Pocket PC 2003 Upgrade?

[Chuckwrox]

This has probably been covered once a week or so, but a search isn't pulling up the answers I'm looking for.

I've got about an 8-month old iPAQ 1935 and am trying to figure out if it's elligible for the upgrade to Pocket PC 2003 (Is that really the name of the new OS?). I've checked HP's website (http://www.hp.com/sbso/special/ppc_upgrade.html) and it leaves me in kind of a limbo: They explicitly state those model families that they will offer the upgrade to and they explicitly state those that they're abandoning, while leaving the newer low-end models like mine out of the explication, entirely.

While HP's website doesn't leave me much room for being optimistic, I'm used to having to work hard at maintaining my optimism!

Does anyone know, explicitly, if the iPAQ 1930/35/40/45's are covered?

Thx.

[Duncan]

Does anyone know, explicitly, if the iPAQ 1930/35/40/45's are covered?

No. None of the 19xx iPAQs have upgrades available and they never will.

[Janak Parekh]

(Is that really the name of the new OS?)
Since the 193x comes with WM2003, I'm assuming you mean Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC. That's the name, if you want to be pedantic. And, as Duncan implies, I wouldn't hold my breath. Fortunately, it's less critical to have SE for devices like the iPAQ 19xx.

--janak

[milkman dan]

I would reccomend against poping SE on a device that wasn't designed to run it, there seems to be alot of graphical problems with the OS in brand new machines :(

[Johnathan]

Sometimes thay always let us down! :evil: :evil:

[Janak Parekh]

Sometimes thay always let us down! :evil: :evil:
Did they ever promise upgrades on an iPAQ 19xx device?

--janak

[Chuckwrox]

Thx. Yes, it was Second Edition to which I was really referring.

Sometimes thay always let us down! :evil: :evil:
Did they ever promise upgrades on an iPAQ 19xx device?

--janak

I don't think anyone's ever promised to upgrade anything for me. When I bought my iPaq 1935 just a few months before they released PPC2003SE, I didn't see any promises on the more expensive models to upgrade their software, either.

Still, it seems reasonable to expect elligibility for the upgrades within just a few months of purchasing your PPC. If HP had issued statements of incompatibility with the older platforms, I'd be less annoyed. [Truth to tell, if the upodated OS is any more demanding on the hardware, it would be a mistake to take my 1935 up to it, anyway. It works too hard, as it is.]

[Janak Parekh]

Still, it seems reasonable to expect elligibility for the upgrades within just a few months of purchasing your PPC.
But why? (Just playing Devil's Advocate here for a moment, no offense intended.) Who sets those expectations? Do we set the same expectation of other consumer electronics devices? The 19xx line was intended to fall in that category...

--janak

[Chuckwrox]

Still, it seems reasonable to expect elligibility for the upgrades within just a few months of purchasing your PPC.
But why? (Just playing Devil's Advocate here for a moment, no offense intended.) Who sets those expectations? Do we set the same expectation of other consumer electronics devices? The 19xx line was intended to fall in that category...

--janak

I think that expectation has probably been set, in my head at least, through long interraction with the PC industry. Often times they'll plaster up big signs saying that if you order this [thing] within a few months of the release of the next version, they'll upgrade you for free. Now that I'm thinking about it, this is particularly so with software. Their sales of the existing software shouldn't take as big a hit from people waiting until the next version is really ready. Why wait to purchase that [thing] until the next version is ready, when I can upgrade to it later, for free, anyway?

So, I think my expectation on how HP or MS will treat their software comes through existing practices in the software industry.

When I bought my iPAQ I didn't consider it a consumer electronic device like the Casio's or other PIM's or iPOD's. It runs the same software as the models in the $500 range, it's just a little underpowered by comparison & doesn't ship w/ built-in wireless.

I'm sure there are others more experienced with this question, but to my mind, a consumer device is one intended for home use or entertainment. The iPAQ 1930 came with a lot more productivity tools than entertainment tools, and no entertainment programs came with it that didn't come with the high-end models. They can't really be said to be targeted at consumers if the only substantive difference is the price; they're just targeted at the price-concious.

So, beyond being priced at the bottom end of their PPC line, what made HP think that they were aiming the 19xx at consumers? There are many more wifi users in my suburban Oregon neighborhood than in my downtown office. And was it the 4410 that had the universal remote control software? Now THERE's a "consumer's" feature!

Maybe the bounds between 'consumers' and 'business users' is blurring to the point where even HP can't, or doesn't see the need(?) to, differentiate between the 2?

[Janak Parekh]

Maybe the bounds between 'consumers' and 'business users' is blurring to the point where even HP can't, or doesn't see the need(?) to, differentiate between the 2?
Either that, or HP is doing a lousy job of marketing and product separation. :|

Thanks for your insights. I agree that HP should be clearer on what exactly differentiates their products. Of course, their products move so fast, it's hard for anyone to keep up. That said, our expectations of ROM updates also probably needs a little tempering, given the OEMs' track records on the issue.

--janak