NEC's MobilePro 750C
For Some Users, BIGGER is BETTER!

By Rich Hall

Click to enlarge.

I can type on it without looking! I'm 35,000 feet above the southernmost tip of Nevada, just crossing into Arizona. Occasionally I glance out at the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountain range, but I continue to type out this introduction in Pocket Word, even when looking out the 757's window. You see, I'm using an NEC MobilePro 750C, and it has one of the largest, most typeable keyboards of any H/PC. I'll come back to that, but first, let's take a quick look at the MobilePro.

A large, color-screen H/PC

The MobilePro has a slick silver and gray two-tone case. It's attractive, and stands out on a dark background like a desktop or restaurant tabletop ¡ more noticeable and less likely to be left behind accidentally.

It has an 8" diagonal color screen that's relatively easy to read (except in bright sunlight). A color screen sure makes games and web browsing look nice, and it would probably come in handy if you made Pocket Power Point presentations directly from the MobilePro. I like it because it makes ordinary applications like Pocket Outlook and Pocket Word easier to read. Color screen H/PCs use a lot of power. You'll only get up to 8 hours of use with the MobilePro 750C's high capacity Lithium-Ion battery fully charged. Contrast that with 25 hours of use on monochrome-screen MobilePro 700, from an ordinary pair of AA Alkaline batteries. If you need to use your H/PC away from a power source for long hours at a time, and still want a big keyboard, check out the MobilePro 700 and see if you can live with the monochrome screen.

Click to enlarge.

The MobilePro 750C sports an 80 MHz NEC VR4111 processor. It doesn't have the fastest MHz rating of the H/PCs, but it's plenty fast, going quickly from one application to another and loading long documents quickly. Don't pay a lot of attention to megahertz ratings. Get a unit, test it, and see if it feels fast enough for you.

The MobilePro 750C comes with the traditional interface ports, including a Type II PC Card slot, a CompactFlash card slot, a serial port and an IrDA infrared port. It also comes with a VGA port that lets you connect your MobilePro to a video monitor or projector and display color PowerPoint presentations in a larger format. The MobilePro 700 also has this capability and even though the 700 has a monochrome display, it can project color presentations.

The MobilePro 750C comes with an AC adapter, a VGA monitor cable, and an RJ-11 telephone cable for its built-in 33.6 modem. These items are also on the optional accessories list, along with a spare Lithium-Ion battery, a 32 MB PC memory card, a 3-pack of replacement styluses, a carrying case, and the MobilePro "UltraCare" extended service program.

Built-in software

Of course, the MobilePro runs the Windows CE 2.0 operating system and all of its built-in "Pocket" applications. Specific details are in the sidebar, but it's worth mentioning a couple features.

The MobilePro comes with a built-in utility that lets you program it's "Quick Launch" keys. Access this "MobilePro Settings" icon in the Control Panel and select the Quick Launch tab (see Screen 1). Associate any built-in or user-installed application with one of the 12 F-keys on the top row of the keyboard. Then, launch your most-used applications with a single key-press.

MobilePro also comes with ParaGraph's CalliGrapher handwriting recognition software pre-installed. It lets you enter characters with pen strokes on the screen. It's a fine program, but I don't quite understand why, with such a typeable keyboard, NEC chose this particular application to pre-install.

Screen 1: The MobilePro's Quick Launch feature lets you set the H/PC up to launch built-in or user-installed applications with the press of a button.

Its most important feature is its keyboard

I'm a writer and editor, and touch-typing is a basic skill of my trade. True, the keyboard on the MobilePro 750C (and its monochrome-screened cousin the MobilePro 700) isn't as big as the one on a desktop or notebook computer. But I was touch-typing immediately, almost at full speed. As I mentioned above, I could type easily while I looked away from the keyboard. I only looked back at the keyboard to find the backspace key when I occasionally made a mistake.

Of course, there are no free lunches. You pay for the larger, touch-typeable keyboard with the added size of the MobilePro. At 9.6 x 5.4 x 1.25 inches and 1.88 lb., the MobilePro is almost tied with the new Hitachi HPW-200EC as the largest of the H/PCs. You can still hold a MobilePro 750C in your hand, but it's large and heavy enough to drop easily, so be careful. I was able to slip it into the outside pocket of my jacket, but not easily. You're better off carrying the MobilePro in your briefcase.

There are comparably-sized sub-notebooks running Windows 95. Toshiba's Liberetto is one of them. I suppose it's an option for someone who absolutely has to run Windows 95 applications on a device this size. But the Toshiba is more expensive and its battery life is not that great. I don't think there are that many people who absolutely need Windows 95 and its applications. Most mobile professionals need communications capabilities, a personal information organizer and a word processor. H/PCs provide this and more. They are less expensive and have 3-5 times the battery life.

Rumors abound about "Jupiter," but Microsoft is saying nothing. This next version of Windows CE is supposed to be targeting the sub-sub notebook sized computer. Depending on which rumor you believe, it will be released next Fall, or in the Spring of 1999. Take a close look at the MobilePro 750C. It's probably the size of a whole new class of similar H/PCs.

I'd use this one

I spend most of my time behind a desk, writing and editing articles using the full-sized keyboard of a desktop PC. However, if I had to spend a significant amount of time on the road, or working in different locations, I'd want something like the MobilePro 750C to carry with me. It's lightweight, I can send and receive email, create simple spreadsheets to track projects, and write and edit articles. Most importantly, it has a keyboard I can use for an extended period of time.

NEC has offers two models of its Windows CE 2.0 H/PC. The MobilePro 700 has a monochrome screen and slightly better battery life. The MobilePro 750C comes with a color screen. Both have the large, touch-typeable keyboards.

Other H/PCs are fine for what they do, but if you have a lot of text or data entry to do and don't mind carrying your H/PC in a briefcase, take a close look at the NEC MobilePro 750C.

Using Pocket Word

I usually don't mention the built-in applications much in these reviews, but since it's easier to touch type on the MobilePro, you'll probably be using Pocket Word more often -- at least, I did.

I work with words and don't spend much time formatting articles. I'll discuss ideas with our graphic designer, leave suggestions in the body of the text, and let him do the actual layout. Occasionally I'll bold or italicize words, but not much more than that. Hence, Pocket Word has all the features I need in a word processor.

The two Pocket Word features I like most are the built-in spelling checker and the adjustable font size. The spelling checker is accessed from Pocket Word's Tools menu (or by pressing Ctrl 7). Start the spelling checker and it searches your document for misspelled words (or words that are not in its dictionary). A tool bar appears in the document, letting you select from a list of possible replacements, ignore the word, ignore all occurrences of the word, or add the word to the spelling checker's dictionary.

Screen 2: Pocket Word's spelling checker lets you find misspelled words in documents, before you transfer them to your desktop PC or email them to associates.

The other very handy feature of Pocket Word is its adjustable font sizes. This is particularly useful to help avoid eyestrain. Press Ctrl-A to select all the text in a document. Then access the Font size pull-down list and select a larger font size (try 16) and press OK. Your document suddenly becomes more readable (see Screen 3).

Screen 3: Select the Font option from Pocket Word's Format menu and you can change the font size of a document to make it more readable.

I wrote a good bit of this review on the plane home from the Microsoft Developer's Conference. I spent a couple more days writing parts of two others, using Pocket Word on the MobilePro exclusively. I adapted quite nicely to the keyboard and got very fast. In fact, after a while I found that I could type faster on the MobilePro than on my desktop's full-sized keyboard. I believe this is because the keys are closer. You don't have to reach as far and once you get used to the size of the keyboard, you get faster.

NEC MobilePro 700 and 750C
NEC was the first H/PC manufacturer to come out with a touch typeable keyboard. Hitachi has recently followed suit, and LG Electronics is marketing the Hitachi unit under their own label (see "At-A-Glance" for more on the Hitachi and LG units).

NEC MobilePro 750C ¡ $899
A color-screen Windows CE 2.0 H/PC with an 80 MHz NEC Vr4111 MIPS CPU, 16 MB RAM, 16 MB ROM, and large touch typeable keyboard. The 750C comes with a built-in 33.6 low-power hardware modem; VGA-out port; Type II PC Card slot; one CompactFlash slot; serial and IrDA ports; built-in microphone and speaker; QuickKeys program to launch applications; AC adapter; PC connectivity cable; RJ-11 modem cable; Lithium Ion rechargeable battery.

NEC MobilePro 700 ¡ $599
A gray scale screen version with 54 MHz NEC Vr4102 MIPS CPU, 8 MB RAM, 16 MB ROM, and the same large touch typeable keyboard. Other features similar to the 750C except that the 700 is powered by two AA alkaline batteries and goes for up to 25 hours per pair. The 700 has an option NiMH rechargeable battery option.

Software includes the Microsoft Windows CE 2.0 operating system, accessories, and "Pocket" applications.

Both the MobilePro 700 and 750C come with a CD-ROM disk with the following bonus software:

	IntelliSync from Puma -- lets you synchronize your MobilePro H/PC with a number of PC-based personal information management, contact management and group scheduling applications, including Lotus Organizer.
	pcANYWHERE CE from Symantec -- remote control software that lets your H/PC remotely access files, applications and information from another PC.
	Virtual Courier from MicroBurst ¡ lets you access your office LAN-based e-mail, such as cc:Mail or MS Mail through an optional modem or wireless connection.
	QuickNotes from CIS ¡ turns the MobilePro H/PC into an electronic notepad which collects all of your handwritten thoughts, ideas, and drawings and organizes them by date.
	SPRYNET CompuServe connection ¡ provides quick access to CompuServe.
	bFAX and bPRINT from BSQUARE ¡ adds faxing, printing, and other communications tools to your MobilePro.
	Filler Pro & Filler Central from JetForm ¡ adds database and data collection capabilities to your MobilePro.

The MobilePro 750C comes with NEC's "UltraCareSM" service, providing free 24-hour technical support plus 72-hour, door-to-door repairs for the first year. You also receive 90 days of free software support. An optional 3-year extended warranty is also available.

Accessories for the NEC MobilePro include: AC Adapter; Serial Cable; Docking Cradle; Lithium-Ion Battery Pack.

MobilePro Handheld PCs are available direct through NEC NOW. For more information, or to find the nearest NEC reseller, contact NEC NOW at 888-8-NEC-NOW; Web: http://www.nec-now.com/necnow/

NEC's MobilePro 750C For Some Users, BIGGER is BETTER!