Will the 2210 and 1940 be upgradable?

[Dazbot]

Because HP haven't provided an upgrade option for the 1910 series, will they offer 2210 and 1940 owners an upgrade when the next version of Pocket PC arrives?

There is only a limited amount of spare ROM avaiable for a new version, which I doubt will be enough, unless they put stuff in RAM.

I bought my iPAQ 3850 hoping that they would update it and they will in October, but I'm not so sure about the 2210 and 1940.

I'm still considering buying a 2210 when Savastore get some in.

[Anthony Caruana]

Hi there

The debate around whether or not an OEM should/will offer an upgrade is really a debate about which OEM treats their customers better and what market/s they are trying to penetrate.

I beleive that the 1910 was pitched at customers that would have been looking at the Palm OS devices. I am not all that familiar with the Palm but I don't believe that any of these are easily upgraded to new operating systems (although OS releases of the palm are far less frequent that PPC releases). So I think that HP believed that 1910 users would not make up a significant number of upgraders.

On the other hand, the more "fancy" devices are pitched at PPC enthusiasts and business users. These customers are the ones that will take upgrades and buy lots of accessories. For example, the 38xx and 39xx devices will have upgrades avaialble.

So to answer the question I think that the 1940 will likely be as upgradeable as the 1910, the 221X may be upgraded and that the 55XX series will definitely upgraded. I base this on the most scientific measure I have for this sort of speculation; gut feel.

[SOAPBOX]
Sort of releated to this is that customers have an expectation of being able to upgrade and this needs to be managed by the OEMs better.

I think that OEMs should make it obvious to customers that they will/will not offer ROM upgrades for new operating systems. For example, they only offer upgrades for devices that are still in production at the time of an OS release (like Dell are doing). Or, they might only offer upgrades for models released in the previous 12-18 months (say HP might only offer upgrades to 3800/3900 series but not 3600 series). Part of the problem at the moment is that there is a lot of ambiguity between the policies of different OEMs and this is confusing to customers.
[SOAPBOX]

[racerx]

The reality is there is no way to tell until development on the next version of the OS is much further along. No real way of telling how much space it will take up.

Now, with that said, I agree that all devices should be upgradable wherever possible. Its a complex issue where real costs are involved. In my opinion, if a company wants a user to step up to a new device, they should make devices w/features that are compelling.

[Ed Hansberry]

Technically, all 2002 devices are upgradable to 2003. The decision came down to a marketing one. the 2003-200x will be a similar one.

[xoiph]

I beleive that the 1910 was pitched at customers that would have been looking at the Palm OS devices....I think that HP believed that 1910 users would not make up a significant number of upgraders.

On the other hand, the more "fancy" devices are pitched at PPC enthusiasts and business users. These customers are the ones that will take upgrades and buy lots of accessories. For example, the 38xx and 39xx devices will have upgrades avaialble.

I consider myself a PPC enthusiast and I chose the 1910 over "fancier" devices only because of the 1910's compact size. I think a good deal of 1910 owners also bought thier pda because of the small size/weight and were expecting an some form of upgrade. (even with the limited 16mb ROM)

[Anthony Caruana]

I consider myself a PPC enthusiast and I chose the 1910 over "fancier" devices only because of the 1910's compact size. I think a good deal of 1910 owners also bought thier pda because of the small size/weight and were expecting an some form of upgrade. (even with the limited 16mb ROM)

Granted, many PPC enthusiasts bught the 1910 'cos of its cool factor - small, sleek and very good looking. But I don't believe that HP pitched the 1910 at the enthusiast that has to have all of the latest and greatest. Enthusiasts might have bought the 1910 but I don't think they were the focus of HP's marketing.

That said, I think that HP have sort of been dishonest (not sure if that's the right word) in that, until the 1910, every iPAQ has been eligible for at least 1 round of OS ROM updates. There was an expectation in the market that all PPCs would get at least one OS upgrade in the devices lifetime. What makes it more disappointing is that the 1910 is still a pretty current unit and was being sold even after the release of WM2003