I'm currently quite busy with an update for PocketDVD
(v1.1
), but related to that, I would like to let you all at least know about my experiences so far with the NEC I purchased a few weeks ago.
After a lot of sending testfiles over, and talking to Chris about HPC devices, I finaly got to buy a NEC MP900. As a person who only had PocketPC-like devices since the PalmPilot
(yes, the 512kb monochrome one
) I finaly ordered my first HPC. In previous jobs I did sell the first ones, but at that time they were out of my priceleague
(I'm talking about the Velo, 200LX etc
)
I use them mostly for fun, and usualy push them to their limits. My current device is an IPAQ 2200 and this one, while purchased because my Handspring didnt wanna run ScummVM
(monkey island
) is mainly used for Video playback.
However, due to my programs I continiously work on, my IPAQ is now basicaly only used for testing performance and compatibility of the files created with my programs. I hardly take the time to actually use it.
The NEC MP900
First impression : WOW, that thing is HUGE !
compared to a PocketPC, this thing is like 4 times as big. It's nice to have a keyboard, but does it really have to be the same size as a laptop keyboard?
The keyboard is nice though, but so far I have not had much use for it yet. I am planning on programming some applications for it though, and since it's in my opinion the biggest advantage of a HPC device, I am focussing on using the keyboard dominantly in my programs.
The stylus is nice, but using the stylus in my right hand and typing with the left hand on the device is quite anoying.
I havent done much with the NEC at the moment, but what I have done with it is still quite interesting.
Of course the first thing
(main reason of purchase
) I did was testing Video playback.
The NEC has a DSTN screen, and compared to the one of my IPAQ it's quite a step back. Well that was with my first experiences. However, currently, with some modifications I done on PocketVideo at the moment
(always handy if you develop your own programs
) I actually prefer watching movies on my NEC compared to the IPAQ.
Yes, the screen ghosts a bit, but believe it or not, the quality on the NEC, due to the older-style screen is actually better. The bigger screen
(8" or so
) also plays a major part in it, but after a lot of trial and error, I am actually quite happy with the results.
The video's I already had converted for use with it ended up not playing very well, but after I redid them with the new optimizations, they all look awesome.
Unfortunately, you have to wait a bit still to be able to see it though. Sorry.
The second thing I tried was Quake. HPC Quake to be exact.
Here is where the screen shows ts true disapointment.
The NEC has a 400MHz Xscale, and is capable of playing Quake 1 fairly well, but on the screen is just looks like one big blurr. Didnt last that long.
I also tried, of course, ScummVM, and playing Monkey Island on it was, as always, pretty cool. However, I would like to see something more like fullscreen, or at least have the buttons moved to the side. The PocketPC version has a rotate feature, and maybe based on that, it can be made into a full screen on the left for 320x240 or so, and the buttons put on the right. Other then that, it worked pretty good.
As a Citrix Certified Admin, I also had to try Citrix on it. Citrix is something like terminal server, but better, and cooler.
After installing, it helped a lot to actually enable the use of the keyboard in the settings of the client program on the NEC, but unfortunately, the provided client on the CD crashed the Citrix server I tried it on. A newly downloaded version of the client did work a lot better, but to be honest, the PocketPC version of the client works better.
Eventhough the HPC screensize is 640x240, the 320x240 on the IPAQ provided more workable space, because there is no taskbar. I've got to play around with it a bit more.
Citrix works over network, so basicaly this means I also got networking working.
I havent used the buildin modem, but I already had an AMBICOM CF-wifi-b card for my Ipaq, and this one works like a charm with the NEC. The driver also nicely installs the wifi app, and I hooked up to unsecure and secured networks without issues. Unfortunately, I cant just move from one to the other, and have to manualy change networks.
Mapping network drives also works great
(resco explorer
) but the one thing I have not been succesfull with is messenger applications.
I tried imov, but no matter what I did, it just freezes. I tried ICQ, Yahoo clients and also no luck. Portrait works ok, but is kinda anoying to get anything done with.
Hopefully I'll be able to port something like CenterICQ over to HPC to be able to get more use out of it.
Conclusion.
The NEC
(HPC2000
) feels sluggish. compared to WM2003 on the IPAQ, it just feels slow, even though both units use the same processor.
The NEC is big. It is roughly 4 times the size of the IPAQ, and also quite thick.
The screen is also a lot bigger, but the DSTN is not really compareable with the one on the IPAQ. Even scrolling down a webpage in PIE shows some ghosting on the screen.
The NEC does have quite some expansion slots, and I am thankfully making use of them. I have a 512 cf in the frontloaded CF slot
(like a floppy
) I have my WIFI card in a pcmcia adapter on the side in the PCMCIA slot.
and I have had a mouse hooked up to the standard usb port as well.
Overall it's a nice device, but I havent seen the full capabilities of it yet.
(this is a first impression review, and opinions stated above might differ from the final
)
