Word Processor for CE Netbook?

Having played with WordPad on my Chinese CE Netbook, the CE version isn't really up to what I need. Even Word 97 documents don't display properly.

The netbook came with TextMaker (from SoftMaker) but I'm not sure if it is a legal copy. If I could get this working properly, it would be OK (assuming it is legal), but if won't remember my settings.

Are there any free/cheap word processing packages for CE?

Wordpad, or Pocket Word are, as you have discovered, very limited. The only other option is Textmaker...strange that the software doesn't remember your settings, Textmaker on mine does.

Or you could run a DOS word processor under PocketDOS as I am doing below just for the fun of it...





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pocketdosword.jpg (46KB - 1 downloads)

I can't find a Save button on the Tools | Options dialog, only a blue X for close. Having made a change, if I open the Options pane again they are back as they where.

Are the settings in My Documents\SoftMaker\Settings ?

Ahhh. There is no save checkbox. Once you make the change, they should stay that way until you change them again manually...at least that is how it works on my netbook.

Yes, it appears some of the settings are saved in that directory...tmc08tool.dat and tmcconfig.ini. But what you might do is simply create a document with the settings you want, and then replace the standard Normal.tmv template with your own...and then every document you start in the future will use that as a default.

I don't seem to have a normal.tmv file. Where does it live?

What version of TextMaker do you have?

to Rich
the DOS is soo cool!!!
You have an Augen eGo - which version of CE does it run?
did you have to mod it to install DOS? how did you do it?
please answer here or publish an article?

to nigelmercier
I get the impression you have a generic Chinese 7".
I've been looking to find the brand/model of these on eBay ads but they won' say.
looking at the actual device you have, what is the brand/model#?
what version of WinCE des it run, and what is its CPU name & speed?

for the topic of this discussion,
I wonder if having different devices means also the software does not behave the same way, even if the WinCE version appears to be the same?

again I was delighted to see the DOS pic
__what version of DOS did you install?
__does it run in a virtual machine or did you boot with a DOS SD card (didn't think it would work on the netbook processor, what CPU do you have?)
__can DOS Edit see and save to an external SD card? to the internal SD card?
thanks

Nigelmercier, the normal.tmv file I was mentioning was something that I used to use on my HPC 2000 Mobilepro. I remembered reading about it on the Softmaker site one day and it resolved my issues as I didn't have to change the setting when I opened a document...they became the default. I really haven't investigated Textmaker on my netbook yet...just kind of played with it on the surface. Guess I'll need to do that.

Jacobi, the PocketDOS application doesn't install on my netbook at all as the cpu isn't recognized. What you need to do is download the latest version and run the install program on your desktop. You will get an error message that it can't install via Activesync as the device isn't recognized. Don't close the installer.

Go instead to the temporary file where the program decompresses and installs from. You will need to set your desktop viewing settings to show hidden and system files. On my desktop, that folder is c:\documents and settings\rich\local folder\temp (if I am remembering the path correctly). Inside that folder you will see another folder with some weird name...open it and you will see all the cab files for PocketDOS. Just drag them to your desktop and then close the installer. If you close the installer before moving the cab files, they will auto delete. Then it is just a simple matter of editing the cab files so that they will install on any processer, not just arm/xscale. I use OCPs Cab Manager to do that.

If I remember correctly, there may be a much simpler way to do it...I believe there is some desktop software that will extract all the cab files from the installer...but I don't remember the name of it. Maybe someone else does.

Anyway, PocketDOS comes with the dos emulator and a couple versons of dos such as freedos and another...go to their website to see the downloads. If you want to use MS-DOS, you can also do that if you create the image file.

You could also use MSCEInf (freeware) to extract the CAB's contents and copy them over to your storage card or RAM.



Uniextract

Edited by mscdex 2010-04-17 11:59 PM

Thanks to Rich and mscdex - very useful, keepsake. I'll use it when I get my WinCE6 device.
to Rich: I believe you had to do some mods to get the Augen to keep your settings after powering down?
(In another thread, -- I plan to save those instructions too)
__What is the instant-on experience on your Augen as of now? Please give details, but to start with, please answer a simple scenario:
Let's say, you wrote a text file, put specific font formatting, saved it to your SD card, and it is still on the screen, open. You simply flip down/close the clamshell. A few hours later you lift up the screen again. Does it present exactly as you had left it, with that file open and the app running? and is the instant-on the same if you use power-off keys or a power button to shut off the netbook?
Also, if you last saved the file you wrote to the SD card as a .txt or .rtf format, when you want to save it using "save as", does it automatically present the settings you had before (location, filename, file type) as defaults? and if you create a new text file and want to save it, does it offer you the location and file extension you last used as defaults?

Unlike my HPCs, there is no suspend feature on my eGo. You turn it on, you turn it off. There is also no lid shutting feature. I close the lid, the thing is still on, the lid is simply closed.

Back to the thread topic

Doing a search for free word processors for CE, I found several seemingly legitimate links* for a free version of Ashampoo Office 2008, which seems to be a re-badged version of SoftMaker Office 2008. Only problem is, it doesn't mention the CE version.

I have been sent the serial number, do you guys think it work with the CE version? Is there a way to try it without messing up my existing software?

* See links below:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Edited by nigelmercier 2010-04-18 1:05 PM

[Later] Also, what about Pocket Word, will this run on a CE H/PC?

Do you mean one from Windows Mobile? Most likely no, it requires too many libraries.

HPC's do have their own PocketWord.

Thanks, where can I get it?