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November 28, 2008, at 06:19 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 1-53 from:

EXUkc1 <a href=“http://uclydgmyvsmo.com/”>uclydgmyvsmo</a>, [url=http://bwukdjlxmwuh.com/]bwukdjlxmwuh[/url], [link=http://dqmnwkaccgsv.com/]dqmnwkaccgsv[/link], http://jqbkyuwqvpik.com/

to:

Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600

(:table width=500px align=right bgcolor=silver border=1 cellspacing=0:) (:cellnr:)

Quick facts

(:cellnr:)

  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz plus two Z8 for power management and character recognition
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, 32KB ROM
  • Screen: 240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
  • Input: Pen on touch-sensitive screen
  • Operating system: Proprietary OS developed by Eden Group
  • Applications: World clock, Diary, Tasks, Address book, Notes, Calculator, Conversion, Search
  • Synchronisation software: Eden Windows Synchronizer available separately
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange. A PCMICA slot was used for memory expansion.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Running time stated on the box: 40 hours. In practice users have reported only 12 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD): 160×115×27mm
  • Weight: 400 g
  • Released: 1993. Price when new: €400.

(:tableend:) http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600 “user friendly” PDA

Slogans

“The user-friendly PDA”. “The pen-based personal organiser that recognises your hand-writing”.

Information

Overview

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. It is the first handheld computer to call itself a PDA. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Handwriting recognition

The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. Characters were initially entered by the user when setting the PDA up for the first time in order to “teach” it that users hand-writing. In the applications, text was entered in the set of boxes provided. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had.

Applications

Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page. Also of interest is the fact that it has a built-in speaker that could be used to dial numbers from the contacts application.

Communications

The PenPad had a serial (RS232) port that could connect to a PC for information interchange. Apparently, as Windows program called “Eden Windows Organizer” could be used to synchronise data between the PC and the PenPad. Other options also exist.

Expansion possibilities

The PenPad has a PCMCIA slot that can be used for memory cards only. When the PenPad was new, you could get these in sizes up to a whopping(!) 2 MB. Some companies shipped memory cards with preinstalled software, such as games.

Personal notes

Cliff Lawson, PDA600 project manager, writes on his web site (link below):

The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.”

One of the users, Mark Stevenson, was less enthusiastic and writes on his page:

What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes.

The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.

Links

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

Site in French with a lot of technical details

October 10, 2008, at 10:14 PM by ohvwgrlbhne - cTPDMXDceL
Changed lines 1-53 from:

Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600

(:table width=500px align=right bgcolor=silver border=1 cellspacing=0:) (:cellnr:)

Quick facts

(:cellnr:)

  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz plus two Z8 for power management and character recognition
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, 32KB ROM
  • Screen: 240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
  • Input: Pen on touch-sensitive screen
  • Operating system: Proprietary OS developed by Eden Group
  • Applications: World clock, Diary, Tasks, Address book, Notes, Calculator, Conversion, Search
  • Synchronisation software: Eden Windows Synchronizer available separately
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange. A PCMICA slot was used for memory expansion.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Running time stated on the box: 40 hours. In practice users have reported only 12 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD): 160×115×27mm
  • Weight: 400 g
  • Released: 1993. Price when new: €400.

(:tableend:) http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600 “user friendly” PDA

Slogans

“The user-friendly PDA”. “The pen-based personal organiser that recognises your hand-writing”.

Information

Overview

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. It is the first handheld computer to call itself a PDA. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Handwriting recognition

The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. Characters were initially entered by the user when setting the PDA up for the first time in order to “teach” it that users hand-writing. In the applications, text was entered in the set of boxes provided. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had.

Applications

Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page. Also of interest is the fact that it has a built-in speaker that could be used to dial numbers from the contacts application.

Communications

The PenPad had a serial (RS232) port that could connect to a PC for information interchange. Apparently, as Windows program called “Eden Windows Organizer” could be used to synchronise data between the PC and the PenPad. Other options also exist.

Expansion possibilities

The PenPad has a PCMCIA slot that can be used for memory cards only. When the PenPad was new, you could get these in sizes up to a whopping(!) 2 MB. Some companies shipped memory cards with preinstalled software, such as games.

Personal notes

Cliff Lawson, PDA600 project manager, writes on his web site (link below):

The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.”

One of the users, Mark Stevenson, was less enthusiastic and writes on his page:

What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes.

The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.

Links

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

Site in French with a lot of technical details

to:

EXUkc1 <a href=“http://uclydgmyvsmo.com/”>uclydgmyvsmo</a>, [url=http://bwukdjlxmwuh.com/]bwukdjlxmwuh[/url], [link=http://dqmnwkaccgsv.com/]dqmnwkaccgsv[/link], http://jqbkyuwqvpik.com/

September 14, 2008, at 11:27 AM by fb - removed spam
Changed lines 1-53 from:

Really good site!

to:

Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600

(:table width=500px align=right bgcolor=silver border=1 cellspacing=0:) (:cellnr:)

Quick facts

(:cellnr:)

  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz plus two Z8 for power management and character recognition
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, 32KB ROM
  • Screen: 240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
  • Input: Pen on touch-sensitive screen
  • Operating system: Proprietary OS developed by Eden Group
  • Applications: World clock, Diary, Tasks, Address book, Notes, Calculator, Conversion, Search
  • Synchronisation software: Eden Windows Synchronizer available separately
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange. A PCMICA slot was used for memory expansion.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Running time stated on the box: 40 hours. In practice users have reported only 12 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD): 160×115×27mm
  • Weight: 400 g
  • Released: 1993. Price when new: €400.

(:tableend:) http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600 “user friendly” PDA

Slogans

“The user-friendly PDA”. “The pen-based personal organiser that recognises your hand-writing”.

Information

Overview

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. It is the first handheld computer to call itself a PDA. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Handwriting recognition

The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. Characters were initially entered by the user when setting the PDA up for the first time in order to “teach” it that users hand-writing. In the applications, text was entered in the set of boxes provided. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had.

Applications

Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page. Also of interest is the fact that it has a built-in speaker that could be used to dial numbers from the contacts application.

Communications

The PenPad had a serial (RS232) port that could connect to a PC for information interchange. Apparently, as Windows program called “Eden Windows Organizer” could be used to synchronise data between the PC and the PenPad. Other options also exist.

Expansion possibilities

The PenPad has a PCMCIA slot that can be used for memory cards only. When the PenPad was new, you could get these in sizes up to a whopping(!) 2 MB. Some companies shipped memory cards with preinstalled software, such as games.

Personal notes

Cliff Lawson, PDA600 project manager, writes on his web site (link below):

The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.”

One of the users, Mark Stevenson, was less enthusiastic and writes on his page:

What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes.

The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.

Links

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

Site in French with a lot of technical details

September 01, 2008, at 06:05 AM by Rick -
Changed lines 1-53 from:

Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600

(:table width=500px align=right bgcolor=silver border=1 cellspacing=0:) (:cellnr:)

Quick facts

(:cellnr:)

  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz plus two Z8 for power management and character recognition
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, 32KB ROM
  • Screen: 240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
  • Input: Pen on touch-sensitive screen
  • Operating system: Proprietary OS developed by Eden Group
  • Applications: World clock, Diary, Tasks, Address book, Notes, Calculator, Conversion, Search
  • Synchronisation software: Eden Windows Synchronizer available separately
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange. A PCMICA slot was used for memory expansion.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Running time stated on the box: 40 hours. In practice users have reported only 12 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD): 160×115×27mm
  • Weight: 400 g
  • Released: 1993. Price when new: €400.

(:tableend:) http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600 “user friendly” PDA

Slogans

“The user-friendly PDA”. “The pen-based personal organiser that recognises your hand-writing”.

Information

Overview

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. It is the first handheld computer to call itself a PDA. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Handwriting recognition

The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. Characters were initially entered by the user when setting the PDA up for the first time in order to “teach” it that users hand-writing. In the applications, text was entered in the set of boxes provided. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had.

Applications

Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page. Also of interest is the fact that it has a built-in speaker that could be used to dial numbers from the contacts application.

Communications

The PenPad had a serial (RS232) port that could connect to a PC for information interchange. Apparently, as Windows program called “Eden Windows Organizer” could be used to synchronise data between the PC and the PenPad. Other options also exist.

Expansion possibilities

The PenPad has a PCMCIA slot that can be used for memory cards only. When the PenPad was new, you could get these in sizes up to a whopping(!) 2 MB. Some companies shipped memory cards with preinstalled software, such as games.

Personal notes

Cliff Lawson, PDA600 project manager, writes on his web site (link below):

The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.”

One of the users, Mark Stevenson, was less enthusiastic and writes on his page:

What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes.

The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.

Links

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

Site in French with a lot of technical details

to:

Really good site!

October 30, 2007, at 11:39 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 53-56 from:

Hej hopp ditt feta nylle!

Site in French with a lot of technical details

to:

Site in French with a lot of technical details

October 30, 2007, at 11:37 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 53-56 from:

Site in French with a lot of technical details

to:

Hej hopp ditt feta nylle!

Site in French with a lot of technical details

April 09, 2006, at 10:08 AM by Hans-Göran -
Added line 52:
April 09, 2006, at 10:04 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed line 26 from:

One of the first PDAs altogether and one of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

to:

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. It is the first handheld computer to call itself a PDA. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Changed lines 51-52 from:

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

to:

A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project Site in French with a lot of technical details

April 09, 2006, at 09:53 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed line 13 from:
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange and a paralell port for connection to printers.
to:
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange. A PCMICA slot was used for memory expansion.
Changed line 26 from:

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple to market by a few week. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

to:

One of the first PDAs altogether and one of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple with its Newton, to market by a few weeks. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

April 09, 2006, at 09:50 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed line 7 from:
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, ´32KB ROM
to:
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, 32KB ROM
Changed lines 38-39 from:

‘’The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)’‘

to:

The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)

Deleted line 40:
Changed lines 47-49 from:

‘’The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.’‘

to:

The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.

April 09, 2006, at 09:46 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 7-8 from:
  • Memory: ½8KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, ´32KB ROM
  • Screen: `240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
to:
  • Memory: 128KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, ´32KB ROM
  • Screen: 240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
Changed line 12 from:
  • Synchronisation software: not available
to:
  • Synchronisation software: Eden Windows Synchronizer available separately
Changed line 16 from:
  • Weight: <400 g
to:
  • Weight: 400 g
Added line 37:
Changed lines 39-42 from:

Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!) ‘’… ‘’Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.” ‘’

to:

Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!)’‘ …

Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.”

Changed lines 46-47 from:

‘’What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes. The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all.

to:

What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes.

‘’The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all.

Added line 50:
April 09, 2006, at 09:42 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 6-7 from:
  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz
  • Memory: ½8KB RAM, ´32KB ROM
to:
  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz plus two Z8 for power management and character recognition
  • Memory: ½8KB RAM plus 32KB for recognizer and 32KB for display, ´32KB ROM
Changed line 10 from:
  • Operating system: Proprietary.
to:
  • Operating system: Proprietary OS developed by Eden Group
Changed line 26 from:

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

to:

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad actually beat Apple to market by a few week. The PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

Added lines 36-46:

Cliff Lawson, PDA600 project manager, writes on his web site (link below): ‘’The PDA600 is one of my favourite Amstrad projects which probably has something to do with the fact that I was the Project Manager! Unfortunately, The whole PDA concept was a bit of a plot that failed and as we were left with huge stocks of the PDA600 we have recently [c1996] sold them all to Tandy (Radio Shack). This does have the huge advantage that you can now buy one for £50 (which is less than half what it cost us to build them!) ‘’… ‘’Interesting fact number 37 is that we got about 95% of the way through developing a replacement for the PDA600 called the PIC700 that included a radio pager but it ran hugely over budget and schedule and was eventually shelved … shame, it was brilliant.” ‘’ One of the users, Mark Stevenson, was less enthusiastic and writes on his page:

‘’What can I say about the PDA600? This must be in my opinion the worst computer ever! It was supposed to be able to convert handwriting to text to allow quick and easy entries to be made, but it could never read my writing so I was forever going back to correct my mistakes. The machine was also short on memory, it came as standard with 128kb. This could be filled with around 20 free form notes without any database entries being made at all. The database was completely uncustomisable, being suitable really only for a phone book. It also had a diary function which I don’t think was too bad - if you could ever get the entry in with the handwriting recognition.’‘

April 09, 2006, at 09:35 AM by Hans-Göran -
Changed lines 7-8 from:
  • Memory:
  • Screen:
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  • Memory: ½8KB RAM, ´32KB ROM
  • Screen: `240×320 pixels, black and white touch-sensitive screen without backlight
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  • Operating system:
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  • Operating system: Proprietary.
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  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange and connection to printers.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Estimated operational time before batteries are depleted: 40 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD):
to:
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange and a paralell port for connection to printers.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Running time stated on the box: 40 hours. In practice users have reported only 12 hours.
  • Size (HxWxD): 160×115×27mm
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Overview

One of the first computers to recognize hand-writing, the Amstrad PenPad is much larger than the PalmPilot. In fact it is more similar in size to a pocket book. It has a cover for the screen that is flipped away much similar to the way you would page into a book. There is a miniature serial connector at the top and a PCMCIA connector at the bottom. The pen is located in a slot at the back.

April 09, 2006, at 09:26 AM by Hans-Göran -
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  • CPU:
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  • CPU: Z8S180 (Z80-compatible) running at 14.3 MHz
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  • Released: 1993?
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  • Released: 1993. Price when new: €400.
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The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. It did so by first asking the user to enter each letter of the alphabet and then ask the user to enter any input data in provided boxes. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had. Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page.

to:

Handwriting recognition

The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. Characters were initially entered by the user when setting the PDA up for the first time in order to “teach” it that users hand-writing. In the applications, text was entered in the set of boxes provided. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had.

Applications

Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page. Also of interest is the fact that it has a built-in speaker that could be used to dial numbers from the contacts application.

Communications

The PenPad had a serial (RS232) port that could connect to a PC for information interchange. Apparently, as Windows program called “Eden Windows Organizer” could be used to synchronise data between the PC and the PenPad. Other options also exist.

Expansion possibilities

The PenPad has a PCMCIA slot that can be used for memory cards only. When the PenPad was new, you could get these in sizes up to a whopping(!) 2 MB. Some companies shipped memory cards with preinstalled software, such as games.

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A good site written by the project manager(!) for the `PenPad project

April 09, 2006, at 09:06 AM by Hans-Göran -
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  • Applications:
  • Synchronisation software:
  • Connectivity:
  • Power source:
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  • Applications: World clock, Diary, Tasks, Address book, Notes, Calculator, Conversion, Search
  • Synchronisation software: not available
  • Connectivity: Serial port (RS232) for PC information interchange and connection to printers.
  • Power source: Three AA batteries and one lithium CR2032 battery for backup power. Estimated operational time before batteries are depleted: 40 hours.
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  • Weight:
  • Released:
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  • Weight: <400 g
  • Released: 1993?
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Sales pitch from when it was new

(tbd)

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Slogans

“The user-friendly PDA”. “The pen-based personal organiser that recognises your hand-writing”.

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The Amstrad Pen Pad was one of the first pen-based computers that could recognise handwriting. It did so by first asking the user to enter each letter of the alphabet and then ask the user to enter any input data in provided boxes. This is similar to filling in a paper-form that has one box for each letter. Obviously this method of input made it easier to recognise characters than the method that Apples Newton had choosen - continous flow handwriting recognition. Because the Amstrad presented several input character boxes at once, it made it slightly faster to input text than if you had only one fixed area of the screen, such as the Palm Pilot had. Applications were the standard PIM ones with the addition of a unit conversion application. However, the Amstrad had one interesting feature: You could draw anything on the screen in the diary and notes applications and it would be saved as graphics on that page.

April 09, 2006, at 05:20 AM by Hans-Göran -
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Amstrad PDA 600

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Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600

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http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad PDA 600 User friendly PDA

to:

http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad Pen Pad PDA 600 “user friendly” PDA

April 09, 2006, at 05:15 AM by Hans-Göran -
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Amstrad PDA 600

(:table width=500px align=right bgcolor=silver border=1 cellspacing=0:) (:cellnr:)

Quick facts

(:cellnr:)

  • CPU:
  • Memory:
  • Screen:
  • Input: Pen on touch-sensitive screen
  • Operating system:
  • Applications:
  • Synchronisation software:
  • Connectivity:
  • Power source:
  • Size (HxWxD):
  • Weight:
  • Released:

(:tableend:) http://pdamuseum.info/pmwiki-2.0.13/pictures/amstrad_pda600.jpg | Amstrad PDA 600 User friendly PDA

Sales pitch from when it was new

(tbd)

Information

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Page last modified on November 28, 2008, at 06:20 AM