Aero 8000 Users

Well, I'm back on the HPC bandwagon. :-) I recently re-acquired an Aero 8000, because I love the form factor and the size/weight. I was wondering how many other Aero 8000 users were on this board, and how you felt about your device. Also, what software/peripherals have you obtained for the Aero.

wow! welcome back here!

I don't have one, but I'm glad you are back. Also can you tell me other reasons you prefer the Aero to all the others? Really... Welcome! Though I never use H-bomb I thank you for your contribution!

I purchased a used Aero 8000 about a month ago, and have been mostly pleased with it thus far. I agree with you about the form factor and weight. I'd been using an iPAQ for a few years but grew tired of the limits of the small screen and fold-up Targus keyboard. The Aero is a little slow, although I'm upgrading to 32 mb, so hopefully that will help. I've installed TextMaker and Ansyr Primer, and am pleased with both. I wanted to install Pocket PowerPoint Editor, which I downloaded for free from another handheld site, but it won't install. From what I've seen, Pocket Slides won't work on the Aero, and I'm not aware of any other presentation software for the Aero (other than the ubiquitous Pocket PowerPoint). I did use the Aero for a PowerPoint presentation in a class I taught at a local university a few weeks ago, and it worked great.

Wow, thanks for the kind words and welcoming back!

I prefer the Aero because it does just about everything I really need in a notebook, with the advantages of Windows CE. I wrote an article on it on my blog that should answer the "why": http://spaces.msn.com/members/julioangelortiz/Blog/cns!1pjWXukPQdK3-9nqlVFqObEw!256.entry .

The first thing I did was upgrade the RAM to 64MB. No complaints so far.

And with regards to a Powerpoint editor: a few years ago, Compaq offered a PowerPoint 97-compatible editor called PowerPresent, that works on MIPS and SH4 processors (intended for their HPCs). Amazingly, it is still on their FTP site. Here is the link:

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/supportinformation/upgrades/powerpresent.zip

I hope that this helps!

Edited by JulioAngelOrtiz 2005-07-31 8:53 AM

Thanks for the tip on PowerPresent - I'll give it a try. I hadn't heard of it before.

I installed a 32 mb RAM chip yesterday, and it seems to be somewhat faster. 'Bout had a heart attack, though, when the Aero wouldn't boot after the new RAM was in. I had to remove the battery to get it to come back to life.

I read your blog - I went through the same kind of back-and-forth re: laptop vs. HPC. I settled on the HPC mostly for the instant-on & battery life, and like you I can do the vast majority of what I need. I'm using it for both my full-time job (local government), as an extension of my desktop, and for part-time teaching. Hope yours works out well - I'm happy so far!

Well, you need to remove both the main and the back up battery doing a ram install, your very lucky you didnt distroy the chips....

Yikes! It would have been helpful to have had that in the instructions.....it said nothing about removing the batteries. At least I know for next time.

Never work with any integrated circuitry that has current running through it. It increases the chances that your actions will cause damage to the chip

I removed the main battery but not the backup battery. Everything turned out okay.

there is an Aero 8000 at the local consignment shop. Are there any video players for this platform?

wow... i want a shop like that here in hungary too! ok, after all i bought the NEC in a local notebook store... almost the same story
doesn't betaplayer have an SH4 build?

Wodeon certainly does
http://www.geocities.jp/omiokone/wodeon/indexE.htm

Thanks for the info.

How does it compare, durability, functionality and ease-of-use wise, to a Vadem Clio 1050 or a Mobilepro 880?