SO I wanna buy an NEC Mobilepro 900C

1) I have an accurite travel 120 pcmcia floppy drive.

Try a WindowsMobile 2003 driver. WinCE 4.2 is more close to WM2003 then HPC2000

2) Lexionary, my dictionary program wouldn't open, gave me some sort of error about paths missing...

Same thing wm2003 version

3) Pocket word count, from the MS PLUS! Pack, no longer works, as it's not Pocket word, but word pad.. in fact, there isn't even a spell checker. WTF!???.

there are other apps that provide these things. have a look on www.pocketgear.com and do a search. Handango has the same collection, but is harder to search for stuff

4) I installed the drivers for my cisco 350 wireless card, and they appear to work, but if I try to access the setup bar to try to connect to my router (which is all new to me) the program crashes and I have to Reset- without fail!

wm2003 driver might solve it.

5) I use windows media player on the pc to rip my cd's to wma so I can play then on my handheld. These all work fine on the 720, but the majority won't play on the 900c as is says something about acquiring licences. So many albums, some of which I have lost the original disk *shakes head in despair*

no idea, sorry. edit. Betaplayer might be able to play wma's I believe.

6) I had image viewer from the PLUS! Pack installed to and when I double clicked on a picture, it opened in image viewer fine. I installed ACDSEE viewer, and accidentally set it as my default viewer program (I happen to like image viewers panning ability) so using small tweak (which works! *oh yay*) I looked up JPG and set it as image viewer again. When I click on the pic file now, image viewer program opens, but then error! Saying UNABLE TO ACCESS IMAGE FILE. I have soft reset, i have UNINSTALLED ACDsee ... if I open the pic from INSIDE the program it is ok, but it is still not working right...

www.pocketgear.com or google, wm2003 version

7) BETA PLAYER: I use it all
the time on my J720. I'm a great lover of it and the video I have (skate clips, Parkour clips and some movies) tend to work decently on it. I was expecting the 900C's 400mHZ and write back cache to really improve on the playback.. and it actually does play better lol (finally a positive) but soon to be followed by another negative. No matter what I do, or what settings I change, I cannot stop this f**king thing from either dimming, or turning off it's display during a movie.. in fact after less than a minute into the clip! It's supremely frustrating, because you have to keep pressing a button to activate the backlight again... and i don't understand how this is stilling this, as I have unchecked the backlight off options in the control panel. And I also get the problem where the screen goes black with every touch of the stylus until i go to control panel and change the contrast in there... Frustrating!

wm2003 version. Comparison, I had a 900 and compared video to a ipaq 2210 same hardware specs, and the ipaq plays a 700mb normal divx file without issues. the NEC played the same file as well, but it slowed down to about 20% of the speed.

8) ok where am I, OH yeah problem EIGHT within 15 hours of owning this thing. IMOV messenger or Ruksun messenger force don't work! I have no program to connect to MSN service.

wm2003 version of it, I thought that the C actually had it already build in. That was the main reason why I would have gotten an upgrade.
However, you might be able to use "hacked" files from a ppc.

sincerly,

PocketDVD.


Edited by PocketDVD 2005-06-11 9:38 AM

5) Big mistake ripping CDs with Media Player. It will only work on the device you ripped the music to originally. If you switch device, you have to rip again. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think it has to do with a license file that is created along your media files.

6) CE .Net 4.2 should have a built-in image viewer with some useful functions; all the usual zooming options, and a more-than-basic slideshow system.

8) As PocketDVD mentioned, CE .Net 4.2 should also come with MSN messenger.

A bit of advice: you should play a bit more with whatever that came with your new toy, before you try fitting old guns on the new soldier (or old dress on the new Barbie...)

oh, you're so optimistic about full wm2003 compatibility. i fear there's no such thing partial compatibility, maybe.



you'd have to modify the original ppc dll's... but i do have them on my site.
IBane, if you're interested: http://izemize.fw.hu/hpc.php
or direct link: http://www.freeweb.hu/izemize/cemenu.zip

they were just sugesstions. I know they are not 100% compatible, but it's the biggest chance to make it work.

Just trying to help, thats all.

Yeah! help, and I appreciate it guys! TO be honest, I am so seriously considering just selling the unit, and buying another 720! No point in shelling out for the 900, may be the same os, but it hasn't got the mass storage support for USB which is one of the things I like about the 900c on paper (haven't had a achance to try that out yet ) and it's still pricy , when compared to a 720. The 900C is just... fickle... even navigating the desktop seems slow compared to the 720. I just have a comfort zone, with everything I want loaded on, and i just can't be bothered with the hassle of botching the 900C into a half usable machine (for me)
I'll play about with it for a while, but I think i'll stick it back on ebay.. pity cause i SO wanted to love it, and it's in great condition!


.............IB a n e

1) I have an accurite travel 120 pcmcia floppy drive. I installed the driver on the unit and though it said it installed, no folder pops up when i insert my floppy disk. (And it should/does on the 720)

Bummer...I would have guessed that it would work. If it is of any use to you, I have used a USB floppy drive that worked fine.

2) Lexionary, my dictionary program wouldn't open, gave me some sort of error about paths missing...

This one drives me nuts. I can't get it to work either.

3) Pocket word count, from the MS PLUS! Pack, no longer works, as it's not Pocket word, but word pad.. in fact, there isn't even a spell checker. WTF!???.

Nope, doesn't work. But HPC Spell works fine, gives you word count as well as other stats and spell checks the document, or for spellchecking while in Wordpad Phatspell works great too.

4) I installed the drivers for my cisco 350 wireless card, and they appear to work, but if I try to access the setup bar to try to connect to my router (which is all new to me) the program crashes and I have to Reset- without fail!

Guess I'm glad that I don't have a Cisco 350.

5) I use windows media player on the pc to rip my cd's to wma so I can play then on my handheld. These all work fine on the 720, but the majority won't play on the 900c as is says something about acquiring licences. So many albums, some of which I have lost the original disk *shakes head in despair*

Those stupid copyright laws. Does anyone know of another WMA player for HPC devices?

6) I had image viewer from the PLUS! Pack installed to and when I double clicked on a picture, it opened in image viewer fine. I installed ACDSEE viewer, and accidentally set it as my default viewer program (I happen to like image viewers panning ability) so using small tweak (which works! *oh yay*) I looked up JPG and set it as image viewer again. When I click on the pic file now, image viewer program opens, but then error! Saying UNABLE TO ACCESS IMAGE FILE. I have soft reset, i have UNINSTALLED ACDsee ... if I open the pic from INSIDE the program it is ok, but it is still not working right...

Beyond my experience, but I wonder if the path of the image file is important at all...does it happen the same if you store the pictures in the "my documents" folder?

7) BETA PLAYER: I use it all the time on my J720. I'm a great lover of it and the video I have (skate clips, Parkour clips and some movies) tend to work decently on it. I was expecting the 900C's 400mHZ and write back cache to really improve on the playback.. and it actually does play better lol (finally a positive) but soon to be followed by another negative. No matter what I do, or what settings I change, I cannot stop this f**king thing from either dimming, or turning off it's display during a movie.. in fact after less than a minute into the clip! It's supremely frustrating, because you have to keep pressing a button to activate the backlight again... and i don't understand how this is stilling this, as I have unchecked the backlight off options in the control panel. And I also get the problem where the screen goes black with every touch of the stylus until i go to control panel and change the contrast in there... Frustrating!

The stylus touch and blackness happens in this program and the Rescoe Photoviewer due to some software coding that is supposed to keep the backlight on. I talked with the authors and they acknowledge the bugs in this software for CE.NET, but didn't know if they were going to compile a version for us or not...evidently not...another orphan story.

8) ok where am I, OH yeah problem EIGHT within 15 hours of owning this thing. IMOV messenger or Ruksun messenger force don't work! I have no program to connect to MSN service.

I hear you...

All in all, I am no longer reviewing these two units, because it would probably hurt too much! I still have my 720 at least...It's too bad, cause I WANT to love this machine, I look at it and type on it and think to myself, it's great, and it's what I wanted. then I actually USE the thing, and I find that it lacks software compatibility (which I knew, you all told me this lol) I find it is not as functional as the 720, Pocket office IS indeed better!!

I empathize with you Bane. I know exactly where you are coming from. But comparing the 720 to the 900C is more a case of apples and oranges. Both have their strengths, both have their weaknesses. They are both much alike, and both much very different...obviously too much different for your needs.

Rich

Actually if you're into hacking, there are reports of getting mass storage to work under hpc2000 with ohci reference drivers for the storage class driver.

Which is exacly why I did a 1on1 trade from a NEC MP900 to a "lesser" J720

small comparison from my experience with both devices.

the pro's for the NEC MP900:

bigger keyboard
screen is bigger/better for video, the screen for video on the j720 just seems more pixelated, no technical explenation, it just appears that way for some reason. the refresh of the screen on the j720 does seem to be better.

cons :

HUGE, the j720 is way smaller, unfort the keys on the keyboard the same thing.
feels sluggish. I went from an IPAQ 2210 to a NEC900, and concerning same specs of both devices, the NEC was just waaaay slower. Considering that HPC2000 is optimized for strongarm and not xscale, that was some explenation, but considering that the xscale is the bigger brother of the strongarm, and double the cpu speed, at least the same performance should be feasable.
However, comparing the speed of the j720 with my ipaq 2210, 206mhz vs 400mhz, faster rom/ram on the 2210, older os on the 720, I can hardly notice a difference in speed of applications and usage. Even loading google.com (full version, not the palm one) is a lot faster on the 720 then the NEC.

I have read several complaints about the comparative slowness of the NEC line in general compared to Jornada 680 - 728 units and reviewer comment that the newer versions of Win for handhelds just doesn't cut it. In fact, the inferior screens of larger handhelds (compared to newer PDAs) is attributed to Microsoft failing to upgrade the display drivers. The same processor used in the NEC 900 drives a dramatically better display in Sharp Linux O/S Zaurus 800s.

I, for one, would love a handheld the size of a NEC 780 driven by the hardware & Linux O/S Sharp used in the SL-C860.

I find the NEC 780 frustrating to modify into a anything more versatile than a straight business device. The Jornada 680 to 728 units are a lot more fun, and the quality seems much higher too. I am relieved to see that I am not alone in finding these NECs limited. My Casio BE300 PDA is very expandable and my Jornada 680 is reasonably forgiving when it comes to tweaking diverse software to run on it.

A lot of used NEC units have cases that are cracked, broken here and there and small pieces missing. I put an empty PC Card to CF Card adapter in my 780 to insure the flimsy case does not crack or break in that area.

Too bad Jornada never put the guts of a 720\28 in a case & keyboard the size of the NEC 780. What in the world made NEC think an enterprise handheld should be cased in such flimsy material? Was the focus weight and high profit over quality? The cases remind me of the goofy spare tire US auto makers put in new cars just to help reduce fleet weight and gas mileage.

Too bad, we cannot switch to a real case like I switch to a real wheel and tire immediately upon getting a newer car.

--Bruised

The same processor is found in many handhelds and Pocket PCs, loaded with CE .Net or Windows Mobile (based on newer build of CE .Net). The performance of all these devices varies due to display system, memory speeds, and other hardware design elements, while the operating system remains largely the same.

I have not read in details about the Zaraus and other Linux PDAs, so I would be interested in a performance comparison between them and CE machines. Otherwise I wouldn't comment on which is/feels faster (or slower).

As for a larger Jornada, check out the 820. It runs CE 2.11 on a StrongARM 190, altho it lacks a touchscreen.

if someone still would like to read a comparison review of them... i can make one. i can even compare the 900 to the 900C (i had a 900 only for a short time, 1-2 weeks, but i hope my memory will serve me well)
and i can even compare 720 to 728 ..

Edited by cmonex 2005-07-08 6:11 PM

i'm probably too late, but..

4) you should use the zero config built in ce.net
7) can someone tell me if i really have to watch videos with a very dark screen? i haven't tried it on the 900C yet, only on the 900 but i suppose it would be the same.
8) you can use MS Portrait, runs fine, better than imov (in my opinion).

sigh. DLL's won't help in terms of getting hpc2000 software to work.
(except if you refer to mfcce211, mfcce300 and olece300 - can't remember now if olece300 isn't in rom either, but the mfcce's arent)

Edited by cmonex 2005-07-08 6:13 PM

CEMONEX: Hey , nah never too late, thank you for the tips. I have however, long resolved to sell my 900C. I just have to get a loan of a mates Digital camera to get some pics. ANyone in here interested lol

.........IB a n e

I think there will be a lot of people interested, so i encourage you to make and HPCBay announcement (with pics preferently)