that
you
can
read
in
the
articles
that
have
appeared
in
The
HP
Palmtop
Paper,
(see
pages
16-21 of
the
March/
April 1997 issue).
How
I Acquired my Unit
Initial
shipments
of the 300LX
and
320LX (along
with
accessories
and
card memory)
were
hard
to find as
of
the
first
week
in
June.
Early
units
are likely to
be
snapped
up
quickly,
so
if a
similar
situation
arises
in
the
future,
I
suggest
to
keep
in
daily
contact
with
one
or
more dealers until they can sell
you
a unit.
I called
HP's
pre-sales
number
(800-443-1254) to obtain the names
of local dealers
that
were
supposed
ABOUT
THE
AUTHOR
to have them. As soon as I
had
the
names, I
went
shopping. Three
out
of
four
local
stores
did
not
have
any
in
stock,
but
I
finally
struck
gold
at
a
nearby
discount
office
supply
store.
I
spotted
the
320LX
immedi-
ately
among
the several
Handheld
PCs
at
the store.
HP's
CE screen is
noticeably larger,
compared
to the
other
units
that
will
be
displayed
alongside
the
HP
in
many
stores.
After
playing
with
the
demo
machine for a few minutes, I asked
for one
in
the box
but
was
told the
one
on
display
was
the only one in
stock. The sticker price of
$699
was
the
best
I
could
do. I
could
have
saved
$46
by
waiting
for
the
mail
order
dealer
to
receive
a
supply,
but
after six
months
of
buildup
of
anticipation
I
couldn't
wait
any
longer. The clerk told
me
that
the
store
had
received
two
320LX
James
A.
Robertson
is
president
and
owner
of
Interisk
Limited,
an
insurance
consulting
and
litigation
support
firm
located
in
New-
port
Beach, CA.
He
frequently
testifies
as
an
expert
witness
in
insurance
litigation
cases.
He
can
be
reached
bye-mail
at
jrinterisk@msn.com
20
THE
HP
PALMTOP PAPER SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER
199
7