Sorry to dig this up, but hey as some may have noticed I just lurch now
And no I have not given up on HPC or HPC Factor yet. There are still *new* CE laptops being made, and for all intents and purposes this site is the closest thing people have for peer support
(or ANY support
) on these devices. And since I brought it up I would say HPC Factor needs to target that audience more; they need us and we need them. But that's another thread I'll start someday. On that note, let's go back to memories...
Ah yes HPC Factor v1... those were the days when NEC was still making Mobile Pro and Scion was making Netbook Pro
(and trust me I saw ads on both in printed PocketPC Magazine
). But of course there were still some new or near new Jornadas. I myself bought a demo Jornada 728 from a large local electronics store
(basically brand new, only been "touched" by a few curious shoppers
). That brought me here.
At the begining everyone was, well, beginners. Ok so there were a few veterans who have used Jornadas for a while, but honestly no one was a know-it-all; everyone was learning from each other, and that IMO was what brought a lot of interests.
For the longest time the most popular topics were all about WiFi. It was a new thing, and a new thing that worked on these old machines. I was lucky to have a Linksys CF wifi card that I used for a PPC, and it worked almost right out of the box. Linksys had a driver plus utility for the PCMCIA version that worked perfectly on HPC2000, and the CF card just worked with it too. While the PCMCIA version was hard to find
(I did eventually buy one
), the CF version was much easier to get. So a lot of my involvement was to recommend this card and to tell people where to find the driver. It was IMO the most consumer-friendly solution for HPC newbies. Eventually UsedHandhelds bought a bunch of the PCMCIA version and marketed it to their Jornada and Mobile Pro buyers.
My second HPC was the Smartbook G138. And I was the first owner to post about this device on this site. It was the last new CE device that could truly be categorized as a Handheld PC. All the new CE laptops that came after the netbook trend did not have touch screen, as far as I know. Yes, the Smartbook was before the EeePC. Yes I did get more stares from passersby than I did with the Jornada. And yes, it still is the greatest HPC ever, despite its quirks. I was trying to spread the words on HPC Factor, but alas the Smartbook wasn't widely available, so not a lot of HPC enthusiasts
(they did exist
) had the chance to own one. Eventually C:Amie himself bought a bunch of these and sold them thru HPCBay
Then I tried to find something that was as great as the Smartbook and had a size closer to the Jornada. Tried the Sigmarion III, another great HPC, but like its size, its performance was also closer to the Jornada. The Nexio S160 faired a lot better, but without a true keyboard it became my MID more than an HPC. The same sort of discussion went on among HPC Factor regulars. Even to this day threads about "your dream HPC" come up once every while, and the verdict is usually along the lines of "they haven't made it yet"
And my search stopped there, just as much interests in HPC have seemingly gone to the Atom netbooks. But as the netbooks popularity got unpredictably high, it also created the new class of CE laptops. Larger than an HPC and without a touchscreen, these CE devices are more like updated version of the Jornada 820 than a true HPC. There have been a lot of interests and even more questions about these from the community. Recently this site published a review of an example of these devices, and to give credit to myself for the last time: I requested that review!
So there you have it, my personal experience with HPC and HPC Factor. Hope you enjoyed it
