my new (to me) HP 620LX

hey all, im new to the H/PC world, if u couldnt tell, and i was wondering what all i can do to my HP 620LX. can i get ne thing other than windows CE on here, or maybe better versions, or maybe even XP(probably not tho) but yeha, if u could give me some basic things i can do to this, other than getting it on the interent, please let me kno, thank you
AM

EDIT: also, if i can get a windows media player or something, and if this is a USB on the side, (i dont have the owner's manual yet)

I think you're looking at the serial cable connection port. It's not USB, though it looks kinda like it. No, you can't install other versions of Windows on it - they can't run on the hardware of the Handheld PC. There are mp3 player apps, but the only one that I know of that works in Windows CE 2.0 is Hum. (See the "Downloads" section.)

Well I was really getting into my HP620LX before it passed away.

First of all, I didn't expect it will be like a portable Windows XP unit with all the bells whistles and esoteric software. The 620 isn't flashy and doesn't have a lot of grunt. But that is by todays standards. In it's day I'm certain it would have been droolworthy. Even still it doesn't have built in USB port. Windows CE2.0 software for the SH3 processor is kind of limited both in availability and function but if you look hard enough there is software for most kinds of applications.

My main aim was to make it both internet and home network capable which was easily accomplished. I highly recommend getting it at least home network capable. It makes synchronising so much faster and less fiddly than having to deal with proprietry serial cables or IR connections.

Hum is an OK MP3 player for it. It works well if MP3's are your thing. I tried it for a while, but MP3's take up a lot of ram and ram is kind of precious on the 620. Nothing stopping you loading up compact flash roms with MP3's and plugging them in however.

There is no really good MPG movie player for it however. There is no Windows Media Player of any version released which is compatible, so no luck there I'm afraid. I persisted with Wodeon for a little while for trying to view MPG video. The SH3 processor isn't up to the task a lot of the time for viewing compressed motion video however. It was very choppy on my machine. I would just leave that for my home PC.

Tascal RegEdit is a good registry editor for applying tweaks.

There are little pocket games like pacman or chess, which are amusing, but it wont run later pocket games like pocket doom etc which require Windows CE2.11 as a minimum. The 620 isn't a machine made to run games.

There is Microsft Pocket Word already loaded on it which I used from time to time to update my resume or type out various documents when I was on the road.

However the most use I got from the unit was using it for network and online functions, because you power it on and 5 seconds later it's just ready to use. If I needed to look something up on Google, I could turn on my home PC and wait until it booted and got into the OS (yawn) or you could just turn on the 620 and ziiiiiiip, it was ready. My home PC isn't slow, but you cannot beat the start up speed of a handheld. I would read news/articles with Avant Go, I could retrieve emails and I could keep in contact with friends/family after I found out how I could set up a chat program to comm with yahoo/msn with a little help from some of the friendly people on this site.

The 620 was a good way for me to get introduced to the world of handhelds. Now that I don't have one, I kind of miss it. Got another one on the way though and one day I'll upgrade to something with more power and more options.

Thats my take on it anyway.

Edited by Britty 2006-03-28 11:37 PM

wow, that is REALLY helpfull, exactly what i needed, lol. yeah, i got the thing for free from my moms boyfriend, and i thought it was pretty cool, now, can i get the HUM and all the rest of the little updates here, or do i have 2 search for them online?

Well some things you can get from this site and the rest you can get online.

I recommend reading through these links first before jumping headlong. There is valuable information in the relevant areas for a first time user, same ones I read when I first got my 620.

http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/

http://www.hpcfactor.com/downloads/

Just remember that when looking anywhere for software is has to be compatible with both Windows CE 2.0 and SH3 processor and it should be fine.

ok, will do, and do u kno of ne flash memory card readers that i could use for HUM, bcuz i cant seem 2 find any that will work with my 620

If you ever need to find any kind of compatible hardware that you want to know works with Windows CE2.0, use this link.

http://www.hpcfactor.com/hcl/hpchcl.asp

There is a link there for Flash Memory Cards

I don't think any hardware makes it onto this list until it has been tried and tested and known to work with the various operating systems listed.

The 620 already has a compact flash card reader/writer on it, its the right hand side panel of the unit. The little tray that pulls out. You only need to source compatible flash rom cards to go into it.

Edited by Britty 2006-03-29 12:21 AM

Some very concise support there Britty, kudos to you.

Were you aware that the 620LX can be upgraded to 2.11? You'd need to be hawkish on eBay, but they do exist!

well, im glad 2 hear about the flash reader on the side, i thought that was what it was, but i didnt want 2 just toss something in there and screw everything up, and how much do u think the 2.11 upgrade would be, and how common r they on ebay, and, one final question for this post, is the 2.11 considered PRO on the HCL

Yes, CE 2.11 is considered 'Pro' on the HCL..

ok, thx, and yeah, once again, if ne one didnt c my other post, if u have an extra ROM upgrade or the 620/660 that u have doesn work, and u would like 2 sell it, PLZ LET ME KNO!!, im dying to make my 620 the best it can b