Mobil Pro 770 Questions

[lady_morana]

I am condsidering buying a Mobil Pro 770. I have never had or used a handheld. I would like to use it as an extension of my laptop. The one I would be getting is a reconditioned model with no extras...not even a power cord. Just the basic unit and the battery. But for under $100, I thought it might be ok.

I have a click drive on my laptop I could use for storage. I also have a zip drive. I could also transfer data infrared.

Is this a good model? I do a lot of office work..advanced Excell and Access. I also would like to use it to access mail.

Does anyone have an opinion on its speed and reliability? Is storage that big of a problem.

Morana Revel
Lady_Morana@excite.com

[Richie Rich]

I'm a new owner, but have learned a few things I can share with you.

First, make sure that there are drivers for your click drive to use if you decide to use it on the Mobilepro. CF Memory expansion is cheap and easy to use, and for the most part better than the click drives. If you do use the click drive, then you will have to power off an external a/c power source as the battery will not handle it.

IR synching is a pain in the butt. I can send a file and receive a file, but to use my IR port and active synch seems damn near impossible for me...don't know why, I normally pretty adept at these things. A synch cable costs about $40-50 anywhere (if you can find them) so if you get one...great, if not...woe be to you.

Batteries are pricey, but the battery pack for AA batteries is not too bad...about $40 with shipping. A good alternative to the LION type batteries. The a/c power supply is simple to obtain, and an alternate generic from Radio Shack works fine.

Your price is not too bad, but I've seen them go for just a little more on EBay with a lot more...so you might want to price compare.

As far as the operation of the thing goes, it seems to work well. I like the keyboard size and the wide screen. Using the internal 56K modem is a breeze and I was able to log onto my ISP 1200 miles away last month without problem. I was able to check my email on my MSN account and my email on my dial up account with no problem and surf both okay too. Its a lot easier on a palmtop to use the internet than it is on a pocketpc...that for sure. The hotel room had an ethernet connection, too bad I didn't have a network card, would have been easier yet.

The built in OS, WinCE Pro is great! It is so similar to Win95/98 that the differences are hardly worth mentioning. Makes it easy to learn. And there are some great programs out there you download to make it better yet. You are limited to the MIPS compatible programs, and not even all of them will run on the palmtops, but enough to keep you busy.

I use mine for the built in Word and Internet more than anything else. A chess game or couple of solitaire games is just about my speed.

In otherwords, I like mine and am not dissapointed I got it. I would like to see a Jornada 680/720 in action, in person some time though....if I would have had more money, that may have been my choice.

Rich

[y201k]

I have one NEC 770 for a year, but I do not find it user friendly in comparision with Palm OS. However, the pocket word and p.excell are OK.
Can you tell me if the win CE 3. can be upgraded?
I agree with you about using the CFcard for extent memory. Can we store programs in the CF?
Thanks.

[Richie Rich]

If you have CE 3.0 in your Nec 770, then you are luckier than I am...I am limited to the 2.11 version, and don't know if it can even be upgraded...I doubt it.

I do store programs on my CF card, and they seem to run fine from there.

The Palm OS is easier in many ways, but I don't find the CE OS very difficult either. Just more strict in its operation.

DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW IF I CAN UPGRADE MY CE 2.11 TO CE 3.0 OR NEWER?

Rich

[lady_morana]

I have never used CF for programs but they work great on a click drive.

Saves me room on my laptop and the programs are portable to other devices.

Morana

[y201k]

Thanks Richie.
Please keep posting on this pocket PC subject. Your information is helpful to many who can rarely find sources of input.