HP-75
Encyclopedia
The HP-75C and HP-75D were hand-held computers programmable in BASIC, made by Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 from 1982 to 1986.

The HP-75 had a single-line liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

, 48 KiB system ROM and 16 KiB RAM, a comparatively large keyboard (albeit without separate numeric pad), a manually operated magnetic card reader (2×650 bytes per card), 4 ports for memory expansion (1 for RAM and 3 for ROM modules), and an HP-IL
HP-IL
The HP-IL , was a short-range interconnection bus or network introduced by Hewlett-Packard in the early 1980s. It enabled several devices such as printers, floppy disk drives, tape readers, etc...

 interface that could be used to connect printers, storage and electronic test equipment. The BASIC interpreter included file handling capabilities, using RAM, cards or cassettes/diskettes (via HP-IL) for program storage.

Other features included a text editor as well as an appointment reminder with alarms, similar to functions of modern PDAs
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

.

The HP-75D (1984-1986) added a port for a bar code wand, often used for inventory control tasks.

The HP-75 was comparatively expensive with an MSRP
MSRP
MSRP may refer to:* Manufacturer's suggested retail price, in business* Message Session Relay Protocol, a protocol used for multimedia communications* MSRP Motorsports, a former name of the HP Racing NASCAR team...

 of $995 ($2,014 in 2005) for the 75C or $1095 ($2,058 in 2005) for the 75D, making it less popular than the cheaper successor model, the HP-71B
HP-71B
The HP-71B was a hand-held computer or calculator programmable in BASIC, made by Hewlett-Packard from 1984 to 1989.The HP-71B was known as the "supreme" hand-held calculator/computer of choice at the time for those seeking the ultimate in hand-held devices. It was particularly popular at The...

.

The HP-75C has a KANGAROO printed on its PCB
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

, as its codename (see link for picture).

HP-75D codename's is MERLIN.

External links

  • HP-75 at the MoHPC
  • HP Journal, June 1983 Article about the HP-75C design, the IL interface and the card reader
  • Some nice internal views at MyCalcDB (see the Kangaroo on the PCB
    Printed circuit board
    A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

    )
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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