HP Jornada 680: what to expect.

Hi. First of all, I want to say hello to all of the HPC community.

I am a big fan of the small PC machines. I have 4 netbooks, and, recently, I have decided to dive into the palmtop world, of which I fell in love the first time I saw a photo of one PSION palmtop on Pinterest. Then I purchased a boxed almost new HP 360LX (which only flaw is a bit dim backlight), and an HP Jornada 680 that lacks of the cradle, charger and... Well, the rest of accessories are missing, except the stylus/pen.

My goals with those HP are to have an extremely portable device to perform some basic tasks, that I can resume in:

-Writing word texts (amateur novelist)
-Manage a simple database of contacts
-And... The overly optimistic expectation of having fun playing some old games (mostly DOS games) either on the LX or in the Jornada.

My question is. Since the first two goals are solved because both machines have Word pre installed, even Excel, my problem is that I don't know if playing some games on those machines is possible: games like warcraft, descent... Or at least some mame-like emulator, even console emulators.

Of course, I know that SH3 CPUs are not the same as x86 ones, so I want to know what is the right approach to do such thing.

Also, and because the sync cable is missing on the Jornada, what options (apart of buying a specific cable for it) I have to transfer files from a WinXP based system (the oldest OS I have available, which's installed in my ACER aspire One ZG5) to the Jornada?

Tanks in anticipation, and sorry for the tome...




Edited by ABBADON 2024-02-21 11:31 AM

Hi there
Congratulations on your HPCs! I also recently bought a Jornada 680 and I love it.

As you already mentioned, writing texts and managing a database is a given and it works quite well. As for DOS games, I bought PocketDOS and it's an excellent emulator in my opinion and it can be used to also run other DOS software. I mostly play text adventures (LucasGames and Sierra). Those work quite well but the pace is actually quite slow and the animations don't run very smoothly. But I think the best thing to do is to test the games you want to play for youself since there is a demo version of PocketDOS availlable.

The only way to transfer files from the PC to the Jornada without the cable is to use a CF card.

Feel free to ask me, if you have more questions!

I just got a 680e and a 690. They replaced my 360LX and A-11+ just recently. Great little units and perfect for what your looking to do with it.

-Walt

Oh and by the way i am getting into PocketDOS too. Let me know if ya figure out anything good with it ;-)

I plan to use the 680e for PocketDOS and the 690 for JLime Linux

Edited by WallyB110 2024-02-21 1:32 PM

Thanks a lot!!, I will buy PocketDOS then, as it only costs a few pounds (or €), and will save me from a lot of headaches Aniway... What are the differences between shareware and the licensed copy? Just curious, because I did read of people using the free version with no problems... (As a new user of HPCs, I am gathering as much info I can get, and after reading your replies, I do some Google search about pocketdos).

Also, I have discovered that The 360LX link cable is full compatible with my J680!! I am waiting for a charger for the Jornada, so I can start making some tests.

I found this tuts here at HPCF...

https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200052/installing_applications_onto_windows_ce_using_a_cab_file/

https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200051/installing_applications_onto_your_windows_ce_device_using_the_host_pc/

I promise to post my own little tuts as I progress installing DOS games. IDK if I'll be able to run demanding titles like Warcraft or Descent... Or Mechwarrior but I'll try them for sure.

Thanks a lot for your quick response, Mulder and Wally

Edited by ABBADON 2024-02-21 3:13 PM

Yeah its nice that the 360LX serial cable is the same as the 600 series. ;-)

Sadly the AC is different. Id look at usedhandhelds.com's website. They have just about everything for HP and NEC units it seems. ;-)

Def keep us up to date ;-)

For PocketDOS, the developer, Ian is still available so you can email p o c k e t d o s [at] pocketdos.com and he can go over the process
http://www.pocketdos.com/

Below is what Ian from Pocket DOS also mentioned about the PayPal process


For Spreadsheets, I highly recommend SpreadCE found here
https://www.byedesign.co.uk/
It even supports the new XLSX/ODS file formats too. You can use it for free, with no limitations. Or you can purchase for $20 if you want to remove the VERY minor "nag" when you use the file menu, it doesn't affect actual spreadsheet entry


Edited by torch 2024-02-21 6:03 PM

^ Wow i had not even thought about the new format. Thanks ! I gotta download this ! :-)

I edited to fix an error in my post with that second quote. I was quoting Ian from PocketDOS directly, I was not saying to send PayPal to me personally. I edited the post to clarify that

Sorry about that

^ I just heard back from him. I just gotta get to the bank and put $20 in so i can pay him for it. Cant wait to not have the "demo" version of this. :-)

Woot !!!

Thank you all!!, I'm excited about what I'll do with pDOS.

Also, I have one more question.

The CR battery (the one installed is a 2025 not a 2032 as the manual say, surprisingly) is probably empty of charge, so I removed it from the Jornada. Will it harm the system? I'm afraid the ROM inside the palmtop will be damaged. Of course I know all personal settings and files are gone, but the ROM on which the OS is installed is what worries me the most

Probably I'm asking for too much answers but... Here's another one. Does pDOS run DOS programs just running its exe file? I mean, I install pDOS, navigate to the game or program folder and then run the exe. Is that right?

BTW. Here's my little buddy and the CR battery.
hp J680 battery

EDIT: I have just put a brand new CR232 battery and connect a universal charger (a quality one that I used for years with the Aspire One), and the Jornada says that the "backup battery charge is low or inexistent"!! Omg... Help!!

Edited by ABBADON 2024-02-21 7:33 PM

I believe the DOS images are like a virtual hard drive in the form of a "Disk Image".

So to install for example a program called program.exe, you would mount a floppy disk image of program.exe as drive A or B, then you'd install it.

As long as the floppy isn't required to be "inserted" for program.exe to run, the program.exe should still exist on the Virtual Hard Disk Drive

PocketDOS comes with FreeDOS Hard Disk Image, and also another different DOS image too - I forgot which one.

Here's a tutorial on DRDOS
http://www.mediator-software.com/pocketdos/tutorial_drdos_ins.htm
Here's a tutorial on MSDOS 6.22 (only if you have your diskettes, PocketDOS does not come with 6.22)
http://www.mediator-software.com/pocketdos/tutorial_msdos_ins.htm

Hello and welcome!
There's no need to worry about this, the OS is stored in ROM and it is not affected by the presence (or charging level) of the back-up battery.

You can safely use the Jornada without a back-up battery if you wish, you will only get an annoying nag message about it once in a while, and of course, if you remove or deplete the main battery and the Jornada was not externally powered at that time, you will lose your user data (but not the OS itself). You can think of it more like a factory reset.

Edited by WinCEDev 2024-02-21 7:53 PM

this is why I just tend to work off of the storage card (like CF card), so my data is always there and safe

Phew!!, that's a relief. BTW: I have fixed the problem straightening the contacts (I follow adeamis advices) and the low batt message is gone. Now it's time to start buying pocketDOS.

Edited by ABBADON 2024-02-21 8:20 PM

Thanks!!. Seem that I need to dust off my old tweaking abilities!!