...[Getting Started]...

Purchasing a T100X
Like myself, you probably just purchased a t100x or considering one from ONSALE. It is web site which auctions off mostly refurbished computers and electronic goods. They seem to auction around tem per week. Items go on the auction block Monday, Wednesday, and Friday around 3PM PST. You can find these pen computers under "Notebooks" from their main page. Since they sort winning bids by price, quantity, and time, the best strategy is to put a bid early. If you get bumped off the list, you can submit another bid while maintaining your time stamp. Check out my response about ONSALE's advertisement.

Other places to search
You can also look for ads at comp.sys.pen. People are usually asking around $200. If it comes with a modem, it might be worth it. Use www.dejanews.com if you don't access to a news groups. Lastly, you can buy one from a reseller; just search the web. Their prices are usually a lot higher.

Warranty
Don't expect to get much help from Toshiba, even if your machine is under warranty.

How much is it really worth?
My winning bid was $175 (2/97) and shipping around $13. I cheapest I've seen them on ONSALE is $145. With the popularity of new PDAs with Windows CE and Pilots, the value may drop.

Why should I buy one?
Tough question. If any of these popular reasons appeal to you, then you should consider one.

• You need a fun supplemental computer
• You need a pen-based computer to supplement your collection of odd computers
• You think PDA and their software are expensive whereas Window programs are abundant and cheap
• You can live with the fact that the computer's battery capacity is small
• You can tolerate a slow disk drive
• You like to tinker
• You have a creative idea which requires a pen-based computer
• You don't the mind the attention from power laptop users on a plane
• You enjoy surfing the net lying down in bed...(geek)
• You don't want to lug your heavy laptop around just to check you email

I bought mine because I wanted a machine that is both small and could run a web browser to enter a secured site for on-line banking and stock trading.

Should I double-space my drive?

I did, but I don't recommend doing do unless

• you cannot upgrade your hard drive (see Bryan's Tech section),
• you still don't have enough disk space after deleting unnecessary files
• the popular Zip (available from www.shareware.com) utility does not help reduce large files.
• you absolutely need more disk space.

I was stupid. I double-spaced my entire 40mb drive. The windows swap file shouldn't be in the double-spaced partition. When I get my 80mb, I don't plan to double-space it.

Your T100X is limited if you can't exchange files. I am assuming you don't have the optional external floppy disk drive. I found the following invaluable to make my T100X useful:

• external keyboard (get an adapter if you have an older style to 101 keyboard). I got a mini black one from Fry's Electronics in CA for $30. Somebody asked me what keyboard I am using. It is by Qtronix. Made in China.
• null serial modem cable ($10) or lap link parallel cable ($15).
• finally, it helps to have access to another PC - everybody has one, right?

By the ways, I found some inexpensive cables and keyboards at www.ebay.com.

"No Floppy? No Problem"

I was somewhat concerned that there isn't a built in floppy drive. There exists an optional external floppy but the market price go for $200 which is more than the price of the machine itself. There are several methods to exchange files. I will describe two: (1) null serial cable transfer and (2) DOS Interlnk program. You'll find that using Interlnk is much easier and cleaner.

Null Serial Modem Cable

• Plug the null serial modem cable to the serial port of the T100X and the other end to your other PC. Both machines should have some terminal communications software for modem connectivity. Instead of connecting to a modem, you are connecting to the serial port.
• On my PC, I started Acessories->Hyper Terminal->hypertrm.exe. It will go through the procedures to create a new connection. Select the appropriate COMM port for your PC.
• On the T100X side, run the Acessories->Terminal->Communications. Select the proper COMM port which is usually COMM 1. Use the default settings for the Data Bits, Parity, etc.
• Increase the Baud Rate to 19200. You are ready to Transfer files. Make sure you that the binary transfer protocol is the same on both sides. I use XModem.
• You are ready to transfer files!

DOS Interlnk: If you don't have Lap Link software, follow these steps to use your PC's resources such as the hard drive, CD Rom, floppy drive from you T100X..

• Connect the lap link cable between the two machines. You will need to use yout T100X's parallel adapter cable.
• Make sure that your PC has a copy of INTERSVR.EXE (download size 37KB) which is packed with DOS 6.X. I ran into a problem since my PC has Windows 95 and no DOS directory. I couldn't find it on my machine so I just copied it from a friend.
• You need to configure your T100X files. Make a safe copy of your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and C:\CONFIG.SYS files. We'll modify the latter. You can run the SYSEDIT (System Configuration Editor) from Windows if you have no keyboard.
• Add the following line at the end of the CONFIG.SYS: "device=c:\dos\interlnk.exe /drives:5 /auto" without the quotes.
• Run INTERSVR on the PC side.
• Reboot the T100X.
• When you go into file manager, who should see some additional drives which map to your PC.

Iomega Zip drive connection

I like the Iomega Zip drive because I can back up my T100X entirely on one disk. I can also use it for additional drive space. In a nutshell, the Iomega Zip drive is a 100MB external disk drive which attaches to the parallel port. The T100X normally comes with 40MB drive which is too small. I find the Zip drive useful since it allows me back up files before deleting files which I don't need, e.g. help files, bmp files, some window's accessories, and so forth.

Don't run the install program -- keep it small!
I did not use the Install program provided with the Iomega zip drive because I wanted a minimal configuration. (40MB drive is small)

• Create a directory and place the following files which should be in your floppy disk provided with the Zip drive.

• nibble.ilm
• aspippm1.sys
• wlzlink.exe <-- not certain if this file is required
• guest.exe guest.ini
  
• Edit your guest.ini file to reflect the following.
  
• SCAN=ON ASPI=ASPIPPM1.SYS /INFO
• FILE=NIBBLE.ILM SPEED= 1
  
• You can simply make the other lines REMarks.
• Save a copy of your autoexec.bat to say, autoexec.bak in case you screw up.
• Edit your c:\autoexec.bat such that
  
• the PATH environment variable contains this new directory.
• Before the "win" command, add "GUEST" in the line above.
  
• The above instructions work for me but follow at your own risk!

Installing a Modem

For me, this was the most difficult part since I ran into a snag with the COM port settings. Don't forget to check out Bryan's section for debugging tips and modem performance test results.

Megahertz 14.4 modem in slot 2 (COM 2 port).

First, you need to get yourself a PCMCIA Type II modem or modem/fax combination. I like the idea of having a fax machine on my T100X. I can sketch out a drawing and fax it anywhere. I also recommend getting a card with an "X-JACK" connector. Simply, it is a little pop out plug for your telephone jack connector. Cheaper modems have their own special adapter which implies you have to lug this adapter around. Shop around the internet for good deals. Since I didn't want to spend too much on my T100X, I bought a 14.4 Megahertz XJ1144 card. I paid about $35 from ONSALE (2/97). Since the T100X display is slow and 16 shades of gray, I plan to surf the net using text only.

Before we go on to the modem installation, we need to get PCMCIA drivers first. I got the Toshiba Card Manager which is described in the following section. Mike G didn't used the Toshiba Card Manager. He simply used the PCMCIA driver along with a drive called POINTMOD which works well with his IBM 14.4.

"...(here are the) instructions when not using Toshiba's Card Manager 3.0. It is simply a matter of adding the two files (PCMCIA2.SYS and POINTMOD.EXE) to my config files. I do believe I used a script to install the pointmod but all it did was ad parameters to the command. You can let people know if they contact me I will provide them a copy of the files along with my config files so they can see how it works... should take longer for them write me than it is to do (in other words very simple)" --Michael G.

Toshiba Card Manager

In a nutshell, I had download and install the Toshiba Card Manager (TCM) 3.0. You'll note that you get the manual for TCM, but no software! Don't fret, you can download this from the Toshiba web site. Download Toshiba Card Manager 3.0 full package (573K). This includes full documentation and the User's Manual in ASCII text format. It is a self-extracting ZIP file.

• Download TCM30.EXE, a self extracting file. I did this on my PC.
• Obtain extraction password via email.
• You'll get an email back with the password. Mine was "mesozoic". They say the password is changed occasionally.
• Optional: Create an installation floppy diskette on my PC by typing TCM3DISK A: Save the floppy with your pile of AOL diskettes.
• Create a directory in the T100X which contains the same files. I transferred files using INTERLNK.

The installation instructions which are provided with TCM 3.0 are pretty straight forward. Here's a summary:

• Remove any existing PCMCIA card and socket services first.
• Connect an external keyboard
• Reboot machine
• Using File Manager, navigate to the new directory and run INSTALL program. This installs files into a C:\PCMPLUS3 directory.
• CD C:\PCMPLUS3
• PCMSETUP

Now that you have TCM installed, you can continute with the modem configuration. I have a card in slot 2 which corresponds to COM2. If I recall correctly, I had problems since it was conflicting with COM3 which I believe is dedicated to the tablet. Hence, I believe I changed the settings for COM3 and COM4.My COM port settings are as follows -- keep in mind, yours might be different. Don't worry, you can always change it back if it doesn't work.

Further To Do's

• Can I simply use the PCMIA software instead of the Toshiba Card Manager software to use my modem?
• When I am in resume mode and boot up, my modem doesn't work. Is there a fix? The manual mentions APM.SYS and POWER.EXE as a solution.

Surfing the Web with the T100X

Now that you have a modem installed, you have this strange curiousity and desire to surf the web from your T100X. It's possible; most windows 3.X programs should run on the T100X. However, I think you'll eventually get tired since the T100X display is slow. (See Bryan's article about modem speeds -- 28.8 doesn't really help much). You can get around this by turning off graphics; the display on the T100X is limiting so nouy much is lost.

If you are running from a base configuration of 4MB/40MB disk, I recommend getting a light browser such as Netscape version 1.22. I like it since the netscape.exe file is about 1MB in size compared to the currrent bloated version 3.0. Internet Explorer isn't better. With the older version, you can't run Java applets or frames though. You'll probably want avoid the heavy downloads anyways. I am also using Shiva dialer. Bryan told me Internet Explorer 3.X is also slow on the T100X.

Here are some web browser recommended settings and tips:

• Turn off auto load graphics option.
• Turn off disk caching. If you use disk caching, make sure the cache area is not on a double spaced partition.
• Set custom background (white) and font colors (black). Some web pages have custom colors which don't map very well to a grey scale display.
• Please contribute other tips

Sample system files

I've made my autoexec.bat, config.sys, and system.ini files available for your inspection. Keep in mind that your files are probably be different depending on the hardware configuration. You can look at mine for an example only. These files are configured for the basic T100X, 4mb RAM, 40mb HDD which is double-spaced, an optional Iomega Zip drive, 14.4 modem/fax pcmcia card in slot 2, and DOS INTERLNK. During boot-up, my machine checks if there exists an INTERLNK connecting with another PC before running Windows.

• C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
• C:\CONFIG.SYS
• C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI

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