I feel like a new world is being opened to me. I am finally getting in touch with what my body truly desires; I feel as though a centuries-long, intimate, carnal yearning is finally being fulfilled.

I can finally carry an IBM PC XT with CGA-compatible graphics in my pocket.

#retrocomputing #200lx #pda

A size comparison for the curious. The #Book8088 is about 50% larger and thicker than the #HP200LX. In return, you get a backlit color VGA screen, an OPL3 Adlib, a rattly netbook keyboard instead of a chiclet keyboard, a full-sized serial port, a parallel port, and a bus expansion port. (You also get no instant-on capability, a vastly diminished battery life, and no ability to run on AA's. It's not a direct upgrade, by any means.)

For me, the machines fill different niches. The HP #200LX is a productivity machine for daily use... sort of a PIM-organizer-multitool that can host arbitrary DOS software. The 200LX is also a better programming machine due to its built-in task switching.

Meanwhile, the Book 8088 is better for longform writing, audiovisual projects, and general "flop on the couch in the dark and be unproductive" downtime.

They complement each other very nicely!