My MP790 is on her deathbed...

I hoped this thread would never come, but alas, It has.

I will be blunt. My MobilePro 790 is falling apart. No, it's not the fault of the seller, It's me. Or, the people around me, for that matter. I made the mistake of taking it with me wherever I went, and over the past several months, It got kicked and dropped, far beyond normal wear and tear. I tried my best to guard it, but the pocket of a denim vest is never safe for an HPC of it's size. I mean, friends at school think they have to run up and kick me in the side as their way of saying hello, and the MP just couldn't take it. Not only that, I suspect that it suffered some internal damage from a recent unprotected power surge.
The lid lock that holds it shut is broken. One of the shoulder pieces is missing, along with two of the rubber square things on the bottom. The IR port no longer works. The frame is falling apart because the screws keep falling out. The battery won't stay in. The scroll wheel dosen't work anymore. The screen's outer bezel is cracked. And worst of all, the PCMCIA card slot stopped working. I've tried 2 WiFi cards, a 56k Dial-up PC card, and a storage card, and none have generated the slightest response.
The past few nights I have spent nearly crying myself to sleep. Life just isn't the same anymore. She was my pride and joy, my only REAL HPC, and now, she's dying. I'm just really disapointed with myself for being so irresponsible and careless with it. I hope for the sake of HPC's that I never do that again.

I have been doing a bit of thinking on how to fill the gaping void in my life now, and perhaps if I get another HPC, I will use a carrying case. Now that high school is pretty much out of the way, I should be able to focus more on getting a job, and maybe then I will get a Jornada 72x with an OtterBox or other carrying case.

Although my MP790 still kinda works, it's only a matter of time before it breaks completely. Let this be a reminder to all HPC owners the world over. Take good care of it, you never really know what you've got until it's gone. As for now, she sits on my desk, her shattered eyes reflecting the bitter neglect that I so ignorantly allowed...

How afriad are you at taking it apart? How afraid are you at soldering? If none, I have a spare 780, that has no ribbon cable, keyboard bezel, display bezel and damaged bottom plate. The LCD lid switch is broke, so you need to either crudely fix it, or replace it with a good one. It should still work, PCMCIA and everything else, I haven't powered it up yet, to see.
If I were you, I'd keep it in your bag, I keep mine in my bag, since there is no risk of it dropping out of my bag.
Of course, it tends to get scraped by my files, sketchbook, laptop and anything else in its victim (Earphones, so I can use my MP to listen to MP3s. Yes, they are stereo and they do work.)
Contact me if you are interested in the spare, I'll provide some shots, so you know what you get in the post.

EDIT:
a word of warning, if you use my motherboard, you loose the 14mb flash ROM (as if you use it!).
Oh and I dropped my MP rather recently too, it fell out of my locker onto concrete vice thin lino flooring from a height of 4 to 5feet high up, and all that happened, is the LCD release hook broke! Thats it, I was sooo relieved when I started it up and everything works, apart from the fact that my red and silver monster doesn't close properly.
I was lucky that wasn't my laptop or it would of been parts everywhere! Possibly a HD failure.

By the way, I like your avatar for some reason.

Edited by Wessex_nut 2006-02-18 7:13 PM

As much as I would love to, I don't have the skills, bravery, time, or space to do even a minor operation on it. Besides, I'm sort of fed up w/ MIPS, and I want to try and explore different styles of HPCs, I am really interested in the Jornada 72x series, primarily because of the ARM processor, all the HPC games that I want to play are for ARM. And it's size. It's much smaller, so if I did carry it on me, I could have it in a solid carrying case. For now, I just need to spend a day or so searching for my next soulmate...

oh.... this story is so sad

please get a jornada & otterbox asap and don't expose the MP to anything any more

anyway don't feel so guilty (only a little! heh!), the MP7xx aren't constructed/made so well / sturdy as a J72x for example. or a MP900.

I hate to disagree with anything that cmonex says... but I've had a 780 and have a 900 now and from what I've experienced they are both equally durable... you just have to take care of it.

Just for the poor soul who lost his machine, a piece of advice. Unless you want to do tons of stuff with usb... go with the 900, not the 900c.

The lack of a few key dll's that no-one has of yet managed to replace for ce.net mean that there are some problems running some programs, where the hpc2000 gives you pretty much all you need from my understanding. Both are arm, but the ce.net strips out the onboard progs and gives you viewers that pretty much suck as well.

IMHO!

Sorry bout your 790!

Pssh. Just buy another.

Coldhearted? I'm not coldhearted! Am I?

Yes, I was quite dissapointed to find out that the 900c office apps were only viewers. I was considering getting a 900, but it's just too big. I need something more portable and with better battery life. Something that people don't confuse as a laptop. Countless people have walked by my desk at school before and said, "Hey, can that laptop play Counterstrike? I'll bet I could p40wn y0u s0 b4d!..." Plus, MP900's are too expensive and hard to find.

I definitely want something that feels more like an organizer, or a PDA, rather than a laptop. Something that I can use to keep appointments, and check the time, without being humiliated. (But NOT a PPC...shudder) Besides, StrongARM has SO much more 3rd party software available... and DOOM... (drool) + Stereo sound...

Yeah, I really want a Jornada. Problem is, do I want 720 or 728 series? Is more RAM worth more price? Oh, and can you mod a J72x's CF slot to accomodate a MicroDrive? I heard that somewhere...

And I've also heard that Jornada's have more internal problems, like cardslots and sound all of a sudden not working. If i'm going to get another HPC, I don't want to have to suffer from the heartache all over again...

Naw, I think I'm done w/ MobilePros. Now I'm moving on to something... better.

You sound like an abusive husband.
About what CMONEX said: I'd beg to differ about the durability. My 780's been dropped, kicked, dropkicked, bit, licked, pressed on, scraped, smashed, and pounded on. The only "character" it has gained are two cracks and a missing "hinge" part (cosmetic damage). It's been traveling in my backpack all year and it's in better shape then the backpack it's self.
The 900s aren't all that big, they really are about the same size as the MP790. For you, a student, I would also recomend the Jornada because of the price. Once I get my enlistment bonus...THE 900 WILL BE MINE!!!!!

900 is the exact same size as the 780/790.

Arm processor in the 900 and 900c does everything a jornada can do.

Battery life 6-8 hours min depending on use... obviously wifi sucks major battery as do microdrives.

I use mine all day at UNI and rarely have to use my spare battery. I run a 512 cf always with that... getting easy 6 hours.

720 keyboard is MUCH smaller... not at all touch typeable unless you have mini-hands so keep that in mind as well.

I like the screen on the jornadas better though I must admit.

I recommend a Jornada then. Get a 728 if it is a good price, otherwise go for a 720. Problems? I have heard of a few problems, but mine has never had any. (Except for the stylus bursting into purple flame, but that was my fault. (and C:Amie's) )

HEY! Just buy one of the beaters off Ebay. I bought a 790 for $30.50 DELIVERED! I popped in a 790 Rom I had in a 780 and now its my daily carry unit.

I sanded off the scratches on top and didn't paint it. I went with the "ROAD WARRIOR" look.

Right now the Mobilepro's are a deal on Ebay, you can buy 2 beaters for about the same as I paid for my first 780.

llamaboy: Abusive husband? Heroes aren't like that. I'm only out of high school! Now marriage, THAT, is the ultimate heart-ache IMO.
ProgramSynthesiser: Purple flame? Wow. Must've been some game of Solitaire...

Yes, I will definitely start looking for a job, then for a J728. Question is, what should I do with my MP790 after I get a Jornada?

Parts is parts.

So, I should sell it on HPCbay(for cheaper, of course), after I get a Jornada?