NEC Mobilepro 780 Portable Computer

List Price: $933.99

Features:

• Communications platform, productivity station and presentation tool for mobile professionals
• Handheld PC with Pocket versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Internet Explorer, and Outlook
• 24 MB RAM, 32 MB ROM
• 168 MHz MIPS processor
• What's in the box: NEC MobilePro 780, Stylus, AC Adapter, VGA Cable, serial cable, RJ-11 telephone cable, Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery, Microsoft ActiveSync CD, UserÆs Guide

Accessories:

Targus PA870U Universal Wireless Keyboard

Customer Reviews:

Mobilepro from a Pro [Posted on 2005-04-08]
I purchased a refurbished Mobilepro 780 through Amazon from a real pro(fessional) and write this review because I simply feel good about this experience. I was interested in a handheld with a good keyboard, largely to write journal entries and letters on the move, had heard about the Nec and HP versions, found that HP no longer produced their Jornada and that Nec still produced one for about $1000, read a lot of very mixed reviews, got scared and almost turned-off despite some good prices on used/refurbished machines, and happened upon "llewyn" as the seller of several models, noticed his incredibly positive reviews (96% five stars) and decided to proceed, gingerly. I am glad I did.

I started by writing an email to Larry Lewyn, asking questions about what might fit my purpose. He wrote back a very thorough, thoughtful and well-written response. After a few more exchanges of email, I bought one of his Nec Mobilepro 780s through Amazon. The price was good, but even more important the service was outstanding. He shipped my computer quickly, it came with lots of software that he had developed or installed, a full backup CD which also included not only the complete documentation but several short pieces with helpful hints, and all the necessary hookups. Inevitably, being a computer novice, I had questions (e.g. about transferring files from my Mobilepro to my desktop). Larry answered my questions quickly and with the same thoughtfulness and thoroughness that he had done before I bought from him.

In short, this guy is a real professional, obviously knows his stuff, takes pride in communicating it clearly, cares about his buyers and their satisfaction, and keeps himself available for follow-up. I don't think there are many entrepreneurs like him anymore, where service really does come first. I have no idea about what else he does in life, but he certainly puts himself into his handhelds and serving his customers.

I am sure this sounds overblown, but simply having found and experienced this seller provides a lift to the spirits. I think he's one of those people you would really like to meet, but probably never will.

What more can I say? Whenever I look to buy things from the internet, Amazon, even small entrepreneurs anywhere, I am going to be looking for a Larry Lewyn.

Not a bad little machine [Posted on 2005-07-14]
I got this one used for $20 at a garage sale. They didn't know what to use it for. I saw the modem and figured it would be a good portable email computer. Well, it is and it isn't.

Internet setup was a breeze. So now for email. Well, like many people, I have more than one address. but I was pretty shocked to find that the version of IE that comes with it cannot log into Yahoo, Lycos, or AOL's webmail. So even though I have several to choose from, I can't get to any of them. So next I go on a quest for another browser and find CE 2.11 to be VERY hard to get additional software for. Nobody has anything. I remember that these CE devices weren't a #1 hit, and I guess this is the consequence - practically no software. I did get a solution which was to use Mail2web.com and access my POP3 email that I use on my Clie PDA and Outlook. So it ended up working okay because this POP3 account was already my mobile account. I would have used Outlook on this, but the Pocket Outlook doesn't send direcly. It must be synched. This was no good because I already have this ability with my Clie, and was wanting to use this for extended trips away from my PC where I could sync. So Mail2web.com has been a life saver.

Next came web browsing. Not bad. I was able to get to most websites with no problem. Although it did help to turn off the feature to fit the page to the screen. So I'm pleased with it as something to read the news and do Yahoo searches with.

Now for the office apps. I mostly wanted Word, and it does the trick. They keyboard has a great feel to it, and for that matter, the whole unit feels well made. I was able to touch type with no problem, but it did take a few minutes to get used it the keyboard size.

It has solitaire for games, and that' s good enough to kill time on.

The screen could be better. Better as in brighter and not having those "ghost lines" as I call them that the passive LCD's get. And it's pretty much useless in direct sunlight. But it's good enough for simple indoor use. Just don't expect to be impressed with it.

Battery life is awesome.

Shortly, I plan on seeing what options I have with the wireless internet through the PCMCIA slot.

As for recommending it to someone, maybe. I use it for email and light web browsing, and probably taking notes in class on it once the Fall semester rolls around. But for someone who wants music, high quality pictures, more versaility on the web and a good selection of software, go for something newer. This unit is just too old to meet a lot modern demands.

As for my history of similar products used, I've been a Palm guy. Palm IIIc and a Sony Clie T665c, which I'm still using as my primary portable device. The Clie with it's high res color screen and MP3 player is just simply higher on the cool scale than this Mobilepro, even though it lacks a build in modem and browser.

Miscellaneous [Posted on 2005-10-13]
I purchased the MobilePro 780 refurbished from TigerDirect. The first one wouldn't power up but they quickly sent me a new one that works fine. ActiveSync works fine with the serial port on my Windows XP computer. I did purchase a compact flash card that also works fine on the MobilePro. However, I was dismayed to find that it's not possible to store one's contacts and Outlook scheduling info on the CF card--this data must be stored in the ROM. I suppose it's not all that bad, since it's all text data. The MobilePro works fine with the slightly older U.S. Robotics 802.11b wireless card that I installed, too (downloaded the driver from the U.S. Robotics website). You can use it to access email at secure sites like Yahoo with the 128-bit patch that is available for the pocket version of IE.

Worst Computer Ever Purchased [Posted on 2006-05-20]
I received the NEC Mobilepro 780 Portable Computer in the worst condition you can ever imagine a computer being shipped in. I was incredibly angry over the condition of the computer. The seller Jtcamp indicated that the computer was in "very good" condition, however, when I received the device it looked as if someone ran over it with a truck. I would never have purchased this product if I knew that I could receive something in this condition.

difficult to part with ... [Posted on 2007-08-09]
It is a very old model and it can not do much nowadays, but it is small, it is easy to type on and ok to read from. I use it to make notes, read ebooks, and this is mostly it. For the price I paid ($150) it does a great job and I still could not find a better balance of price/size/functionality in any other device for this purpose.

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