Compaq C-Series H/PC

The Compaq's C-Series is one of the few H/PCs that's still small enough to fit in your pocket. That fact, a sturdy construction, and a built-in modem make it a reasonable choice for mobile professionals who want to carry one portable computer with them to access data and stay in touch.

Compact's C-Series H/PCs come in monochrome (810) and color-display (2010 c) versions. Both come with a 75 MHz RISC processor, and internal 33.6 Kbps integrated modem with RJ-11 port, a serial port, PC Card slot, infrared port, speaker, and AC adapters. The monochrome-screen 810 has 8 MB of RAM and is powered by two AA alkaline batteries up to 20 hours. The color-screen 2010 C has 20 MB of RAM and is powered by a rechargeable NiMH battery pack for up to three hours. Both come with the same Windows CE 2.0 operating system and built-in applications. Both have the same set of bundled software, described below.

Bundled software

Both versions of the C-Series come with the following additional software:

• bFax Express ­ lets you send faxes from the C-Series. (Commercial version available for $29.95 from bSquare Technologies, Web: www.bsquare.com.)
• Quicknotes ­ adds a notepad that lets you enter handwritten notes, maps, sketches, etc. and organize them by date. (Commercially available for $13 from Communication Intelligence Corporation, Web: www.cic.com.)
• Spell Checker ­ lets you spell check in any Windows CE application. (Developed by Communication Intelligence Corporation, Web: www.cic.com.)
• Pocket Carbon Copy ­ lets you remotely control your desktop PC from your H/PC. (Commercial version available bundled with Carbon Copy 32 V 5.0 for $139.95, from Compaq dealers. Web: www.compaq.com.)
• Mail on the Run ­ provides you with direct and remote access to popular LAN-based e-mail systems, including Microsoft Mail^®, Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus cc:Mail, and Lotus Notes Mail. (Commercial version available for $89, from River Run Software Group, Web: http://www.riverrun.com).
• All in Sync ­ lets you remotely synchronize Pocket Calendar, Tasks and Contacts with their Lotus Notes calendar and scheduling data. (Commercial version available for $138, from River Run Software Group, Web: www.riverrun.com).
• Pocket BizCalc ­ a full-featured business/financial software calculator that emulates the HP-12C. Using RPN logic, it performs loan/mortgage; discounted cash flow; bond; compound interest; leasing; actuarial and markup functions; depreciation; amoritization schedule; and more. (Commercially available for $39.95, from Odyssey Computing, Inc., Web: www.odysseyinc.com.)
• IntelliMigrate ­ lets you "migrate" data from several other types of palmtops or PDAs to your H/PC. (Commercially available for $39.95 from Puma Technology, Web: www.pumatech.com.)