Panamatik’s Woodstock Low Power is an Incredible Product

[rprosperi]

I’ve been exploring my new Woodstock Low Power (WLP) HP-25 for about a week and I wanted to share some early impressions with the community.

My configuration is a WLP with IR transmitter and GPS module installed in an HP-25 (non-C model, s/n 1605A…), so I have one with ‘all the bells and whistles’. I used an HP-25 for 3 years in college so I’ve been comfortable with using one in the past and I really like the small form factor, the just-right feeling in the hand, classic HP key-click/feel and of course red LEDs. Although the WLP can be configured as any of the Woodstock models (21, 22, 25, 27, 29, 67) as well as the Classic and Spice series models, most of my testing/playing has been while configured as an HP-25 as this is what the h/w is (keys, labels) and is the model I am most familiar with.

The feature set has been published for some time (http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-8735.html) so I won’t repeat all that here, but I will note a few features that made impressions while driving it around.

Full Alphabet/Text and Special Character Display: WLP lets you use the complete alphabet (A-Z) plus many common symbols and punctuation, a first for HP LED calculators (probably all LED calculators). Some letters are upper- and some lower-case, and while a few might not be intuitively recognized when viewed by itself, I’ve not found any that are confusing when viewed in the context of the surrounding letters in a word. For example, programs can be saved using fully alphabetic names or descriptions, and as there is sooo much storage space, you will definitely need to use this feature. Entering and editing the letters is simple and quick and having the full alphabet and symbols available enable the next 3 cool features.

Program Mnemonic Display: Program steps can now be stored in mnemonics using the full Alphabet and special characters, so programs now show “SIN” rather than 14 52 (on an HP-25). This is particularly helpful when reviewing a program printout.

IR Printing: You can print to HP’s 82240A and 82240B printers if you add the IR diode transmitter to your WLP. This supports PRINT X, paper advance, TRACE mode, and most of the printing features found on the printing Woodstock machines. I have not experimented much with the print feature yet, but everything I’ve tried has worked just as one would expect. I did not measure IR range, but found it worked to at least 18” from the printer.

Function Name Display: If you hold down a numerical operation key (e.g. COS, X^2, ABS, etc.), the WLP will perform that numerical function, briefly display the result, and then display the mnemonic for that operation. Though not quite as nice as the 41C feature which will let you cancel the operation if you continue to hold it until NULL is displayed, however when you have the WLP configured for a machine different from the actual keyboard (or on an installed overlay) it is very helpful to verify that you pressed the correct key.

Programs Pre-stored: In addition to being able to store 100 of your own programs (each the max size for that model – e.g. 98 steps for a 29C) and 10 sets of register variables for each model calculator, the WLP comes with 55 programs for the HP-25 (54 from the Applications Manual, plus a bonus Battleship game) and the complete HP-67 Standard Pac set of 15 programs already entered and available for use. So even though it's interesting to use the new features to enter programs, these are already in there so you can start exploring fully ready programs right away.

Settings Easily Configured: Settings (for many features I’ve not described at all here) are controlled via a simple screen that lets you check and set the various Flags, including things like date format, show Trig mode, Right-aligned display output, IR enabled, Wakeup keys, etc.

Detailed Manual: Although most key commands are summarized on a nice laminated card which comes with the WLP, the Options, Functions and Modes will need, at least while initially learning them, a bit more explanation and Bernhard provides an excellent PDF manual with thorough but still clear explanation of the feature, how to use it, some advice, etc. Also, the WLP is built upon Panamatik’s earlier Enhanced ACT and many of the WLP’s features are described there. The WLP manual in fact begins by recommending you read that manual first, and it has clear explanations for what is the same as the Enhanced ACT, what is different, and what is completely new in the WLP.

Here are links to the 2 pages on Panamatik’s website for easy access.

WLP: http://www.panamatik.de/html/hp_low_power.html
Enhanced ACT: http://www.panamatik.de/html/hp_calculat...r_kit.html

Misc. Functions: Here a few other functions I won't describe in detail, but are worth mentioning: Time, Date, DOW, Storage used, Temperature, Beeper and also a real-time Clock/Calendar and Alarms (which really deserves more explanation here, but this review is already running long).

Really Low Power: As the name implies, the WLP is really, really low power. Anyone that has used a Woodstock for long recognizes that one of its most frustrating limitations is its short battery life. Back in the day, a full charge was good for only 2-3 hours of sustained use. More modern cells can extend that to 4-5 hours, but it still is frustrating and in many cases too limiting to be relied on for a full day of use. With the completely new circuit in Panamatik’s WLP (details explain how in the thread noted at the beginning) this has been dramatically extended such that this is no longer any concern. I have been using my WLP for many (8-10) hours over the past week, and the voltage indicator is still showing the same 2.5V it showed when I started (I’m using 2 new NiCD AA cells). The WLP also powers itself down into sleep mode after 1 minute (configurable) of inactivity so this helps too.

Seamless Integration into Woodstock Personality: I’ve briefly described a few of the WLP’s amazing features here to try to convey what a truly amazing product this is, but in my opinion the true genius of Panamtik’s brilliant product is all these amazing features, modes, capabilities and options are integrated seamlessly into the Woodstock’s simple and intuitive personality in a way that does not in any way interfere with original Woodstock operation. It’s easy to add a new feature to a product, but it’s much harder to add new features that are useful and easily accessed but without interfering with the original UI. Incredibly, the WLP has done this with 20-30 completely new features, extended some existing features, and does this for all 3 families of calculators while preserving the Woodstock’s ease of use and original charm. In fact, if you gave a WLP machine to an experienced Woodstock user, he/she might never even notice that all these great capabilities are in there. Unless they notice it ran faster… or the batteries lasted longer… or that the WLP display says OFF briefly before shutting down.

If you like vintage LED machines, my advice is simple: Get one!

As other WLP users get their machines assembled and running, please add your own comments to this thread about your favorite WLP feature and how you use it.

Many, many thanks Bernhard!