From: falk@peregrine.Eng.Sun.COM (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Subject: HP95 bugs -- open letter to HP
Date: 7 Jan 93 01:01:58 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: peregrine

Well, I've sent my HP95 off for upgrade.  Time to sit back and reflect
on what I do and do not like about it.

The hardware is certainly the greatest thing since sliced bread, but
the software is lacking to say the least.  I could even see a market
for third-party roms to replace the stock roms in the hp.

Here are the bugs I've encountered in roughly the order I encountered
them.

Are you out there HP?  Anybody have a snail-mail address I could
formally submit this list to?

Greenwich isn't in the timezone conversion database.
  Come on folks, Greenwich is the most referenced timezone there is.

Poor file browser.
  The file browser (sub-function of filer) is very limited; you need
  the ability to move around quickly, move to specific parts
  (bookmarks) and view large files.  A couple months ago, someone
  posted a features list for a "book" program they'd like to see that
  would allow you to put large text documents into the HP and read
  them.  This is what the file browser should be.

  (p.s. I've started writing such a book program, but am not working on
  it full time.  Anybody interested in doing this as a joint project?)

Exiting apps is clumsy
  Everybody has experienced this.  To exit an application such as the
  phone book or appointment book, you need to go through the sequence:

    MENU-Q	quit
    Y		answer "save changes before exiting?" question
    ENTER	accept current file name
    Y		answer "replace current file?" question

  This is very annoying, and I'm sure is the subject of the first macro
  users ever write.  It's the best part of 95buddy Remember that many
  users of this software are not used to DOS file conventions; they
  simply want to exit.

  It would be far better to have a "DONE" key -- perhaps one of the
  function keys, or just ESCAPE -- that saves the file and exits.  It
  would also be nice if upon reentering the application, the file was
  brought up in the same place it was left.

ESC should exit any app. that may be exited
  Similar to above complaint -- any application that can exit cleanly
  (e.g. phonebook if the file does not need to be saved) should exit
  with ESCAPE.  I'd prefer that even apps that do need to save the file
  work this way too.

In memo mode, ALT key does not show compose.
  ALT-F1 is compose in memo mode, but the only way to know this is by
  reading the documentation.  The function keys menu should change
  while ALT is held down.

ALT doesn't show alt. definitions in PHONE mode.
  See above.

COMPOSE fcn. needs menus
  The only way to use the compose function (or CHAR key) is to memorize
  the keyboard map.  It would be far better to have a menu of special
  characters come up temporarily.

calc. should use ALT instead of CTRL
  Some alternate functions in the calculator are brought up with the
  CTRL key.  This should be the ALT key for consistency.

'#' should work to check things off
  You use the space bar to check things off in the TODO list and get
  the hash mark.  It would be more intuitive to have the '#' key do the
  same job.

There should be a real check mark
  This would be nice; couldn't it have been put into the character
  set?

should be able to set TODO priorities with numbers
  Hitting the space bar over and over again to change the priority of
  an item in the TODO list is a pain.  Hitting digit keys should work
  as well.

password locking for individual organizer files
  This would be nice, but I suppose DOS doesn't allow it.

manual pp.28-34 says you can select x or y for xvar in y=sin(x) graph
mode.
  I found this confusing.  Need to stress that still only plots y

calc file menu different; breaks my macro
  To open a file for input in most modes, you do MENU-File-Open.  In
  the calculator, you do MENU-File-Retrieve.  This is confusing and
  breaks the macro I defined to open files.

any way to have bsp & del both in comm mode?  arrow keys?
  In comm mode, you can have backspace OR delete (menu selectable), but
  you can't have both.  That's stupid; the keyboard has both keys, they
  should both work.

need way to run commands from filer giving file as argument
  It would be nice to run a dos program from the filer and pass it
  arguments.  I don't know how to do this though.

Have filer run app appropriate to file.
  This would be very handy.  I'd like to be able to highlight any file
  in the filer, and hit RUN (F4) and have the right thing happen.  For
  example, .BAT, .COM and .EXE programs would be run as they are now.
  .TXT files would be brought up in the memo editor.  .PCX files would
  be brought up in a graphics editor.

  There would be a file in _dat\ that lists what application to run for
  what file extension.

run exm from filer
  It would be nice to be able to run .EXM programs from the filer.

Alarm is confusing.
  If an alarm goes off while the HP is in my pocket, I open it up and
  see the topcard but no explanation as to why the HP is beeping.  If I
  enter the appointment mode, I get another alarm telling me what I
  need to know.  It would be simpler to get that message at the topcard
  mode.

Set sound files for alarm?  Have specific program run?
  It would be nice to be able to specify certain sounds to be played or
  certain programs to be run when an alarm expires.

shouldn't have to enter year in sched.
  I enter dates in the dd-mon-yy format.  It would be nice to be able
  to drop the year and even the month and have sched use the current
  values.

memo, etc. should remember last dir
  Applications should remember the last directory and use it in the
  future.  I want to keep my .txt files in a different directory from
  _dat\.  Lotus 123 does this properly.

need FIND function in filer
  It would be nice to enter a few characters and have the filer move to
  that file -- the way the phone book works.

run .exe with hot keys
  It would be nice to run .EXE programs from the topcard mode --
  perhaps bound to function keys.

CTRL-ENTER does not work in memo mode
  In most edit modes, CTRL-ENTER deletes to end of line.  This does not
  work in the memo editor -- very annoying and inconsistent.

CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER does not work in most edit modes
  'nuff said.

END, CTRL-END dont work in viewer
  'nuff said; this is very annoying and inconsistent.

default tabs different in MEMO mode
  I know you can change the tabs, but the *default* should be eight
  characters, just like all other modes.

need to edit notes from appt insert
  It's annoying to have to leave Insert mode in the appointment tool
  and then enter Note mode.  It should be possible to enter Note mode
  directly.

calculator
  The calculator is the second worst feature in the HP95 (the first
  being the "Exiting apps is clumsy" bug I mentioned above.) My loyalty
  to HP is based primarily on how wonderful the calculators are.  At
  one time or another in my life, I've owned the following
  calculators:  HP45, HP21, HP25, HP11, HP16, HP15, HP32s and these
  were all wonderful machines (the HP11 was the best).  The calculator
  mode in the HP95 sucks, to be mild.  The financial modes are nice,
  and the graphic mode is nice, but simple scientific operations are a
  bitch.  To fix the HP95, I'd do the following:

	Put far more functions directly on the keyboard (along with
		SQRT, 1/X, X<>Y, Rv, LAST, STO, RCL, +/-).  Searching
		for these things through menus is a royal pain.  I
		suggest the following:
			fix/sci/eng modes
			deg/rad modes
			bin/oct/dec/hex modes
			abs(x)
			pi
			X**2, exp, exp10, ln, log10, y**x
			sin,cos,tan,asin,acos,atan,atan2
			HMS->H, H->HMS
			deg->rad, rad->deg
			rect->polar, polar->rect
			sigma functions: clear,add,subtract
			stat functions: P(y,x),C(y,x),x!,etc.
		In short, teach the HP95 to emulate an HP11.  The loss of
		the sigma functions is the most sorely felt of all, because
		this can't be done by any means, even in Lotus.

	Make it programable.  Nothing fancy, just let me define functions as
	I need them.

k-server incomplete
  This is a biggie.  Without the ability to read directories from the HP
  or delete files, a lot of automated processes such as backup/restore are
  *much* harder to perform.

serial input
  It would be nice if I could enter text via the serial port.  For
  instance, if I'm editing an appointment note and want to download the
  data, I'd like to be able to hit a function key that means "accept
  input from the serial port".
--
		-ed falk, sun microsystems
		 sun!falk, falk@sun.com
To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags 
-- that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal (Mark Twain).
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops