PPC 2k vs. WinCE 4.2

Hiya! I've been using HPCs for several years now. Unfortunately, I'm still a little unfamiliar with the ins and outs of specific software. I recently bought a new (used) MobilePro 900 because my current one's condition has been degrading. The one I've been using runs on WinCE 4.2, and the new one is running PocketPC 2000.

So, my dilemma is: do I flash the new one with WinCE 4.2 or leave it as PPC 2k?
A factor that might play into things: I run my desktop using Win7 64b.

These are my questions:

Which OS has the "newer" versions of the preloaded applications? (Internet Explorer, PocketWord, etc.)
Which one has better "support" for technical things like file formats, etc?
Does one have features/applications that the other does not?
Which one supports more applications?

I'm not a software dev myself, so I'm not worried about making applications. My main concern is for what I can install and run on it.
Also, while I'm asking questions, could someone explain to me what the differences between ARM, MIPS, etc is and how I tell which one I'm supposed to use on my MobilePro when selecting cabs for my HPC?

Finally, what is the cmonex OS and how is it different from WinCE 4.2 and PPC 2k?

Thank you all in advance I appreciate the help, and I'm sorry for the load of questions!

Edited by Megalodon 2011-03-13 9:23 PM

I think you mean HPC2000 rather than PPC 2000

q1. .net has no pocket office editors, just viewers
q2. .net has a pdf viewer in ROM and considerably better browser support
q3. as above plus potential to support WPA wireless
q4. Natively HPC2000, including hacks, probably .net as .net will run HPC2000 apps plus
q5. Use ARM (SA1110)
q6. The cmonex hack is a modified ROM that includes a large number of additional utilities and system changes that make it a lot less vanilla than the standard .net release. Before you even consider it, use the 4.2 updater and firmeware tool from H/PC:Update, that way there is less risk and it is reversible.

Partial answer.

first, your new 900 is hpc2000, not ppc2000.

you have better office products with hpc2k, they allow you to edit where AFAIK 4.2 only allows viewing.

here is where it all comes down for me and perhaps for you. what security do you need for your wifi needs? wpa or wep?

I think you mean Handheld PC 2000, not Pocket PC 2000.

H/PC 2000 was the last Handheld PC platform. It includes the Pocket Outlook PIMs (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) that are missing from the newer CE 4.2. On the other hand, CE 4.2 has a full version of Internet Explorer (IE CE 6.0) as opposed to the scaled-down Pocket Internet Explorer 4.0 of H/PC 2000. cmonex' version is a custom-assembled CE 4.2 ROM she put together with several apps and drivers built in.

The 900(C) is an ARM device, in contrast to the earlier MobilePros, which all used MIPS processors that NEC itself designed.

First, thanks to all of you for your helpful answers! I really appreciate the input - and you're right; I was confused and put PPC and it should have been HPC. In answer to the followup questions:

@wallythacker: My current router uses WPA wireless, so I'd need that for a connection.

And my own questions:

1. Is there a way I could get the "best of both worlds" such as, taking the office apps from HPC 2k and putting them into a WinCE 4.2 ROM? (please note, I'm not very well versed in any of that, so it'd be a major undertaking for me to figure out how). I would need the browser support from 4.2, but I really need more than just viewers for editing and creating documents as well. I'm hoping it's not a question of "which do you need more" kind of thing.

2. I realize that Win7 can't use the mobility center to sync with my HPC (I discovered that before). I've found the USB drivers, but I'm not really familiar with where to put them, etc. Syncing is more just a convenience item for me. I can use a CF card to swap files back and forth if necessary. It'd just be nice to hook it up to the computer and transfer the files directly.

1. Officially no, unoficially probably, practically you're better off with SoftMaker Office
2. http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/h/0040.asp You need to install them when/if Windows prompts you for the driver installation

Hmm... Windows 7 tries to install it, but then fails. It never prompts me for a location. So, I tried to be a little more proactive and went into the device manager. The MobilePro 900 is listed as "Unknown Device" so I open it up and clicked "Update Drivers" and browsed to the folder I had unpacked the drivers to - when I clicked "Ok" it said it couldn't find any drivers for the device.

So, failing that, I opened up the .inf file in notepad and found instructions for adding my device. I scrolled through the columns, and using the information found here (http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/h/0045.asp) I went through and added everything I could see I needed to:

NEC was already listed as a manufacturer, so I didn't have to add that, but there were no lines with the 900's specific PnP IDs, so I had to add:

(Under [NEC.NTx86])
%USB\Vid_0409&Pid_8025.DeviceDesc% = Host_Inst, USB\Vid_0409&Pid_00FD

(And under NEC = "NEC"
USB\Vid_0409&Pid_00FD.DeviceDesc = "NEC USB Sync"

With that done, I repeated the process for trying to add the device, but no deal It still said it couldn't find drivers for the device when I tried to add them from that folder.

Something odd...

I got it to install, and Windows Mobile is working with it o.0
Well, sort of anyway... The process I followed was:

1. Right-Clicked "Unknown Device" in Device Manager
2. Selected "Update Driver Software..."
3. Selected "Browse my computer for software..."
4. Selected "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
5. Selected "Mobile Devices"
6. Selected NEC as Manufacturer, and then NEC USB Sync
7. Clicked Next
8. Clicked "Yes" on the installation warning.

It said it finished installing, my MobilePro connected, and Windows opened the mobility center. When I tried to "Set up your device" though, it said it couldn't find a program that could sync with the email. "There is no email program associated to perform the requested action. Please install an email program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel."

I use Thunderbird... is there any way to make it sync with that? Syncing with files works, but contacts, calendar, and tasks all cannot be synced because Outlook isn't installed.

Edited by Megalodon 2011-03-14 11:36 AM

Megalodon,

Really the Wordpad that comes with the 900C is pretty much the same as the old PocketWord that came with HPC2000. C:Amie is correct if you want true word processing capability, then you should go for the TextMaker suite. You can get the Resource CD from Used Handhelds here: http://www.usedhandhelds.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=205 It contains the full Textmaker and Planmaker for the Jornada/Mobilepro HPCs and other software...great deal for the price.

CMonex also used to have the old HPC Pocket Word and Excel on her website that you could add to the 900C if you really absolutely needed the older stuff instead of the newer stuff.

And there are 3rd party spreadsheets like SpreadCE and PTabSpreadsheet you can use that are Excel compatible as well.

Or you can just flash your 900 or 900C with the Cmonex v2 rom and have it all upgraded in a single stroke....

Hiya I decided to try cmonex's ROM, and I have to admit, I like it! There are a lot of handy tools here. Frankly though, I do have a few concerns. Mainly my problem is now that I have programs installed that I don't really need/want. I think I'm going to try learning how to build my own ROM so I can put in the programs I'd like and leave off the ones I don't.

I've downloaded cmonex's kitchen and ROM guide, and actually your "how to" also. I'm just very uncfamiliar with command-line stuff. I"m hoping someone makes a GUI builder someday. Till then, it should be an interesting process!

Thanks very much for all the help

P.S. I'm looking into that CD you mentioned. Right now that's out of my budget (which I just spent on the new MobilePro lol) but it's definitely something I'll look into later. I'm a little surprised they didn't have PocketArtist on there. It's basically a photoshop clone that works on WinCE devices that I've loved. It's the closest I can come to having a tablet.

Edited by Megalodon 2011-03-14 8:29 PM

BTW, SoftMaker Office 2010 for Windows CE is backward compatible to CE 4.2, so it can work on the 900C. SoftMaker Office 2010 is particularly cool because it brings DOCX and XLSX support to Windows CE.

I tried the trial, and I was impressed by it pretty well! Unfortunately, it's geared toward HPCs with 640x480 resolution, not 640x240 So I had some issues with screenspace, and the options menus getting pushed over the vertical limit with no way to "move them around" to access the other parts of the window. I emailed their support asking about it. The other thing is, I'd have to find a way to installit onto a CF card to run from. It's a pretty sizeable package, and eats up most of my disk space.