3970 very slow/unresponsive - why?

[KuroNeko]

I just bought my first PPC, an Ipaq 3970. Before this, I had the opportunity to play a bit with an Ipaq 3800 series at work.

Once the 3 hrs charging finished, I did the setup settings of screen, user etc. and played around with the 3970.

I was immediately struck by the sluggish feel of the user interface. This Ipaq is much slower than the 3800. I'd say he 3800 is at least 30% faster if not 50%.

This may not be CPU related but screen related. An example. I went into the brightness control screen and started rapidly moving the slider up and down. On the 3800 it would follow the stylus perfectly. On the 3970 the slider lags behind and after a few movements actually 'comes loose' of the stylus!

I also noticed that on the 3800 I could just lightly tap the screen and it would respond. Reactiontime was almost nil, very responsive. The 3970 needs a more powerful tap, and feels sluggish and unresponsive. Writing in a normal fashion creates letters and lines with lots of 'holes' in them, as if the screen or CPU couldn't keep up.

Is this normal? The 3970 does have a different screen, but this isn't an improvement to me.

Neko

[ntractv]

Don't feel bad, I experience the same problems on my 3835. And lets not talk about how long it takes IE to load Avantslow.

[Janak Parekh]

Don't feel bad, I experience the same problems on my 3835.
Huh? What does this have to do with his problem? He specifically mentioned how the 3970 was slower than the 38xx series unit he worked with.

In any case, KuroNeko, I don't own a 3970, but I've played with one, and I noticed the UI to be a little more sluggish - I presumed it was because of XScale - but I could be wrong. Have you made sure you're running the latest ROM?

As for the screen pressure, I'm not sure about that. You should not have to use a lot of pressure, but since the display is different it might theoretically need a little bit more pressure (although I didn't notice this when I was playing with the 3970, either).

--janak

[nosmohtac]

I have had a 3970 for about 2 months now and have noticed similar problems. I was using a jornada 568 before. I have the latest ROM update installed but still a little sluggish compared to my jornada. It is a little more touchy on the screen taps too, but after using my 3970 and then picking up my 568(don't get me wrong, this is still a great PPC) I will put up with the sluggishness for now.

After reading an ebook on my 3970, then trying to read one on my 568, I wonder sometimes how I used to do it. The screen looks so washed out compared to the iPAQ.

I have attributed the sluggishness to the processor (not on benchmarks, but on a hunch) and will patiently wait for another ROM update to possibly cure this. I still cannot say enough good things about the 3970 despite these seemingly troublesome issues.

[KuroNeko]

Thanks for the replies. The rom version is 2.10. I checked, this is the latest.

But I did notice that this latest update caused the 3950 to slow down, they released a patch. Maybe this happened to the 3970 too?

I ordered my Ipaq at the same time as a collegue ordered his Dell Axim. He got his yesterday too. It is _much_ faster. If I set it back to 200MHz, it's still faster! But at 200MHz it does have that sluggish feel that the Ipaq has, so it may be CPU related after all.

This I must say is disappointing. I expected the 3970 to be fast, not like this. I could've gotten an Axim 300MHz and have a faster PDA for a lot less. :(

I'd like to check actual CPU speed (MHz). Can I do this w/o extra software? Unlike the Axim, you can't select CPU speed it seems. Or did I miss a control panel somewhere?

*edit* someone else reports same sluggishness after updating the rom. Can one _downgrade_ the rom, i.e. go back to the old version? Or does the update sw not accept this?

Thanks!
Neko

[Janak Parekh]

*edit* someone else reports same sluggishness after updating the rom. Can one _downgrade_ the rom, i.e. go back to the old version? Or does the update sw not accept this?
Yes, as long as you backed up the old ROM when you did the upgrade. If you only got the new ROM with your device, then I'm afraid you can't unless the old ROM is on HP's page (and I'm pretty sure it's not).

--janak

[nosmohtac]

The problem with the ROM update causing the 3955 to slow down did not carry over to the 3970.
When all that was going around on the forum I thought that may have happened, but I downloaded speedstepper to check what my current clock speed was and it was at 398Mhz.
You can get this program from here (http://www.elevatedstudios.com/pocket/)

[KuroNeko]

Thanks for the link, dl'ing now...

Neko

[tok3n]

Is this sluggishness something that over 3970/3975 users have experienced or just an isolated problem?

[orthopt77]

:( I recently got a 3955. I have noticed recently that is takes about 30 seconds to open programs like: Notes, Excel, Word, MS Streets. I am using the old rom still since I am away from my home computer for another 5 weeks. Can't wait to get back and update the rom to see if anything changes. Luckily I did not pay regular cost since I work for an Ipaq retailer, but I feel your agony over what should be a much better performing device. Therefore, currently I recommend other brands.