Pocket PC 2003 UK Upgrade for 39xx/54xx

Dave

Cornz has been doing a bit of digging around and mailed me this link to HP. It would appear that HP have now released the upgrade form for UK users of 39xx and 54xx iPAQ's who want to upgrade.

The upgrade cost is $26 and will be dealt with Modus Media via Microsoft Fulfilment in Glasgow.

MikeB

Looking at the form it is only the "FREE" upgrade. If you bought your PDA before May 23 this doesnt apply.

$26.00 is quite a charge for a free upgrade.
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Mike Barrett

JimC

According to the microsoft site this charge is just to cover shipping and handling.

The HP site says that the upgrade for those purchasing their ipaq prior to May is 49 euro plus vat, handling and shipping, but it does not look as though it is available until september.
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Jim

DavidW

I'm extremely unimpressed. HP were talking in the States about US$25 plus shipping and handling for paid upgrades. The UK web site does say EUR49 (particularly if you need to add VAT on top), which is more than double that and is getting marginal on economics for older machines in particular. That's going to be getting on for fifty pounds including S&H.

David

DavidW

The order codes for the European upgrades are totally different to the US ones. The European codes are HP style. I wonder if this means ordering a US kit (through friends in the US) is a good idea for a UK iPAQ (the box my 3970 shipped in says it's a UK variant - I don't know whether there's any differences other than the power adapter). In the US, they've used Compaq style order codes - and the price really is US$25.

For what it's worth, details on the chargeable upgrades in the UK are here - you can place your order in August with a HP reseller and receive the kit in September. I understand that puts availability significantly behind the US as well - you can place orders with HP online there now and I believe availability is estimated to be something like three weeks.

Though I understand that the taxation regime in Europe is different, the European customers do seem to be getting a bad deal here, compared to the Americans. Some may say that this is encouraging people to buy a new iPAQ - but I can't justify that, really. It is of note, though, that the 5550 is likely to cost less at launch than my 3970 did back in September 2002. Such is the way of technology!

David

MikeB

Yes but you are happy with your 3970 as I was with my 3870. I am anything but happy with the 5450, and you can bet that hasnt changed for the 5550.
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Mike Barrett

cornz

Agreed, the 5450 is just not "stable" or as usable as some of the earlier ipaqs. The common problems with WiFi, biometrics and other things ESPECIALLY the speaker have made me think about returning it before now. Almost 500 quid and it shows no real performance difference compared my old 3760 despite the "extra" 200mhz of the xscale.

My money says PPC2003 has little effect on any of these "issues" and thats beiong polite for bugs HP.

In retrospect, the ipaq is a smashing little device but hold off until all the bugs are ironed out.
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If at first, you dont succeed, skydiving is not for you!!

Dave

I agree, I doubt PPC2003 will have any enhancement on the 5450 issues already documented.

TBH, apart from the integrated Bluetooth on the 2210, and a couple of different styled screens, I really don't see much difference between PPC2002 on my 3870 and PPC2003 on the 2210.

Is it worth paying the extra to upgrade ? Personally I wouldn't (that's just me though). Okay, it's a Dell but you can pick up a brand new Dell for around £260 inc VAT and PPC2003! I'd use it as an excuse to trade up to the next best model.

DavidW

Mike and cornz,

Very true - the 5450 has a bad reputation, and it's unclear how much of that is down to software problems (which could be fixed, particularly in Pocket PC 2003) and how much is down to hardware.

I fear your combined assessment is right, though - that even if the bugs are software related, it's not that likely they'll be totally eradicated now. HP have had long enough to fix them if they are fixable.

Certainly if I was going to buy a 5550, I'd wait a while to see if any of the early adopters found similar problems to the 5450.

So far as upgrading my 3970 goes, I've got a hefty investment sunk into the iPAQ line now - not just the machine, but a PC Card expansion pack (some of the add-ons I use are PC Cards, and I knew all along that meant they're only compatible with a limited range of Pocket PCs) and a folding keyboard. Moving to another machine would also require a new Brodit mount and new WriteSHIELD pack - the cost of those two items will exceed GBP50 - as well as leaving me with various useless small accessories such as serial cables and a car charger.

It is a shame that Microsoft didn't get the hardware manufacturers together to decide on a common specification for the USB / serial / charger port on Pocket PCs.

As you say, though, the Axim X5 400MHz is a very tempting machine for the price!

So far as upgrading my 3970 to Pocket PC 2003 goes, my intention still is to upgrade so long as it's not much more than GBP50. I think, in time, we might start seeing Pocket PC 2003 only software whilst the 3970 remains a useful machine; this is the situation that some found themselves in after Pocket PC 2002 launched.

I feel also (though I was hoping for the upgrade cost to be less), that if you look on it as buying a new browser, that may be helpful. At US$25, it's around the price of NetFront 3.0 - which I tried, and just couldn't get on with. At the price it now looks like it's going to be in Europe, though, that argument doesn't quite hold up.

Finally, I'm hoping for more stability and maybe slightly better performance - but I'm not going to expect vast improvements in either.

David

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