Mobilepro 400 Ethernet Adapter

[juanflaiter]

Im a poor college student and i need a pda just for email, phones and schedules, im thinking about buying mobilepro 400, what do you think about it?

Also i want to know if i can plug a pcmcia ethernet adapter, so i can plug to my college intranet.

Thanx

[Pilot]

I could be wrong (and someone feel free to tell me if they know different), but I'm remembering something about CE 1.0 and specifically the MP4xx line not supporting a Ethernet card? Anyone else remember that? I know it would support a PCMCIA modem. I owned a MP450 (pretty much the same thing with a backlight), but I didn't have access to an Ethernet network then for trying a card in there or I probably would have. I didn't try Ethernet until I got my MP700, and it worked great. I would advise moving up to the MP700 or even MP750c if money is a thing for you, but you still want better functionality. The MP400 runs CE 1.0, and it's difficult to find any software for it. Not to mention that the browser and email may have compatability problems now with encryption improvements, etc. A MP700 is a better version of the MP400, with an almost full-sized keyboard but still the very readable (in all light conditions) grayscale display (with backlight option), and it still uses AA batteries as it's power source and lasts almost as long as the MP400 on them, too. If you want to sacrifice some bright light readability of the screen, but really want color and a nice rechargeable battery, you can get a MP750c for a song and a dance on eBay now, and they are very capable machines. You can even upgrade the ROM from CE 2.0 to CE 2.11 when you get some extra beer money lying around the dorm room or something. Both the MP700 and 750c will give you a very useable mini-notebook type device, that will be much more satisfying to use and capable than the MP4xx line (great in their time, but now...not so good).

[Chris Hall]

Basically, I agree with Pilot that the 400 is not going to be satisfactory for email and Ethernet LAN applications. Another consideration here is that realistically this could only be done on mains power. It would eat the batteries for lunch.

Nevertheless, this is a beautiful little machine for taking notes on the go, which is what I do, in my line of work (journalist). For a student, this would be a great little option for taking class notes, but I think better forget the email and Ethernet. In any case, WinCE 1.0 was never very user-friendly when it came to the communications side, IMHO.

The 400 can take a ROM upgrade chip, which then enables WinCE 2.0. However, I believe I am correct in saying that this chip is no longer available from NEC or any commercial outlet. If anyone has this chip and is confident it is good condition and would be willing to mail it internationally, please let me know. I would like to do a deal.

Alternatively I would be interested in a deal on a 700 or possibly even a 450 with the upgrade to CE 2.0.