CASIO DC-E700 and DC-E800
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(Warning: it's an old text I ahve found on my MC600 laptop)
As I have mentioned before I have got a CASIO databank device. The
DC-E700 is somewhat special as it has a size of a credit card and it is
very thin (specs say that it is 1.4mm thick). It is powered by solar
energy. A similar device exists (the DC-E800). It is identical except
the orientation: the 700 model has screen and keyboard in landscape
orientation and the 800 one in portrait. In the text below I will refer
to the 700 one but the 800 works in the same manner.
It has a keyboard so data can be searched and it can be also used as a
simple calculator (for "+", "-", "*" and "/" operations). All data are
written to the EEPROM and the solar panel doesn't provide enough energy
to re-write it. Thus no data can be saved when the device is powered by
solar energy only.
Additional power can be provided by a small dock which houses a CR2025
battery. The dock is tiny, of course, but still it is at least four
times thicker than the databank itself and its footprint is bigger, too
and thus the device with a dock does not fit to pockets designed for
credit cards.
The data which can be stored are very limited there can be an owner
name (the 800 model also allows to store owner's phone number but the
700 one does not) and 300 pairs of owner name and phone number. It is
not possible to add more data to a single name. And the phone number
can only include numbers, not letters. The data can be protected by a
password.
All this sounds to be very limiting but I actually have found it
useful. I can carry the databank in my wallet as it is only marginally
thicker than any of my shopping cards. It stores the most important
phone numbers for the case that I will not have my phone with me (which
is my common habit) and will have to call someone. It also can be used
as a simple calculator (typing on its tiny keyboard is not comfortable
but it's better than nothing). For such use I don't need to be able to
write data when I'm not at home so I don't need to carry the dock with
me.
It might sound as a strange concept put the principle is similar to the
(later) Franklin/Xircom REX organisers: data can be written at home
(when the REX was inserted in the computer's PCMCIA slot) and then used
in read-only mode (of course the REX was some ability to edit the data
but it was pretty limited - only the latest model had a touchscreen and
a stylus to enter the data). But the REX (which is very small as it has
o fit inside the PCMCIA slot) is bulky and ugly when compared with
these CASIOs...
These devices seem to have problems with LCD screen leakages. I have 6
of them (both 700 and 800 models) and only of 2 of them have intact
screens. All of them can be used anyway but the screens with black
leaks are of course ugly. And all of them came as never used devices
with their original packaging...
It is also weird that I am not able to find how old they are. I was not
able to find any date on the Internet and the device itself carries no
date information (even the documentation does not refer to any date).
On the basis of model numbers I assume that they are from early 1990s
(the timespan of 1993-1994 seems to be the most probable). But I can be
mistaken.
