Information and history

HP started its line of DOS-compatible palmtops with the HP 95 which was the first true DOS compatible PC with a form factor that made the unit "pocketable".

A few years later the HP 100LX was introduced, which was in fact a big improvement, first because the display was now able to display 80x25 characters, and second because the built-in applications were greatly improved and enhanced. A few more years later the HP 200LX was released, with almost the same features as the 100LX except that it supported Laplink Remote and had Pocket Quicken built-in. And the case was no longer black.

A little while after the 200LX, the HP OmniGo 700LX Communicator Plus was introduced in Europe and Asia, i.e. countries which supported the GSM standard for mobile communications. The OmniGo 700 is basically a 200LX with a cradle for a Nokia 2110 GSM mobile phone on the top. The built-in applications have been anhanced to support data communications through this mobile phone, and applications for sending and receiving faxes and SMS messages have been added.

After all the experience with DOS-based palmtops, HP moved on and developed new machines which use the Windows CE operating system. The first of this kind was the HP 300LX, shortly followed by the HP 320LX which was not very different. The latter only had a second card slot, more memory (4 MB) and a backlit display. Both used Windows CE 1.0 which was later upgraded to 2.0 by swapping out a small PCB.

In fall 1997, the HP 360LX and 620LX were introduced. The former was an enhanced 320LX with twice the memory ad a better backlight, and the latter was more or less the 360LX with a color display and again twice the memory (16 MB).

In late 1998, the Jornada 820 was launched, a subnotebook-sized Windows CE device with a real touch-typeable keyboard, and early 1999 the Jornada 420 followed, which was the very first Windows CE Palm PC with color display, and HP's first device without a keyboard.

Around August 1999, the HP 620LX was replaced with the smaller and more powerful HP Jornada 680, and in November 1999 the HP 200LX was discontinued - the end of a great era of powerful, pocketable DOS-based PCs.

We accumulated data sheets, user guides and some pictures of most of these devices which you can find by following the links here.

Data sheets and information about many other HP devices, including calculators, palmtops, portable computers, and the famous HP-01 wrist watch, are available at the HP Museum website.

Data Sheets

DOS Palmtops

Windows CE Palmtops

User Guides

The User Guides are available as PDF files and require the free Acrobat Reader.