Greyscale H/PCs

Those laptops look quite big, how long did they run on a charge? They seem like they would run for 10 minutes on a car battery.

What does the HP 200LX do for you to like it more than the NEC MP700? Or did you never use an MP700?

BTW aren't HPC guys more on the Windows side? I'm asking because you said you had an iPhone. I have a Windows Phone 7 which replaced my last Pocket PC, the Windows Phone 7 offers many more features than the iPhone 4 and much more powerful hardware. Plus with the update coming soon that will add 500 new features the iPhone 4 will have a hard time surviving, especially since I heard it's very buggy and I haven't had the slightest issue with my Windows Phone 7.

Those laptops are big and not just big but heavy too. But as some other posters said, the battery life was not that bad.

Have not had a MP 700, but have the 780, 790, 880 and 900/90C along the way. Basically the 200LX is small. I figure I would like a 700 if I had one, but I never did and probably never will. I'm sure it is a nice device. The MP keyboards and being able to see outside. Hard to beat. But the 200LX is smaller by a long shot which has both pros and cons. But with the 200LX the thing I like best is that it gives me less distractions. It is pretty much just a pocketable word processor for me. Plus I am old enough to have used lotus 123 so I can still use it in a pinch.

Re: I-phone--I bought my wife an I-touch and she liked it so much she got the I-phone3. After laying around for a while, I started packing the I-touch and it was neat. So my wife bought me an I-phone4 because she loved the one she had so much. And honestly, it works pretty well for what I use it for. Improvement over the old Razr I had before. So for me the I-phone has basically become my phone, calendar and electronic communication (email) machine. I can google stuff I need whenever I need it and even type up paragraphs and pages of text here and there. But ultimately, if I really want to type, I pull out my tinybook (super lite) with softmaker office. If I am on a loooong flight, then my 200LX finds its way in my bag because the battery will last for weeks.

So that's how I got to the iphone. If it is useful in my work/life I use it. That's why I like HPCs but I suppose their losing ground in web/email communications finally got too hard for me to keep up with and do all the workarounds.

Cheers!

HG

Can anyone please help I am at my wits end.......
I get bad migrains and cannot write my novel on a laptop because of it, i got a brother WP but have just discovered its format is not compatible with a pc.
Does anyone know of a machine I can use that has the old fashioned type of super basic calculator-esque screen, you know kinda dull green and no frills that i can convert my work onto a pc, either using floppy as i bought a portable floppy machine or a disc?
any tips VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty much any of the one's listed in the opening of this thread and throughout it. Probably want to use a compact flash card and adapter to transfer files.

HG

In addition to H2OGuru's advice, you might find the Dana/Neo line (or really any previous Alphasmart product -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart) to be a good word processor that runs on AA batts for 30+ days and has a monochrome LCD screen. Rather than deal with converting files (which isn't that big a deal, but hey, life is complicated enough as it is...), when you plug in the unit, the desktop machine "sees" the machine as a keyboard (you can see how this is going to turn out right...) and when you press the transmit button on the Alphasmart, it just shoots over all your text... It's not everybody's cup of tea (particularly if you are susceptable to mission creep in your devices...) but if you want a no-frills processor for your great American, err, British Novel, this one might fit the bill. The price is certainly right... comparable to a handful of Hemingway's favorite Moleskine journals, at least.

Hi,

You forgot the early NEC MobilePro range. These machines were, I believe, not distributed in the UK but they were fairly popular in the US.
Based on the original Win CE 1 OEM spec (240x480 monochrome screen, standard set of apps and pocketable form factor), they came in two flavours - the 400 (4MB RAM) and 450 with a green backlight.
With one eye on the Psion S5's power consumption figures, NEC claimed the twin AA batteries would run for a month. The reality is closer to three or four days (approx 12 hours of use) before a visit to the neat docking station is required.
My MP 400 has just the one PCMCIA slot but, as I only use it for saving to a compact flash card, that's fine.
The keys are curious: fashioned from a soft rubber they have very little tactile feedback and shouldn't work well. However, I've never had a problem typing short reports. The generous spacing helps avoid typos.
The screen is fine and, if you find one in the UK, it's possible to use a keymapping program to add international characters like the "£" sign.
It's quite light and about the same size as a Velo 1 so it's easier to carry than a widescreen HP 300/320/360 or the Sharp 4000 series.
NEC also supported the 400 series with a ROM upgrade. Mine came with the piece of silicon required to take it from Win CE 1.0 to Win CE 2.0. The original chip still lives in the bottom of my drawer.
The NEC was the first HPC I bought and I still have a soft spot for it.

Hey, I was reading this thread and wanted to shout all to Richard Plume and others that this thread is very helpful. Eyeing that MobilePro 700

Good to see you back--on this thread and the other one. Do you still have the Velo?

Thank you, and no I do not have it anymore.