Pocket PC Techs Now Offering iPAQ hx4700 RAM Upgrade

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketpctechs.com/detail.asp?Product_ID=I47-064-128RAM' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketpctechs.com/detail...=I47-064-128RAM</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Upgrade your HP iPAQ hx4700 series internal RAM from 64MB to 128MB with our upgrade service. During the upgrade process we remove the existing 64MB and install 128MB. This memory upgrade does NOT require our proprietary driver and is fully recognized by the OS (126.27MB Available)."</i><br /><br />Pocket PC Techs just announced their latest upgrade, and it sounds sweet. :mrgreen: Along with the hx4700's internal flash drive, this makes it a killer unit (unless you need a game-enabled dpad). And for the Europeans amongst you, <a href="http://www.expansys.com/p_ppctech.asp">they offer upgrades through Expansys</a> to make it easier and cheaper. Do note that this will void your warranty, although Pocket PC Techs offers a 90-day warranty on their work and on the motherboard.

[Fabulas]

Everything sounds golden with the exception of this math equation, $650 + $199= a whole lotta money 8O

[DaleReeck]

I imagine HP could have released that device with 128MB to begin with for a lot less than $200, maybe just $50 extra would not be an unreasonable estimate. Makes you wonder why they didn't.

[WyattEarp]

I imagine HP could have released that device with 128MB to begin with for a lot less than $200, maybe just $50 extra would not be an unreasonable estimate. Makes you wonder why they didn't.

Poor judgment. 128MB RAM/128MB ROM is sweet. :D The least HP could have done was to make a PPC with a user-accessible 64MB RAM/128MB FlashROM in stead of 80MB. That would have worked better in their favor.

But I have to hand it to PPCTechs. They have done it again.

[Jason Dunn]

One thing worth knowing is that when PPC Techs adds the RAM, they have to REMOVE the 64 MB of RAM on board and add 128 MB of new, high-speed RAM...hence their material costs are pretty high right out of the gate, the you add in labour, etc...

[ricksfiona]

At first, I was excited about the RAM upgrade to 128MB. After looking at the hx4700 again, I conclude that it's an ugly machine and it's had it's share of memory problems. You know, I want technology to make my life easier...

Let's talk about price too... I don't have a problem with a $199 RAM upgrade for a Pocket PC... It's labor intensive and getting that RAM can't be cheap either. But when you put in the cost of the PPC, it's pretty crazy.

Now, if PPC Techs offer a RAM upgrade for the Dell X50v... Power AND beauty. :wink: AND the price for the whole thing will be much more reasonable.

[Darius Wey]

Fancy that! :lol: The reliance on another company to patch up HP's neglected thinking. Much like Microsoft's reliance on Spb for a close button. :P

[nGage]

I don't see HP's decision to go with 64Mb Ram / 128 Mb ROM as a bad one. Has anyone considered the effect of keeping that extra 64Mb of RAM refreshed on battery life? As far as I can tell the trend for PPC's is for more non-volatile storage and less RAM so that if the battery goes flat you don't lose everything. I think enough RAM for running progs and I'll happily have the rest as non-volatile, low power consumption Flash ROM of one sort or another.

[maximus]

During the upgrade process we remove the existing 64MB

Just curious, what happened to the 64MB that they removed ?

[bvkeen]

&lt;whine on>
Actually, the existing 64 MB would be fine if it just weren't for memory "leaks." Leaks might not even be the right word, but several apps do not free up all the RAM they occupied after closure, possibly leaving unused dll's cluttering up the memory, possibly leaving something else - I just can't tell. I don't know if SE is worse about this than FE, but i had SE on my e800 and it never became a problem, because it was just not as noticeable with 128 MB RAM. But, with 64 MB (say 25 available for program memory), it's very noticeable when TextMaker takes 5+ MB to run and only frees up 3 MB of that afterward. And, after the first use of WiFi, there's at least a meg that doesn't get freed back up. So, if I soft reset and have ~29 MB for program memory, run WiFi and then TextMaker (closing both when done), I can be down to 25 MB free program memory in minutes. Given that several other apps take a trace memory amounts (or that the OS does), the loss of program memory can easily total up to 7 - 10 MB throughout the day.

Of course, the problem would be barely noticeable with 128 MB RAM, but I am not going to pay another $200 to overcome a problem that shouldn't exist anyway.
&lt;/whine off>

[bigray327]

Yeah, two hundred is a little steep. PPC Techs, the second this comes down to a hundy or so, I'm all over it.

[Sven Johannsen]

Since $200 is the full price, you could presumably use the subscriber 10% coupon here. Knocks some off. Good thing it's a native upgrade, as in, it's not just a RAM disk as many of the other upgrades are. Notkknocking the RAM disk at all. It is wonderful on my 4155. I'm just not sure I would do it on a two slot device. This is a real RAM upgrade though, so the benefit should be significant.

Since I know PPCTechs post here, you guys done any before/after battery life tests? That seems to be a question since the extra RAM will need to be maintained.

P.S. How are the X30 and X50 upgrades coming? Will the X50 be native or RAM disk? ;)

[Jonathan1]

and it's had it's share of memory problems.

Huh? :confused totally:

[Arqentus]

I don't see HP's decision to go with 64Mb Ram / 128 Mb ROM as a bad one.

That depends on how much ram you really do get ... I quote: " If it really has 64MB of free RAM after HW reset (not 33 as HP iPAQ hx4700), I don't think it is SO BIG problem" - source: Pavel Koza PDAgold Administrator ... Now, the x50v reviews have pointed out that it has a constant available 62 mb, only one reviewer had less. So there desission ( hp, dell ) to go with 64MB may not have been bad, but there loading of to much into the ram itself may have been in hp's case ...

[Jonathan1]

Who originally started this trend of loading the OS into RAM? I know its because of the different type of ROM used. Just want to know who to be really pissed at. Storage space is precious enough as it is without needing a bloaty OS to take up that much more space. :?

At any rate its nice to have this option even though it completely and totally voids your warrantee. I don't know about voiding a $650 product so soon after purchase. I wish these companies would have enough vision to go to a company like pocketpctechs and offer a certified HP upgrade program through HP's website. :|

[LWesson]

During the upgrade process we remove the existing 64MB

Just curious, what happened to the 64MB that they removed ?

Nothing. The chips are sitting in a scrap box. These are BGA chips, so it's not worth the cost to reball them, etc.

[LWesson]

Yeah, two hundred is a little steep. PPC Techs, the second this comes down to a hundy or so, I'm all over it.

I wouldn't be holding my breath. Have you priced mobile SDRAM lately?? :)

[LWesson]

At any rate its nice to have this option even though it completely and totally voids your warrantee. I don't know about voiding a $650 product so soon after purchase. I wish these companies would have enough vision to go to a company like pocketpctechs and offer a certified HP upgrade program through HP's website. :|

You and me both. We've approached HP several times, but of course with no success.

[LWesson]

Since I know PPCTechs post here, you guys done any before/after battery life tests? That seems to be a question since the extra RAM will need to be maintained.

P.S. How are the X30 and X50 upgrades coming? Will the X50 be native or RAM disk? ;)

No tests as of yet. Normal reduction is about 10 to 15%. Run time is normally not affected, only suspend time.

The X30 is being a problem. We're still working on it. We have not gotten ahold of a X50 to look at yet.

[KimVette]

I don't see HP's decision to go with 64Mb Ram / 128 Mb ROM as a bad one. Has anyone considered the effect of keeping that extra 64Mb of RAM refreshed on battery life? As far as I can tell the trend for PPC's is for more non-volatile storage and less RAM so that if the battery goes flat you don't lose everything. I think enough RAM for running progs and I'll happily have the rest as non-volatile, low power consumption Flash ROM of one sort or another.

You haven't used your PPC with GPS on a cross-country trip, have you. . .