Windows Mobile 5 and A730W

[aedmonds]

Does anyone know if ASUS will be offering an upgrade to Windows Mobile 5 for the A730W? If so, will it be free or will it cost?

THanks

[KTamas]

I think (and i hope someone will proove me wrong), there will not be WM5 upgrade for Asus ppcs. Asus always sucked about giving upgrades; they even promised a wm2003se upgrade to A716 but they said "after 4 months of work, we found out that it is incompatible". I guess WM5 will be "incompatible" too... :roll:

[ADBrown]

If they haven't made some kind of announcement yet, it probably won't happen.

[hamishmacdonald]

And you know what? I find myself not caring.

This Pocket PC has the nicest combination of capabilities and form factor of all the ones I've used, and I think it's time to step off the "constant upgrade" train.

Windows Mobile 5 doesn't offer anything I haven't already got (or better) from existing or third-party software. The only thing I would have liked is a slimmer camera-capture application (I find the built-in one takes way too long to start up for it to be useful).

It's too easy to spend my life tinkering with machinery. It's time to focus on what I can produce with what I have.

[1BADRIDE]

Well said. My biggest complaint was in regards to battery life - quite poor with heavy use, even with the extended battery.

That issue has been resolved with the 2900mah hack.

[hamishmacdonald]

Oooh, what's the 2900MAh hack? [Edit: Found it on the boards. That's a bit hardcore for me, but kudos for managing that!]

I don't run into battery issues, 'cause I've finally created the perfect bundle of gear to carry when I'm going to be working away from home, and this does the trick.

There are three levels, depending on how long I'm going to be away:
- the spare battery (so nice of them to provide it for free! A spare for my old iPAQ cost something like £29. I just wish there was an easy way to charge it.)
- a £5 USB battery box containing 4AA rechargeables, with a spare set of AAs in my bag, and a MiniSync cable. This lasts a long time.
- a power adaptor (with the spare jack/USB host cable that Asus provided -- again, very nice of them).
I'm also listening to music off my Smartphone now. That saves battery power on the MyPal, and also means that the (free from the carrier) phone takes all the beating rather than the (really not free) PocketPC, which stays tucked away in the really good belt-case Asus provided -- another stand-out feature.

[Darius Wey]

If they haven't made some kind of announcement yet, it probably won't happen.

I actually contacted them not too long ago and am still waiting for a reply. Either my email got lost courtesy of the spam filters or they really are undecided at the moment. ;)

[Darius Wey]

Oooh, what's the 2900MAh hack?

This is the one. I must say, it looks very neat!

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39725

[thimyee]

I have contacted through email to ASUS on other issues. All I got is an auto reply acknowleging receipt but they never bother to reply. I think the PDA business is no small to bother them.

[1BADRIDE]

HAhahah....

ASUS has pretty much non-existent tech support for any product. Their products are typically good to begin with, and they usually honor product repair/replacement when you send your product in. As far as support is concerned, the email responses (sometimes up to THREE MONTHS or more for a reply) are very poorly translated and usually offer nothing more than a request for more detailed information. There is the occasional promise to contact you, but that rarely happens as well.

[Patrick Y.]

I have contacted through email to ASUS on other issues. All I got is an auto reply acknowleging receipt but they never bother to reply. I think the PDA business is no small to bother them.

I think Asus focuses their marketing mainly in Taiwan. That's the problem...

[digitalmonk73]

Hopefully they will focus on not where they are located but where their products are located. If you sell something worldwide support it worldwide. Market it where ever, fine. But give answers to the people who seek them. Dont have us try helping our selves through trial and error. People lose or damage things somethimes that way. lol

Provide the update and you will have the best windows mobile device on the market today, and possibly tomorrow.

Please provide the update.

Thank you