The MobilePro 750C is the latest in a line of continuously evolving Windows CE devices from NEC. It began with the first generation MobilePro 200 and 400—delivered on time for Microsoft’s introduction of Windows CE at the 96 Fall Comdex, but relatively uninspired. NEC quickly dropped the memory-impaired 200 model and introduced the backlit 450, thus addressing two of the initial shortcomings. In a surprise move, NEC then departed from the standard handheld PC form factor with the introduction of the second MobilePro 700. At the time of its announcement at 97 Fall Comdex, it was by far the largest CE device available. Clearly, NEC does far more than just build me-too hardware in accordance with Microsoft’s specifications.

NEC has now obviously concluded that the screens and keyboards of miniature clamshells such as its own MobilePro 400 were too small for real work and that a different approach was needed. They decided that typing and data entry were what people wanted in a handheld PC, and therefore designed a CE device with an almost full size keyboard and a screen large and bright enough for serious work. Hence the MobilePro 750C.

A big keyboard you can type on

The first thing you notice when you open the handsome matte-silver clamshell is a keyboard that’s substantially larger than that of say a Casio A-20 or a Philips Velo 50. According to independent studies, a key pitch (distance from the center of one key to the center of the next) must be a minimum of 15mm for touch-typing. The MobilePro 750’s key pitch is 16.5mm, which translates into a keyboard that’s about 85% the size of a standard layout. A full-size keyboard is still more comfortable, of course, but the MobilePro 750’s is perfectly adequate for touch-typing. It looks and feels much closer to a standard keyboard than to one of the miniature chiclet keyboards of smaller CE handhelds. The only annoying thing is a slight rattle as you pound the keys, and you need to get used to a couple of unusual key shapes and placements. Other than that, this is a world-class keyboard. At least for an HPC.

Big handheld means big screen

The second thing you notice is the screen. Though it uses the same 640 x 240 format as most other current HPCs, the 750’s is considerably larger. It measures 2-7/8 by 7-1/2 inches, or about 8.1 inches diagonally. Think of it as either the upper or lower half of a conventional 9.5-inch screen. The screen can display 256 colors and its backlight has a low and a high intensity setting. Contrast control is via keyboard. Though TFTs haven’t reached CE devices yet, the 750’s DSTN screen is sharp, bright, and easy on the eyes.

With a footprint of 9.6 x 5.4 inches, and being almost an inch and a half thick, the 750C stretches the definition of the word “handheld.” It is really more like a small notebook computer that you either place on a desk, or at least on your lap, to work on. The MobilePro is also a handsome and smartly designed unit. Its outside is matte-silver and all ports and openings are clearly marked with raised letters. Keyboard and screen are framed in matte-black to cut down on glare and reflection. The hinge of the screen sits on top of the unit, about an inch away from the rear edge. This means that the MobilePro is a) less likely to tip over than other clamshells, and b) the screen is within closer reach of the pen, a small but significant difference if you use the pen a lot.

Speed demon

The MobilePro 750C uses NEC’s own VR4111 RISC chip designed specifically for handhelds. The 4111 combines NEC’s new 2.5 million transistor VR4110 core with key peripheral functionality such as IR, PC Card, serial, and keyboard/touchscreen, and—through the companion VRC4171—color LCD. Though the chip runs at “only” 78MHz, the 750C is among the fastest CE devices we have tested, running through the PCM Scroll test in a mere 14.8 seconds and generally feeling quick and responsive. Our unit came with ParaGraph’s Calligrapher 5.1 inking and handwriting recognition software. Both inking and recognition were fast and smooth, with none of the skipping and hesitation so noticeable in slower machines.

You name it, the 750C's got it

In terms of features, the 750C won’t disappoint anyone: there’s the obligatory PC Card slot, a forward-facing CompactCard slot, the IR port (facing left), a RJ-11 jack on the right, a serial and VGA-out ports on the back. The 750C’s 16MB ROM is upgradable and its 16MB of RAM can be upgraded to 32MB. Both ROM and RAM are beneath user-accessible screw-locked covers. The 750 has a voice recorder application with one-button activation. To record just hold down, to stop release it. There is also a built-in software 33.6kbps modem and a complete complement of cables (AC adapter,VGA-out, serial, and modem).

Real world impressions

Once you get your hands on a MobilePro 750C, you’ll want to know how it does what it was designed to do, i.e. wordprocessing and communications. So here are my experiences:

Setting up an Internet connection remains one of the weaker parts of Windows CE. I’ve done it a few times (sometimes successfully, sometimes less so), and I must say that within the given constraints, NEC has made it as easy as possible. There is a special “MP 750C Quick Reference” icon right on the desktop and it guides you through some of the more cumbersome procedures. There is a step-by-step guide on how to get connected, and it even included specific instructions about my own ISP, Netcom.

Pleasant surprise

I'm somewhat of a computer fanatic whose idea of a relaxing evening after a day of working with computers is to retire to my study at home and play around with computers some more. The Web has also pretty much replaced TV as my entertainment medium of choice, and so I often spend hours browsing around while my wife reads or watches TV in the bedroom which is right next to my study. A few times I brought my Pentium notebook home so that we could be together, with her watching her favorite sitcom and me browsing my favorite websites. Alas, as nice as my notebook’s huge TFT screen is, it really falls down on the job. First of all, the battery only lasts a couple of hours, max, and so I have to keep it plugged in, power cord and power brick and all. An even bigger problem is that the notebook gets HOT. I keep having to shift it around to keep from getting burned.

Using the MobilePro is an entirely different experience. It's much smaller and handier, but the keyboard is almost as big as that of the notebook and the screen is almost as bright (albeit significantly smaller). Getting connected to the Web is easy and the browser works surprisingly well. Despite its 33.6 kbps rating, things happen at a much more leisurely pace. Text loads down quickly, but the graphics can take a while. It also takes a bit of getting used to the fact that you see only half as much as usual. The NEC's screen is as wide as that on a notebook, but only half as tall. Also, though the NEC can display 256 colors, some web images look posterized. Nonetheless, the overall quality of the browsing experience is such that I spent almost four hours on the Web that very first night. I got stuck once and had to reset the NEC, but that also happens on my Pentium II desktop machine.

Excellent battery life

The big news here is that the big NEC ran as cool as a cucumber. No heating up at all. And though I used the modem continuously for four hours, the battery held up just fine, with the power indicator going from 100% to about 60%. Anyone who has experience with PC Card modems in HPCs will appreciate this. Further, with all those reports of some of the other color HPCs running dry after just a couple of hours, it looks like NEC's made a giant step forward in this department. Unfortunately, the Power control panel doesn't show total on-time since the last recharge, as it does in my Cassiopeia E-10 palm-size PC, but it seems that NEC's claim of getting 10 hours on a charge even under heavy use is no exaggeration.

Talking with the desktop

I also gave the desktop connectivity and synchronization features a workout. Once the NEC had established a partnership with my Gateway 2000, the MobilePro showed up as an icon next to the icons of the other handhelds my Gateway is friendly with: the Velo 500, the HP 620 LX, and the Cassiopeia E-10 and A-20. Clicking on the MobilePro icon opens a window that shows all the 750's apps and folders. The first thing I actually did was increase the transfer speed from the Windows CE standard 19.2 to 57.6 kbps. This is unnecessarily cumbersome on the PC side (you have to change the speed in Systems device manager under ports and modems), but the effort is well worth it. Between converting and downloading files, things tend to slow down and 57.6 helps a lot. First I synchronized my Outlook contacts with the NEC. No problem at all. Then I decided to download a large (175k) Word 97 file. Windows warned me that I would lose certain formatting. Once the file had downloaded into the NEC, I opened it in PocketWord and found that I hadn't lost any formatting at all and that the fonts were eminently readable. As a footnote, I then used Windows Explore on the NEC to beam that big Word file to my little Cassiopeia E-10 PPC. The E-10 received it into its notepad without a hitch. This time I did lose the formatting, but all the text arrived safely. The Casio allows you to zoom into text. 150% seemed about right (remember, PPCs don’t use TrueType; all their fonts are bitmapped). So now I could peruse that whole long document even on the Casio. Cool.

Software bundle

The MobilePro comes with with an assortments of software and enticing offers. Our package came with five CDs: the standard Windows CE 2.0 disk, SpryNet for Windows CE, Outlook 98, the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows CE, and an ultracool disk from Mobilesoft with free software and access to a whole bunch of other CE software. The freebies are bFAX Pro from bsquare, QuickNotes Lite from CIC, some sample data collection forms from JetForm, Virtual Courier from Landware, a version of Puma IntelliSync for data sharing with ACT or Organizer, and a trial version of pcANYWHERE from Symantec.

Bullseye

NEC designed the MobilePro 750 quite clearly with mobile professionals in mind. Its large keyboard and screen make it a perfect word processor for the road. The color screen and VGA-out port, in conjunction with Microsoft’s cleverly design Pocket PowerPoint, allow presentations just about anywhere without the need of an expensive and powerhungry VGA add-on card. And the 33.6kbps internal modem makes web browsing and e-mailing painless. The 750C also convinces with its intelligent design and solid construction. The unit never comes across as a novelty or a technology demonstration. This is a power tool that really works.

-Conrad H. Blickenstorfer