This is cool!

Rich...

after reviewing the details of the ribbon cable fix...you've got me thinking maybe I will repair the one I swapped out of the old 680...so I can use it as a picture viewer (and a spare battery charger)...great idea.

yes, I'm not so good with hardware well I know the principles of this sort of stuff but bit too clumsy with actual disassembling of hardware. fortunately I have someone who helps in these matters

I've done continuity test before (of course with jtag, what else ), and we tried that with a screen cable here (from the celux hc300 ), but what I didn't know was how to actually fix it..

so I'll see if this can work for my hpc, it would be really great thanks again for this post.

photos would always be useful of course! so if you ever get the time to take some, let me know

Just in case anyone is interested, I spoke with a rep at Materials Processing. They are the group dumping Mobilepro 800s on eBay right now in lots of 5. These are all from a school in Minnesota and they are dumping about 60 of them total.

They come without batteries or a/c adapters, but as far as the guy can tell, they all work fine. Of the 5 I got in my auction, they all work perfectly. The best part is all the parts are interchangeable with the 880, so if you get a good 880 motherboard with cpu/rom, you can use the rest of the guts of the 800 to make it operable. Throw in a 790 rom chip and your are SVGA HPC2000.

Alancomputech has the batteries for $35 http://www.alancomputech.com/mc-ba11.html and the a/c adapter for $29 http://www.alancomputech.com/mc-ba12.html.

Maybe not the greatest price when you start adding it all up, but if, like me, you already had some parts...then not too bad a deal.

And if you are handy with a soldering gun, there are a lot of compatible a/c adapter you can get that will work cheaply.

Rich

Edited by Rich Hawley 2008-05-18 4:07 PM

yes, 29 is too much for the ac adapter, use a generic one.

I don't know a thing about mp 800's....but thanks to Rich's post...I couldn't pass up the 5 on ebay for about 35 bucks...so I amjoining the league.

now I'll check Rich's web site to see what I have coming in the mail

regarding the MP800 pwer supply:

I just received 5 mp800's thanks to Rich's post (the price was an offer I couldn't refuse).

Mine had dead backup battery...which is rechargeable internally but it WILL NOT CHARGE ON A 12VOLT POWER SUPPLY...it needs the 13.5 v to charge the backup battery so you don't lose all your installed programs when you accidently or otherwise unplug your 12 volts. I actually dismantled one 800 thanks to Rich's HPCNEC site which shows how to do it...removed the backup battery and tested and charged it manually...it works fine...and is well charged now that I am using a 13.8 car accessory power supply I already had...ebay has mp800 chargers for $30 + shipping.

so 12 volts may not do the trick if the internal backup battery is low...



Edited by joval 2008-06-01 1:32 PM

For those of you who got the 800s with the silver plastic lid reinforcement thing...if you start at one end and pull it slowly, you can separate it from the actual 800 lid. It pulls hard, but it does separate just fine. Then buy something called OOPS! It will take the adhesive residue off and leave you with a brand new looking lid. Great to remove the adhesive on the bottom side too. I've been using this stuff for years on the Mobilepros and other units..best glue remover stuff there is as it doesn't destroy the plastic like fingernail polish or acetone based solvents do.

humm... i guess I never discharged the backup battery or just got lucky and my 12V adapter did charge it

can't test as I don't have the adapter anymore

Edited by cmonex 2008-06-01 4:00 PM

Joval: did you get the cool orange styli with yours?

Mine is on its way.

Edited by CAuser 2008-06-01 5:18 PM

Rich: Thanks...I was wondering if that was part of the lid or not...I just pulled it off per your post...and then stuck it back on...very easy...thanks again for sharing the wealth.


Cmonex: well, my 800 backup battery doesn't seem to last very long (didn't last 2 days, maybe less, unplugged without a main battery)...don't know if that is normal.

Some 12 volt unregulated power supplies do put out up to 14 volts with no load...so it is possible one of these might work...I'll check into it.

CeGeek: I have at least one orange and one gray stylus of the 2 mp 800's I've been working on...I haven't checked the other 3 (left 'em at the office...still in bubble wrap).

The styli are actually about the same size as the jornada 720's and fit into the slot for such but would need some tape wrapped around them to fit snugly enough to not fall out of the 720.

Is there a backup program for the MP800...with these battery issues it would such come in handy.



Edited by joval 2008-06-04 1:51 AM

1 day on the backup battery is about it. The backup on these usings are only meant to maintain power long enough for you to plug in and recharge....

BUseful backup from the 780 works great with these things, wasn't part of the bonus stuff for the 800....

Mine arrived today. 4 of them have broken insulation holder holding the center conductor of the DC jack. I managed to test all of them. They all worked with my 12V/2.5A adapter but WITHOUT MAIN BATTERY. BTW, I have 3 orange styli and 2 grey ones. If replacing the DC jack is possible, that'd be great. As Rich pointed out, the jack is different from a modern one with a center pin. It has actually a center receptacle.

Edited by CAuser 2008-06-06 3:07 AM






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MP800.jpg (23KB - 0 downloads)

The first 5 of my 10 work great. If anyone wants one for $10+shipping, let me know.

The power jack is really one of the easiest to replace as it is connected to the motherboard with only a red and black wire. Not soldered to the motherboard at all. Just open it up, find a jack you like that is small, solder the wires and silicon it in place.

Rich