NEC 780 pros and cons

I've about given up on trying to repair my dropped HP 660lx. I think I could do it if I could figure out how to open the case, but no one seems to be able to help me with that, so.....

I'm looking at either a 620lx from ebay, which I can then upgrade with my 660lx card, or the NEC MobilePro 780, which is available for only a slightly higher price.

And therein lies my question. The "buy it now" price for the 780's I have found seem somewhat low for machines with those specs.

Are there some disadvantages to the 780 that I'm not seeing? I now it has a MIPS processor, so some of my software might not work, but I think I can live with that, since most of what I use is compatible.

Thanks for any advice.

Kirk Messinger

The 780 is - compared to the HP - really BIG! The Mobile Pro would be to bulky for me. To me it contradicts the whole idea of a handheld computer.

If that doesn't matter to you, it's an excellent machine.

GBL

I have a 780 that has been upgraded to a 790 and I LOVE it! While they are larger than the jornadas, the keyboard is actually useful. I can type endlessly on my 780 and its a comfortable experience. The processor is relatively quick, however mips processors aren't privy to as many software choices as the arm processors found in the jornadas. Nevertheless the major players like Textmaker provide a mips version, so in most cases you won't be left without. And best of all you can use HPC Professional or HPC 2000 thanks to a swappable rom chip (although I'm not sure why you'd want to use the latter after you try 2000) And like you've mentioned the price is right!

I can type well on my Jornada 720 with little errors, That upgraded 780 sounds good

Nick

woodnboats,

I think I can help you get into the 660. They're pretty much a 300 series with colour screen. It isn't easy (not designed to be opened back up) but I can get in to and crucially put back together a 300 series device.

Bad, Chris bad...heel boy

Hahahahah, well knowing what happened to thcrw739, we know that not everyone is as talented as C:Amie...

Lol maybe you can send it to C:Amie, but are you good at taking apart electronics? (Small ones?)

C:Amie, am I advertising you by accident?

Thanks for all your advice.

I knew the 780 is bigger, and part of the reason I bought the 66 in the first place was its small footprint. I gave it to my wife to carry in her purse, but she prefers those big, bulky, tree-killing things from Franklin, so I got it.

I'd mostly use it for reading and editing scanned books, so I don't think the larger size would bother me much.


What's this about an upgrade? Are they still available, and if so, where?

And, Chris, if you have some advice, pictures, instruction, etc. for opening my 660, I'd like to give it a try. I've gotten in quite a ways, and found a lot of hidden screws, but I"m currently stymied.

Thanks,

Kirk

The upgrade is simply a matter of getting your hands on the rom chip from a nec 790. Once you have acquired that , simply open up the rom cover, remove two screws, swap out the roms, and your running HPC 2000. Much better experience. A seller by the name of llewyn32 sells these on ebay from time to time at a cost of $49.99, otherwise just look for a busted up 790. There was a website that was selling these at $34.99, but have since been cleaned out. Here's the link to check in case they restock - http://shop.store.yahoo.com/alan-fm/notebook---etc-memory-memory-upgrade---other.html

Happy Hunting!