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David Whittaker · 11-13-2014, 09:41 PM

Does anyone know where to get manuals and other documentation for this device?

Karl-Ludwig Butte · 11-14-2014, 08:06 AM

Hi David,

the Xpander software was developed by a company called Saltire. After HP abandond the project they still had the copyright and published Xpander material on their website http://www.saltire.com. Alas, they don't have it any more. So the only way I found is via good ol' "wayback machine". You'll find the User's Guide under http://web.archive.org/web/2005051413480...sGuide.pdf
I guess you can still download the emulator for PocketPC and Windows from there, too.
If you're looking for something special send me a mail - maybe I can help.

Best regards

Karl

Mark Hardman · (This post was last modified: 11-14-2014 05:51 PM by Mark Hardman.)

Here's a cheap way to get more than just the documentation.

An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

I am not affiliated with this seller and trade on eBay as "LED".

Sylvain Cote · 11-14-2014, 07:50 PM

(11-14-2014 05:30 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

Thanks for the tips, just bought one. 8-)

Guenter Schink · 11-14-2014, 11:12 PM

(11-14-2014 07:50 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:
(11-14-2014 05:30 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

Thanks for the tips, just bought one. 8-)

me too

shipping to Germany is almost half the price <sigh> Let's see what custom adds. But this really is a rare item isn't it?

Günter

David Whittaker · 11-15-2014, 09:00 AM

Many, many thanks you guys. I downloaded the software manual (thanks Karl) and I have just bought one of the e-bay ones (181584335341) (thanks Mark). The rub is that the ones now on e-bay are half the price of the one I got a few weeks back on e-bay. I was looking for a manual to show me how to get the front cover without breaking the @##$% thing. Oh well that's my collecting budget blown for this month.

Tim Wessman · 11-15-2014, 07:06 PM

I'm pretty sure you pull downwards...

David Whittaker · 11-15-2014, 10:30 PM

Yes, but I was surprised by how much force was required. Likewise the top end of the battery cover comes off if your fingernails are long enough to pull the tabs back but the bottom of the cover just won't budge. The item has a rubber cover over what looks to be an expansion slot but it is not quite as wide as the one for the 48GX. Between the COM and DC-IN at the bottom there is another unlabeled slot.

The keypad is not the traditional HP but you can still feel the the 'hp-click'. The keypad seems like it is more compatible with longer fingernails than either the traditional HP keys or those on the 9G type calculators. I will see how the daughter doing engineering reacts to it when she comes home this summer. She has complained about the keypad of her Casio 9860 a few time now.

Tim Wessman · 11-15-2014, 10:37 PM

Ok, the force comment makes more sense. I think it did loosen over time, but is definitely very stiff at the start.

One really nice thing I like is how when you reverse the cover it tips it upwards slightly towards you. I really tried hard to figure out how to do something similar on prime so you'd get that nice tilt.

David Whittaker · 11-15-2014, 11:10 PM

The tilt upwards seems to be a byproduct of the raised battery case which forces the protective cover to bend when it is reversed. A very neat trick. The Prime is a bit of a brick (a very powerful brick) in comparison to the curvy shape of the Xpander.

I suspect that if the colours were changed and the cover came off with the feel of a click rather than force the Xpander might still be a sell-able product even in today's market. My daughter that does engineering seems to thrive on having items that her male classmates just won't touch. Her pink handled tools set a case in point. After her final exam last year I found her Swedish sowing machine (not the cheap one) completely dismantled and and the parts neatly laid out across her desk along with these pink handled tools she did the dismantling with. The point is that although more girls are now doing engineering they seem to be defining their own identity rather than copy what the boys do and maybe this defines a market.

John R · (This post was last modified: 11-17-2014 05:56 AM by John R.)

(11-14-2014 05:30 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

I bought two of these, and unfortunately neither one works as advertised: on one of them, the touch screen is completely unresponsive (the Xpander hangs during boot because it cannot register screen presses for the mandatory calibration), and on the other, the screen has a few dead pixel columns.

EDIT: Upon closer inspection, the unresponsive unit also has a single dead pixel row. Excellent.

Does anybody have any idea if touch-screen problems like these are fixable?

Gerald H · 11-17-2014, 09:39 AM

(11-17-2014 01:08 AM)John R Wrote:
(11-14-2014 05:30 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

I bought two of these, and unfortunately neither one works as advertised: on one of them, the touch screen is completely unresponsive (the Xpander hangs during boot because it cannot register screen presses for the mandatory calibration), and on the other, the screen has a few dead pixel columns.

EDIT: Upon closer inspection, the unresponsive unit also has a single dead pixel row. Excellent.

Does anybody have any idea if touch-screen problems like these are fixable?

Did you buy the items on ebay? Have you evaluated negatively?

John R · 11-17-2014, 01:52 PM

(11-17-2014 09:39 AM)Gerald H Wrote: Did you buy the items on ebay? Have you evaluated negatively?

Yes, these items were purchased on eBay. I have not yet left feedback because I am still in the process of working with the seller to rectify the situation. At this point, feedback will be strongly dependent on how quickly, fully, and willingly the seller corrects the problem.

Gerald H · 11-17-2014, 03:18 PM

(11-17-2014 01:52 PM)John R Wrote:
(11-17-2014 09:39 AM)Gerald H Wrote: Did you buy the items on ebay? Have you evaluated negatively?

Yes, these items were purchased on eBay. I have not yet left feedback because I am still in the process of working with the seller to rectify the situation. At this point, feedback will be strongly dependent on how quickly, fully, and willingly the seller corrects the problem.

Thanks for the info.

However the seller rectifies the situation, as indeed I believe he must under the conditions of ebay, a negative/neutral evaluation is a necessary part of the system to advise future potential buyers. Giving positive feedback for wrongly described merchandise undermines the utility of ebay for everybody.

Mark Hardman · (This post was last modified: 11-17-2014 11:18 PM by Mark Hardman.)

(11-17-2014 01:08 AM)John R Wrote:
(11-14-2014 05:30 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: An eBay seller is currently dumping a large number ("More than 10 available") of Xpanders with everything but the batteries for $100USD + shipping. The item number is 181584335341.

I bought two of these, and unfortunately neither one works as advertised: on one of them, the touch screen is completely unresponsive (the Xpander hangs during boot because it cannot register screen presses for the mandatory calibration), and on the other, the screen has a few dead pixel columns.

EDIT: Upon closer inspection, the unresponsive unit also has a single dead pixel row. Excellent.

Does anybody have any idea if touch-screen problems like these are fixable?

I received mine today. Inserted two AA batteries and thankfully found the digitizer working and the screen flawless. The Xpander, manuals and box all look brand new.

Hopefully things can be worked out with the seller. As I said initially, 'I am not affiliated with this seller and trade on eBay as "LED".'

**Katie Wasserman** · 11-20-2014, 03:34 AM

(11-17-2014 11:17 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote: I received mine today. Inserted two AA batteries and thankfully found the digitizer working and the screen flawless. The Xpander, manuals and box all look brand new.

Hopefully things can be worked out with the seller. As I said initially, 'I am not affiliated with this seller and trade on eBay as "LED".'

I received mine today and found it working perfectly with the provided 4 volt AC adapter and with batteries. Curiously the backup battery compartment was never completed in this design, it lacks contacts to the intended CR2032 cell.

I took some time to measure the current consumption of this thing and it's astronomical (at least by today's standards). Running and at boot up it requires at least 300mA. Idling but on it uses around 70ma and turned off it's still using 2ma. This is abysmal for a battery powered device, even a rechargeable one. It seems really slow to me and the contrast, while adjustable, is quite terrible.

There seem to have been plenty of reasons to never have released this machine. But it makes for a nice "collectable"!

Massimo Gnerucci · 11-20-2014, 06:47 AM

I've got mine yesterday, and I've been lucky too.
It looks NIB and, once powered on, it was flawless, at least at first sight.

Better than the other one I have which (when still working) had only the OS onboard.

David Whittaker · 11-20-2014, 09:33 AM

One of our colleagues sent me these files on the Xpander, including a manual for the software. I thought you might find them as useful as I did. For those who have managed to get the battery cover off is there any chance of posting a photo of the battery cover and compartment? I have only been able to get the top end open and I would like to see what the bottom tabs are like before I apply force to it.

Massimo Gnerucci · (This post was last modified: 11-22-2014 08:39 PM by Massimo Gnerucci.)

(11-20-2014 09:33 AM)David Whittaker Wrote: I have only been able to get the top end open and I would like to see what the bottom tabs are like before I apply force to it.

I made some (quick&dirty) pictures.

I have another (6 weeks earlier) prototype not working anymore: it had no Xpander software on, only the OS. It shows some differences: serial number location, no markings on the ports (DC IN 4V / COM); springs in the battery compartment only on one side, coin battery spring is present, a somewhat different battery door.

Here you have (older unit on the right):