Pocket Computer revisited

I'd come back from the UK at the end of 1992 with my younger brother's programmable calculator, a Casio. It was an impressive thing and in my opinion, bringing it to Canada to be a useful device in my career, served to keep his memory fresh in my mind.

However, there was another device out there that caught my eye, and I knew that it had the capability to run Lotus 123, and be a "pocket" clamshell computer. It was a Hewlett Packard HP100LX :

It was a full on DOS computer that was over a thousand bucks, and I set up a nefarious deal with a chap that had advertised in the paper, he had a brand new unit for a mere five hundred bucks.

I called his number (not internet back then) and he said "I bought it for my girlfriend and she does not want it" which I completely believed. He said the best thing would be to meet at night time in the carpark at the McDonalds on Markham Road near Toronto, make sure to bring cash in unmarked bills and he said that we'd be good to go.

And so it was.

Ok, he did not say bring unmarked bills, but the entire transaction felt like some sort of drug deal and at one point I felt that I would be killed during the proceedings. However, in the end I was safe and I did not care, I had secured a brand new HP 100LX and I was happy as a clam with a clamshell.

It was time to put the "Houseplan" home budget spreadsheet on a pocket computer.