How do you use your hpc?

Well I believe that it is about time for this thread, at this far into this forum's life. Many new users have joined, as they have bought hpc's, like me, Snappy!, all those 680e users... So I have come to wonder, how do you all use your hpc's in your daily lives? Have they had any effect on how you compute?

I have come to use my 720 as my laptop. It has everything I need for when I am away from the desktop, and I constantly push it to its capabilities. (Though I still want to see it compile in *nux ) It has given me a new way to compute, and to do other things that I wouldn't have been able to do before. What about all of you?

My H/PC (Mobile Gear MCR-520 is running a web server) for http://www.hpcarchive.info.

The H/PC's really reliable for server use, plus it consumes only 3.6 Watts.


I also use it as a target device for developing my softwares etc.

Lastly, I use it for gaming lol

Right now, I use mine as an Organizer(Phone #'s, Notes) and Solitare. Still monkeying with the Lan.
Mine is a 680E with 256mb Sandisk Extreme card. And a 3COM 10 Mbps card.
Chris

Right now, my 790 is used to extract power from the ac adapter and charge the li-ion batteries. ... ... ... ...

... ... oh you mean what I use it for usually? hehehe I use it to jot down my thoughts in TomboRoot (as a diary), read reference materials (html format) using uBook, surf the web using its glorious PIE4.01 (*snigger*) and finally check email.

I mainly bought mine (Jornada 680e with a Compact Flash 256mb Ultra II high Speed 66X Sandisk) because I thought it was cool, the more I have looked into it the more uses I have found for it. Will mainly use it for prototype for a project at work. Web surfing and connection between my home PC.I would like to watch movies on it on long trips, although I have not figured out how to do that yet.

Mine (nec900) I just got, and I'm still figuring out how to actually make use of it.
Currently it's being used for testing of movies for my programs, and so far it has proved its money's worth on that. I just got power back after an outage, so I might just have to set it up for a backup internet connection using the buildin modem.

Hopefully I can get a messenger that I like up and running on it. thats my biggest issue right now I have with it.

i use TomboRoot very heavily, too, to write all sorts of things. it's such a beautiful (free) piece of software. i also read HTML and PDF documents whenever i have spare time outside of the house.

at school i use it to take notes at lectures and organize my schedule. at small group meetings i use the voice recorder so that i can participate in the discussion without worrying about taking notes.

i use it to listen to MP3's and audible books (although the audible.com software stinks, the books are still great).

then i also use it to go online for email, surfing and information. it's saved my life so many times...

i also use it to carry my important files which i export using either wireless connection or a USB CF Reader.

yeah, those are the main things, along with some other small things like OmniSolve.

the PIM work is outsourced to the nokia 6800 which is then sync'd with my laptop (don't have desktop)

that's it.

Edited by msafi 2005-03-10 12:12 PM

J720
Software Dev
and
Once in a while to read offline webpages

I just bought two 680e's for myself and my wife. These replace a now-broken Psion 5. I got the Psion to use in the usual PDF organizer way while producing a 3-day convention at my city's largest convention center and to keep meeting notes on. I also played around with it and ran a lot of emulated Sinclair software on it.

When my wife decided to try to forward her writing career, I passed the unit to her to try. She immediately fell in love with it and wouldn't go anywhere without it. She actually wrote a complete novel on it's small keyboard. She also read ebooks on it, though the readers tended to be a little iffy.

When the Psion died and we discovered no one really sells the HPC form factor in the U.S. anymore, we considered a laptop. Then I discovered the Tiger Direct units. I bought one to examine. I found it to be a solid, usable machine and, though the keys are smaller, my wife finds it actually types better than the Psion 5. I then bought a second one for myself. At around $120, these units are a terrific deal (I paid over $600 for the Psion 5).

My wife continues to use hers in the same fashion: writing on it, reading ebooks, and playing the occasional game.

I use mine primarily as a notepad. I've used computers for so long I've discovered I can no longer organize and jot done my thoughts cohesively on paper. Nor can I get them down as fast. I use the 680e to take notes for meetings and projects at work. In my spare time I've started writing games and use it to type up and formalize game ideas and rules.

I also use it as a toy, playing around with audio (which is poor), video (which I'm trying to get encoded to run without jerkiness), gaming (yes, I have HPC Doom installed), reading ebooks (Explorer may lack for online connectivity, but's it's great for this), and just generally experimenting with what the machine can do and how I can tweak it.

Just an observation from these thread, other threads and other forums: While computer and gadgets *seem* to be predorminantly used by males, I do find that in some cases, it is females who, once they get started on them, use them in everyday life earnestly. Granted my observation pool is terribly small and limited, I for one, mostly end up "toying" or "fiddling" if not modding these gadgets (HPCs included) to their death!!! (hehehe)

My sister for eg, started using computers as an end-user like everybody else. Years later, now, she still do not write programs or even scripts, but some of the things she can do on Excel, Word or Powerpoint simply amazes me. Sure, if I dug into the reference help, I can almost definitely replicate what she did and very probably even find a more efficient way to do it, but the point being that for her, the gadget/device/pc is not an end in itself, but more of a tool/means to further her end, be it work, hobby, interest or otherwise. For me, I find that gadgets/devices/hpc more often than not, become more of an end in itself than anything.

My only recourse I guess is that in the past few years, I'm more into the "end-user" mode and using whatever device I have as a tool to do other real-life use such as those I mentioned and some that others mentioned. Not that I'm saying its wrong or bad to take fiddling with gadgets as a hobby by itself, except that its interesting how things play out with respect to the users' gender, age, etc. Just some thoughts ...

I also bought it because it was cool.

One of the things I wanted to do was the surf the web while watching TV. The PPC was too small to read from, the laptop was too slow to turn on, so the HPC worked the best, in comparison anyway. The browser was adequate, but really could do better.

I didn't use to always take my old PPC with me because I would need a big pocket. I put it in the jacket, but it was too much hassle for too little use. So the HPC would be worse, portability wise, right? Interestingly, because it didn't fit into a pocket, I bought a small shoulder bag. And because it can surf the web adequately, I now bright it with me everywhere. This is a big change in computing habit. It intrigues people when I type a street address in PocketStreets, or simply type in someone's name and email with the little keyboard. And it amazes them when I start surfing on a bench in the middle of the mall.

However I am finding the 728 a bit lacking. It's great as a mobile, but I still go back to the PC if I'm in the room. So I'm thinking about something bigger, more powerfull; enough to replace the desktop for the most part, yet still reasonably portable in a bag. If you followed that thread, I was trying to get the Smartbook G138. Then I was on the lookout for a Netbook Pro as well, but they're rare and expensive. Just saw one went by at 500 GBP on eBay the other day. It's hard to predict what my next device will be, but for now the Jornada is still sweet

Admins?

I bought a Jornada 690 as a PDA and computer. The home computer was "Dad's" (my) computer when it was in the basement, but it became "Mom's" computer when it moved upstairs. After the 690 died, I bought a Jornada 720 and use it for many purposes:

Spreadsheets with lists of books to read, movies to see, restaurants to try. More spreadsheets for License plate game list for vacation, domino scoring, weight and exercise tracking, product comparisons and much more.

Reading e-books - it's great to have a library of 100+ books that fits in your pocket! I read books to the kids in the van on long trips, or at restuarants when the wait is getting long.

Looking up new words in the dictionary while reading.

Writing memory treasures for the kids. Taking notes for minutes while running meetings.

PIM stuff - not only my appointments, but my wife's and the kids, too.

Movies (although until I replace the 1 GB CF card that died, I'm movieless )

Games - Backgammon, arcade style, boxes, chess, ICBM, etc.

What would I like to do? - Use it for internet access, e-mail, play MP3s and audio books, run pocketDOS and learn Morse Code. I'd also like to develop a Cribbage game for Windows CE (will take some learning - my only programming language is FORTRAN ).

Turning the display on bright and using it as a flashlight!

Web browsing soon for me, when the ntwrk gets up and running.

I study medicine, and besides the usual stuff (PDA uses), i also keep a couple of books & medical calculators on it. also take notes of pending stuff while in service and i use it to write down any other useful info the doctor/resident/intern shall say. It's really shocking for many to see that little device holding some entire medicine books. And when on class, i hook my laptop is to a projector, and the HPC is used as a WiFi remote control (it moves P*werpoint slides back and forth)

I also use it for playing music, surfing the net (while away from home, generally on my gf's school), and as a demonstration tool (i sell them, so my J728 & J680 are the product showcase). I also use it to D/L some classmates photos from their IR enabled phones and to transfer data between machines, when no other connection means are possible

so i'm a half "Laptop replacement" half "PDA device" user.