Acer n300

[Mark Johnson]

I'm really itching for an Acer n300. I loved the size of my iPaq 1910 and have been hoping for something that small and "pocketable" with VGA for a couple of years now.

I've looked all over www.acer.com and www.acer.com.tw for any official info, but found none. Anyone seen anything that Acer has directly put out on this unit?

[Darius Wey]

I've looked all over www.acer.com and www.acer.com.tw for any official info, but found none. Anyone seen anything that Acer has directly put out on this unit?

As far as I'm aware, no press release has been published. What we posted (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43072) on earlier in the month were leaks, and if history is anything to go by, an official response from Acer should arrive in a few months time.

[lappari]

Hi all

My first post here :)

I will get my Acer n311 on 13.12.05 so it´s just a week :)

Offical info
http://global.acer.com/products/pda/n300.htm

[l_emmerdeur]

I called Acer USA today. They told me they have no information yet.

[lappari]

I heard that www.acer.nl got them in stock ??

I know that mine will arrive in Iceland 20-21 / 12 / 2005....

[Godsongz]

The US doesn't know about them yet, and Expansys isn't listing them yet either... looks like its going to be a late Christmas present for me.

[phlox]

Hi,

Anybody know what security can be used with WIFI on the N311 ???
Is it WEB or WPA also ??

( I want one :) )

[phlox]

Sorry left my browser open

[Darius Wey]

Anybody know what security can be used with WIFI on the N311 ???

Both WEP and WPA.

[Godsongz]

I find myself really chomping at the bit lately for the Acer N311, checking both this site for news and Expansys's to see if they have it yet. I'm let down every time but keep coming back twice a day to see if the situation has changed. Does anyone know anything about when I'll finally be able to order my Christmas present to myself? :wink:

[hamishmacdonald]

I didn't realise it was already out in France. WAH!

I'm tempted to buy it from there, except:
1) French ROM. I'm not sure how much would change to English through language selection. I'd bet there are bits that would not change over to English.
2) Delivery. None of the shops seems to ship this far (UK). I imagine that's part of their agreement with Acer.

These things get announced too far in advance. It's cruel.

[Andy Whiteford]

This device is showing up on a couple of UK online stores now although they are not expecting stock until the start of Feb. These have only been listed as of today so it looks like things are relatively iminent in the UK which means the English ROM version will be available very shortly....

[Mark Johnson]

This has been just insane! I'm going banannas here trying to get my hands on an Acer! When is this thing gonna finally be in stock with someone who will ship me one here in the US!?!?

Acer, why do you treat me so bad?! :grumble:

[Andy Whiteford]

The English ROM version of the Acer n300 has been held up although it should be shipping in the next week or two. I'm okay with this provided it is to include the latest rom revision i.e. v1.00.15. The rom in the European models to date (v1.00.08) has had issues which the latest appears to fix.

[Godsongz]

That would be great if its the reason that the English language version has been held up. If it isn't though, when we finally do get our hands on these lil beauties here in the states it shouldn't be a huge issue to update the ROM image. Right?

BTW: I saw in your blog today that Piel Frama has already begun taking orders for leather cases for the n300 series. That's cool, and their cases are always top notch, but I don't think I'd want to take this wonderfully little and pocketable PDA and bulk it up. What do you think?

[Andy Whiteford]

It shouldn't be an issue upgrading the ROM going forward but I would certainly love a perfect working device straight our of the box.
With regards to the cases, Acer actually sell their own leather flip for the n300 series and it looks pretty cool; very similar to the Sena cases which I love for their small size and magnetic closure.

[Godsongz]

Andy, and idea which merchant that ships to the states will have the English version in stock first? March is a 3-paycheck-month for me so right now is the perfect time to buy this thing (and a case, and a secondary charge/sync/usb cable, and a...) without feeling a pinch. I want this PDA badly ;)

weeee.. my 300th post! :)

[Andy Whiteford]

Andy, and idea which merchant that ships to the states will have the English version in stock first? March is a 3-paycheck-month for me so right now is the perfect time to buy this thing (and a case, and a secondary charge/sync/usb cable, and a...) without feeling a pinch. I want this PDA badly ;)

weeee.. my 300th post! :)


I would imagine Clove is your best bet. There are others that are cheaper but I don't think they will ship abroad and in any case, they might not have them in stock as quick as Clove....

http://www.clove.co.uk/products/products.asp?strAreaNo=400_1_14&intElement=28311

[PocketPCThoughter]

How and where to get Acer n300 in Canada?

I can't believe it's not available in North America yet.

[Andy Whiteford]

It's not available in UK yet either! It has just been put back to next week now. I can see this dragging into April at this rate which is dangerous given the FS LOOX N560 will be available shortly!

[Godsongz]

Hey Andy, I noticed in your blog that your N311 is on order now. Coolness! Clove (http://www.clove.co.uk/products/products.asp?strAreaNo=400_1_14&intElement=28311) still says coming soon, and Mobile Planet (http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=132729) seems to have it available, but with a UK plug? I'm guessing I can't use a UK plug in the US, so I'm still in a holding pattern. :?

Do you know what ROM revision it's shipping with? hehehe sorry, I'll hold further questions until after your review.

[Andy Whiteford]

Hey, no problem. You should be able to get a plug adapter as this unit will not officially be sold in the US. You could also order a sync/charge cable. Proporta sell them and sent me a sample which will allow you to charge via usb. Please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to answer them in the review.

[Godsongz]

Yep, the power plug is only about $3 at my local hardware store. Their doesn't seem to be a USB charge/sync cable specifically for the N311 on Proporta's site yet, but that can wait I think. I want the one with the extra USB port for plugging in other devices. Mobile Planet here I come!

[Andy Whiteford]

If you need a cable just now then the cables for the n50 work just fine! ;)
I forgot to say, the ROM version on these UK shipping units is the latest which seems to be very stable i.e. v1.0.15

[Godsongz]

I've been waiting for this PDA since, hmmm, October? Now the longest wait of all has begun, the time between order and delivery. They say 5 days, we'll see.

[sum1mad]

I'm glad to announce that the n300 series is finally available in Holland.

i'l stop by the shop to get one tomorrow

[Andy Whiteford]

Please reply here if you can find the following item anywhere:

Acer n300 proprietary flip-top leather cover
CC.H0203.005 N300 Leather Cover (flip-top)


Some pics of it here:

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=61&t=123166


Looks exactly the case I want for the Acer.

[PocketPCThoughter]

The price difference between the 2 units is huge.

Is it worth it to buy it now mobileplanet/expansys?

n310 $304
n311 $459

Will other sites have a lower price?

[Andy Whiteford]

Komplett in the UK are selling the top end n311 for £233 including VAT which quite frankly is an amazing price!
This is approximately $404 although I don't think they ship to the US. If anyone is struggling to get one then they can contact me if they have an Ebay and PayPal account and I will sort it out although I would recommend importing from the likes of Clove first as this will save time.

[Andy Whiteford]

I've posted a quick video review of the Acer over on my blog. The video I posted is not the greatest quality but it will let you see the video and gaming performance. I hope some people will find it useful. A great little device by the way...

www.donka.co.uk

[Anath]

hi Andy looked at your video link. Looks like a nice device. Can you tell me whether the joystick allows diagonal movements like the ipaq 4150

thanks

[Andy Whiteford]

Definitely no diagonals with the joystick on this device.

[ritz@9892525343]

Hi everyone .This is my 1st post.
I am planning on buying the N311 from singapore soon.
I just wanted to know from where you get ROM updates for the N311?
Since I am based in India , Acer does not sell PPC locally and am just curious to know whether English ROM upgrades are available on this forum for download.
Have a nice day

[Andy Whiteford]

English ROM updates are available from here:

ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/handheld/n300/osimage/

WWE is the English version.

[TyrionImp]

I live in the US and have been waiting for the n311 since I first heard word of it. Previous posts in this thread have been really helpful, I intend to buy it from Clove or Mobile Planet.

I'm posting this because I'm also interested in buying a second battery for the device (so that I can use it constantly, charging a battery in the cradle while I use the device elsewhere.) Does anyone have any clue where I can purchase a battery? I've looked at the sites I mentioned above, but so far have found nothing.

[Godsongz]

I ordered mine from Mobile Planet 9 days ago, and they still don't have any in stock. :| I wrote to them on Monday to ask for an expected date, and they have not responded. :(

EDIT: Within the 16 minutes that have elapsed since I wrote this post, Mobile Planet did respond. hehe they must read these forums! They say that they have been waiting on a late shipment themselves and will fulfill my order as soon as they arrive.

Hope it doesn't take much longer.

[Andy Whiteford]

Keep an eye on Ebay as well! ;)

[ritz@9892525343]

Thanks Andy for the link and quick response.
I think I am going to chew your brains ,till,either you dispose your N311 or I do the same. :lol:

General info. for everyone: N311 is available for USD 340 (inclusive of GST) in Singapore.
Unfortunately I havent been able to find any online retailers selling the same.

Whats up with Cloves inventory. I hope they reduce the price once in-stock.

[Andy Whiteford]

No problem, just fire away with any questions. I'm hoping to get some mini reviews up shortly of the various aspects of the device but until then just put any questions to me. Also, if you are struggling to source a unit, let me know as I currently have 2.

[Godsongz]

I've been waiting for this PDA since, hmmm, October? Now the longest wait of all has begun, the time between order and delivery. They say 5 days, we'll see.

hmmm, "the longest wait of all" was sadly prophetic, 14 days since my order and Mobile Planet still doesn't have any in stock. Clove's website still says "Available soon" also, so it is probably not specifically Mobile Planet's problem. A hold-up in the supply chain somewhere?

[Andy Whiteford]

PM me if you are looking for an Acer n311 now.

[Godsongz]

Thanks for your offer of help Andy, it is very much appreciated. While the wait for the distributor to catch up with the product is a little frustrating, it's not really an inconvenience to me. The Acer n311 is much more of a "want" than a "need" as I already have two perfectly functioning (though aging) PPCs. I can wait.

[PocketPCThoughter]

Thanks Andy for the link and quick response.
I think I am going to chew your brains ,till,either you dispose your N311 or I do the same. :lol:

General info. for everyone: N311 is available for USD 340 (inclusive of GST) in Singapore.
Unfortunately I havent been able to find any online retailers selling the same.

Whats up with Cloves inventory. I hope they reduce the price once in-stock.

Yea, USD460 is a bit overpriced for n311. Where did you find it selling for USD340 in Singapore?

By the way, I checked mobileplanet.com and expansys.ca they both show that N311 are available within 2 days (1-5 in stock). Is this true?

[ritz@9892525343]

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/n30/p_n30.asp

The price mentioned is in Singapore dollars.
You can also visit ppcsg.com.
There is an active thread on Acer N311 with aan acer rep. contributing.

[Andy Whiteford]

That page is for the n30, a totally different Pocket PC.

[beq]

I'd really like to see benchmark as well as everyday speed comparisons of the Acer n311 vs. the Fujitsu-Siemens N560 (and the Dell Axim X51v for reference).

For example, I was hoping SoloPalmari can add the n311 to their benchmark roundup:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47358&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

A video showing both Acer/Fujitsu PPCs side by side and being turned over and whatnot would help too.

I guess I'm torn...

[ritz@9892525343]

That page is for the n30, a totally different Pocket PC.

sorry my mistake. But there is also a link for N300 just on the left side of that page.

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/n300/p_n300.asp

[Godsongz]

By the way, I checked mobileplanet.com and expansys.ca they both show that N311 are available within 2 days (1-5 in stock). Is this true?

Don't believe it. I ordered mine from Mobile Planet on March 6th, and tracking it through UPS now I should have it in my hands on the 29th. 23 days?!? When I originally placed my order their website said 5 days, but they didn't really have any in stock at the time, and they were projecting delivery based on a shipment they were expecting. That shipment ended up being about 2.5 weeks late. Also, the Acer has to be shipped from Expansys in Manchester, England to their distribution center in Illinios, and then shipped again to your address. 2 days is probably a fairy tale, but if they actually have any in stock left in Manchester, you might have it in 5-7 business days.

Update 24 hours later: UPS tracking says my n311 is in my state! Weeee maybe I'll get it a day early? hehehe wishful thinking I know.

[Godsongz]

Got it today! What a great PPC! I'm lovin' it so far.

[PocketPCThoughter]

Got it today! What a great PPC! I'm lovin' it so far.

cool! I want this pocket pc too, but do you think its price is justified for the performance?

[Andy Whiteford]

It's one of the cheapest devices for its specification - at least here in the UK. Certainly great value for money imho.

[Godsongz]

Has anyone else noticed the low volume pumped out of the headphone jack? I used my 2215 a lot in the car, connected to the stereo through a cassette to mini jack adapter, and I had to actually turn down the volume on the 2215 a little in order to get a clean sound from it but I could still crank up the volume on the car's stereo to booming levels. With the Acer's volume maxed, and the car stereo's volume maxed, it's barely loud enough to listen to.

Interesting since the Acer's built-in speaker is 4x the volume and quality of the 2215's.

[Andy Whiteford]

Interesting. I found the speaker to be quite quiet on enythign but its very highest level. The audio quality through the headphone jack seems excellent to me but I will need to check it again for audio level. I'll let you know....

[Godsongz]

I agree, the audio quality through the headphone jack is excellent, better than I'd hoped for and among the best I've heard from a PPC. It's the audio level that seems to be lacking.

[Andy Whiteford]

I'll put some audio tracks on it this evening and guage the level - I'm using my iPod just now so can't say at the moment.

[Godsongz]

Another odd issue, I was wondering if you've experienced it... and it's happened twice now in the 8 days I've had my happy little hands on the Acer. After sitting unused for a few hours, off the cradle, the unit fails to respond to the power button or the soft reset button. The "hold" switch is off. The only thing I've been able to do to wake the unit up is pluck and reinsert the battery. After the first time it happened (last Saturday morning after sitting on the bookcase headboard of my bed for the night) I just shrugged it off. Then it happened to me again last night and it's got me a little worried. Should I be?

[gstr]

Another odd issue, I was wondering if you've experienced it...

I have experienced it. And it seems that a lot of n311 users in Poland also had. I have replaced my first unit with factory ROM *.08 because of it (upgrade to *.15 didn't help). Now for a 4 days I've got unit with factory ROM *.15 and it seems that the problem is the same.

There were rumors that ROM *.15 fixes the problem. However I can not say so.

As far as I know, we have to give our PDA's to Acer Service Center and they do replace a mainboard to the new one (it seems to be a hardware problem).

Maybe the newest series of n311 have correct mainboard installed and ROM *.15 on board, and that's the reason of the rumor. And I've got n311 before the mainboard was replaced but after the factory ROM *.15 has been installed.

[Andy Whiteford]

I have read about this behaviour with rom 1.00.08 but so far I haven't had an issue with mine running 1.00.15. I leave mine off power overnight everynight and there is never an issue waking up the device via an alarm or manual power on.

[gstr]

I have read about this behaviour with rom 1.00.08 but so far I haven't had an issue with mine running 1.00.15.

I can not say so :(

I suspect there were at least 3 releases of Acer n311:

1. Factory ROM 1.00.08, old mainboard
2. Factory ROM 1.00.15, old mainboard
3. Factory ROM 1.00.15, new mainboard

You have the third one. I have the second one. And before I had a first one.

Have you updated ROM manually or it was factory ROM 1.00.15 in your PDA?

[Andy Whiteford]

Factory ROM v1.00.15.

Firmware version v2.6
Bootloader version v1.15

I can't see any hardware revision information.

[gstr]

Factory ROM v1.00.15.
Firmware version v2.6
Bootloader version v1.15


I have got the same ROM (preinstalled), Firmware and Bootloader. And the problem still occurs :( If the problem will occur once again I will send my PDA to Acer Service Center for mainboard replacement.

[Andy Whiteford]

How often is it happening? I have found this unit to be very stable but have had 2 issues to date:

-Backlight resetting to 30 secs regardless of what timeout I set it to.
-Occasionally I would be in a settings applet and the top bar would disappear meaning there was no way to 'OK' a change. The device would respond as normal otherwise however it would take a soft reset to bring the top bar back.

The two issues I have mentioned above were 'fixed' by taking a backup, doing a hard reset and then restoring the backup. It has been fine since then so I'm putting it down to my software testing and some conflict of configuration that was not recorded in the backup. A freshly hard reset device had no issues either so I'm very confident it was a third party software issue of some description.

[gstr]

How often is it happening? I have found this unit to be very stable but have had 2 issues to date:
-Backlight resetting to 30 secs regardless of what timeout I set it to.
-Occasionally I would be in a settings applet and the top bar [...] to bring the top bar back.


I had both on unit without any software installed (just after unpacking from the box).

About "loosing the power" - it happens about once per week. The remedy is:
- remove battery
- apply battery
- connect to the cradle

And it returns alive, in most cases with 60% or 80% of power.

[Godsongz]

And it returns alive, in most cases with 60% or 80% of power.

Right, I didn't mention that. The last time it happened to me (only twice so far) the unit had a 100% charge on the cradle. I took it off the cradle, turned it off, put it down on the desk, and picked it back up again maybe 3 hours later. After plucking and re-inserting the battery to get it to wake up, the charge was at 81%.

[Andy Whiteford]

Is it perhaps not a battery issue then? The fact it is draining so quickly when off and reseating battery then putting it on the cradle and effectively changing the battery state to charging seems to cure this for you.
I'm unsure quite how replacing the mainboard would make a difference unless it was an issue with the battery contacts as I can only assume I have a 1st generation mainboard as well and I have had no issue with this at all.
The majority of the issues with this device including a similar power issue where it was stuck at the white boot up screen were solved by the ROM update including the latest boot loader version so perhaps what you are experiencing is not related.

[Andy Whiteford]

Check out this:

http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=219339

Does it similar similar to the issue you are having with the Acer?

[Godsongz]

Possibly, except that in my case a soft-reset was also toothless. The battery had to be removed/replaced. Though, I did not need to reconnect to the cradle like gstr.

[gstr]

Does it similar similar to the issue you are having with the Acer?

A little bit. Almost everytime the problem occurred I had a PDA in front pocket of my jeans. And almost everytime I was driving with it in my pocket. This "plastic card" ejected and I don't know how many times it was put it and ejected once again. If it can increase power consumption that might be a reason. However, strange, thing is that when connected to cradle the power was back to 60%.

[Andy Whiteford]

What kind of SD card are you guys using i.e. make and capacity?

I'm using a 4GB Adata card and it has been flawless. Do you get the issue when there is no SD card in place? Have you tried going for a few days without an SD card?

[gstr]

Have you tried going for a few days without an SD card?

I have not tried with SD card. All my problems were with this plastic "thing" (which there is original) in the slot. However, PDA detects in and out of this card, and this might be a reason.

[Godsongz]

What kind of SD card are you guys using i.e. make and capacity?

I have a Sandisk 1gb SD card in the unit that has been in there since the Acer came out of the box. I don't think it has ever accidently ejected.

I haven't tried going without the SD card, but I'm wondering how I would see the difference. As I've said before, this particular issue has only happened to me twice with several days in between.

Unless it starts happening more frequently, I'm really not all that concerned about it.

Returning to another issue, Andy, did you ever test the volume level of the headphone jack on the Acer? You should try testing it against another PDA. The difference in output levels between my Acer and my iPaq is extreme.

[Andy Whiteford]

Yip, I tested the volume with headphones and found it quite loud and crystal clear. The volume through headphones is louder in comparison with the loudspeaker which I find relatively quiet apart from its high setting. Compared to the HP h4150, the headphone output seems at least as high.
It will depend on the source file and headphones though.

[Godsongz]

Very interesting. Maybe it's my particular unit then. I don't think it's defective as the audio quality is excellent, just very quiet in comparison to my iPaqs.

[gstr]

Maybe it's my particular unit then. I don't think it's defective as the audio quality is excellent, just very quiet in comparison to my iPaqs.

I have compared n311 to ipaq 3850. Almost the same.

[Andy Whiteford]

Very interesting. Maybe it's my particular unit then. I don't think it's defective as the audio quality is excellent, just very quiet in comparison to my iPaqs.

Which iPaqs in particular?

[Godsongz]

Which iPaqs in particular?

2215 and 3835. Flipping back to the other issue, hurumph, it happened again this morning so that timeline gstr mentioned of about once-per-week seems to be holding true. I had a full charge when I took it off the cradle last night and I brought it upstairs to bed and read from an ebook for about 10 minutes before my eyes started closing. I shut it off and laid it down on the bookcase headboard for the night. This morning it would not power-on until I reseated the battery, and the power level was at 81%.

[Andy Whiteford]

Does it normally happen overnight for you i.e. around the same time?

[Squid997]

Which iPaqs in particular?

2215 and 3835. Flipping back to the other issue, hurumph, it happened again this morning so that timeline gstr mentioned of about once-per-week seems to be holding true. I had a full charge when I took it off the cradle last night and I brought it upstairs to bed and read from an ebook for about 10 minutes before my eyes started closing. I shut it off and laid it down on the bookcase headboard for the night. This morning it would not power-on until I reseated the battery, and the power level was at 81%.

Godsongz,
Due to lack of choices for the size and power I think that nothing can touch the Acer. That being said, I am looking at the 450.00 bucks to mobile planet for one but I have a few questions since I Noticed that you got it from their as well. How is the documentation? What kind of guarantee did you get from Acer? Does it have to be shipped to the UK for any major repairs? Is it worth it? If I get a positive feedback from you I am going to purchase it tomorow from them. Thanks for the time and help.


Squid

[Godsongz]

hmmm.. I'll dig through the packaging tonight and try to find some of these answers for you, but to be perfectly honest with you, none of these were deciding factors for me so I didn't pay much attention. I'd known since October or November of last year that this was the unit I wanted for my next PPC, so I ordered it the first day it was available for ordering.

Paper documentation is practically non-existant, but the CD that came in the box probably contains it in PDF form. I actually haven't even taken the CD out of it's plastic slipcover. I have had a PDF file (downloaded from Acer's FTP site) of the user manual for the n300's since around Christmas that I used to read through once in a while until the unit actually became available for sale last month. How sad is that?

[rkpila]

Hi, I am new to this forum, I need help. I have bought an acer n311, windows mobile which is in french, I want to change the language to English. I have downloaded the english OS ROM image from acer ftp site. Can I update the english ROM over the french one ? Is there any techinical difficulties in it. I have seen a lot of posting for HP but not more for acer.

[prusik]

I'm considering buying a an Acer N311. However, I will be using it in the United States. So I'm wondering if the power supply adapts to US power. Will I need a voltage converter, or do I just need a plug adapter?
(Or does Acer have a power supply which has a US plug?)

Thanks.

[Andy Whiteford]

I'm considering buying a an Acer N311. However, I will be using it in the United States. So I'm wondering if the power supply adapts to US power. Will I need a voltage converter, or do I just need a plug adapter?
(Or does Acer have a power supply which has a US plug?)

Thanks.


All you will need is a plug adapter - the transformer covers 110-230 volts.

[Andy Whiteford]

Hi, I am new to this forum, I need help. I have bought an acer n311, windows mobile which is in french, I want to change the language to English. I have downloaded the english OS ROM image from acer ftp site. Can I update the english ROM over the french one ? Is there any techinical difficulties in it. I have seen a lot of posting for HP but not more for acer.

Just follow the upgrade instructions included within in the ROM update. I don't know if there is a lock in place to stop flashing to a different language but theoretically it should be straight forward to do. What RO version are you on just now? If you are already on 1.00.15 then the ROM update might see this and terminate anyway thinking you are on the latest version. Either way, I would certainly give it a go.

[Godsongz]

about the plug adapter... I bought one in advance of my Acer's arrival so I'd be ready to plug it in when it got here, and then found that Mobile Planet included a UK->US adapter in the box. Nice touch!

Of course now I have to buy some other gadget from England so I can make use of my second adapter...

[Andy Whiteford]

Going back to the issues with the Acer for a minute - I have been able to replicate the backlight issue of my device by simply setting a password for my device. With this enabled, the backlight seems to reset itself back to 20 secs by default when I turn the device back on, regardless of how often I change it to 1 min. With the password disabled, the 1 min will stick and there are no issues.
Can someone else with a n311 verify this?

[Godsongz]

Can't replicate that here. I did not have the backlight set to turn off automatically, so here's the order of what I did...

Set the backlight to turn off after 1 minute of no use, waited a minute and it turned off Set the password for the device, restarted the device and waited another minute for the backlight to turn off Set the backlight timer to 30 seconds and waited 30 secs for the backlight to turn off Turned off the password and waited 30 seconds for the backlight to turn offCan't make that fail here.

[rkpila]

Thanks Andy. I was in ROM version 1.00.15 french, It did not create any problem on updating the same version OS image again. updating it was quite straight forward. I updated the english OS Image instead of french as per the instruction, And now it is all in English.

[epson]

If I compare to a Ipaq 6950 or a Dell Axim X30, the WIFI reception is VERY VERY bad...
I have the DUTCH Rom version, and in several reviews I saw that in the English version there is a setting for WIFI power safe.
In my version (also .15) there is an empty space instead...

I cant set it to disable. I was thinking if it was possible that this causes the bad reception...

What are your experiences?


Thanks

[JamesS]

Hi,

I've had my Acer n311 for a week now and have been thoroughly impressed with it so far.

One thing I'm keen to get my hands on quickly is a decent keyboard to help with text input. The foldable keyboard advertised on the side of the n311 box looks good. However I can't find any details of it on the Acer UK website, and the one detailed on the US website says it's just for the n30 / n50 (Link to Acer US website: http://global.acer.com/products/pda/accessories.htm)

Does anyone know how to get hold of a decent keyboard that's compatible with the n311?

Thanks,

James

[Fishie]

Hi,

I've had my Acer n311 for a week now and have been thoroughly impressed with it so far.

One thing I'm keen to get my hands on quickly is a decent keyboard to help with text input. The foldable keyboard advertised on the side of the n311 box looks good. However I can't find any details of it on the Acer UK website, and the one detailed on the US website says it's just for the n30 / n50 (Link to Acer US website: http://global.acer.com/products/pda/accessories.htm)

Does anyone know how to get hold of a decent keyboard that's compatible with the n311?

Thanks,

James

All USB keyboards are compatible

[JamesS]

All USB keyboards are compatible

Thanks Fishie, hadn't realised. Plugged in my USB keyboard and it worked first time.

[Godsongz]

Stepping back to the issue of the n311 not powering on after being left alone for a length of time, and having to reseat the battery to get the unit to respond.

After it happened to my n311 for the 5th or 6th time, I did some searching around on other sites and found many users experiencing this problem. One user claimed that they had solved the problem by following the instructions at this site, http://czaxim.wordpress.com/2006/03/06/vypnuti-automaticke-synchronizace-activesync-ve-wm5/, to set up a fake Exchange server account. That site is in the Czech language, which I don't understand, but I was able to pick through it enough do to the following...

Disconnect the n311 from cable/cradle Run Activesync Click Menu Click Add Server Source Set Server Address = fake Click Next Set User Name = fake Set Password = fake Set Domain = fake Click Next Uncheck all synchronization items Click Finish Click Menu again Click Schedule Set both Peak and Off-peak times = Manually Uncheck Send outgoing items immediately Click OK Close Activesync Reconnect to cable/cradle and syncI did this several days ago and haven't experienced the won't-power-on problem since. Maybe this fixed it, but maybe it's still waiting in the wings to surprise me again. Time will tell.

If this ~is~ the solution to the problem, then perhaps the problem isn't specific to the Acers and it's really a WM5/Exchange bug, and just seems to show up more often on the Acers??

[l_emmerdeur]

Stepping back to the issue of the n311 not powering on after being left alone for a length of time, and having to reseat the battery to get the unit to respond.

After it happened to my n311 for the 5th or 6th time, I did some searching around on other sites and found many users experiencing this problem. One user claimed that they had solved the problem by following the instructions at this site, http://czaxim.wordpress.com/2006/03/06/vypnuti-automaticke-synchronizace-activesync-ve-wm5/, to set up a fake Exchange server account. That site is in the Czech language, which I don't understand, but I was able to pick through it enough do to the following...

Disconnect the n311 from cable/cradle Run Activesync Click Menu Click Add Server Source Set Server Address = fake Click Next Set User Name = fake Set Password = fake Set Domain = fake Click Next Uncheck all synchronization items Click Finish Reconnect to cable/cradle and syncI did this several days ago and haven't experienced the won't-power-on problem since. Maybe this fixed it, but maybe it's still waiting in the wings to surprise me again. Time will tell.

If this ~is~ the solution to the problem, then perhaps the problem isn't specific to the Acers and it's really a WM5/Exchange bug, and just seems to show up more often on the Acers??

Funny, this seems similar to the solution used to stop WM5 PPCs from draining their batteries in a matter of hours, even when turned off. Sounds to me very much like another Microsoft gaff. I guess those Redmond boys have been playing a bit too much of the Halo 2 he he.

[Godsongz]

Funny, this seems similar to the solution used to stop WM5 PPCs from draining their batteries in a matter of hours, even when turned off. Sounds to me very much like another Microsoft gaff. I guess those Redmond boys have been playing a bit too much of the Halo 2 he he.

A fairly significant battery drain is also among the symptoms of the n311-won't-power-on problem.

[pheral]

Hi guys, just letting you know i appreciate all this experimenting you're doing, and that i'll be watching to see how this current fix performs. My n310 is on order and should arrive in a few days, and i'm crossing my fingers i don't come up against this problem! Hopefully if i do, you guys will have a solution all ready for me to try :wink:
Cheers for sharing all the info.

[Godsongz]

I just edited my previous post with the checklist of things to do to fix this bug. I had left out several steps at the end, sorry.

After a little more research and hitting Google with a broader range of search terms, I'm pretty confidant that 1. this is a WM5 problem, not an Acer problem, and 2. This IS the fix for the problem.

[goodbyekitty]

Can anyone tell me if the Acer n300 supports 4Gb SD cards? I heard that some other PDAs only support a maximum of 2Gb so I'd like to be sure before i rush out and buy a 4Gb SD card.

[pheral]

I'm pretty confidant that 1. this is a WM5 problem, not an Acer problem, and 2. This IS the fix for the problem.

Thanks for adjusting the fix, fingers crossed it turns out to be the one! There are a few forums i've passed through i'll be pointing here, if it works. Trust Microsoft eh? It certainly doesn't sound beyond the realms of possiblity that it's their system screwing up the device. :evil:

[Andy Whiteford]

Can anyone tell me if the Acer n300 supports 4Gb SD cards? I heard that some other PDAs only support a maximum of 2Gb so I'd like to be sure before i rush out and buy a 4Gb SD card.

Yes, i does. I'm running a 4Gb card (Adata) just now and it is flawless.

[gstr]

This IS the fix for the problem.

I am also testing this fix. Hope it will help.

[terencek888]

Hi all,

Does anyone managed to get USB mouse working with the n311? I tried plugging a mouse but it does not display any mouse pointer. The mouse seemed to work but it is clicking and moving in the "dark".

I also have a cheap no-brand USB ethernet adpator which I tried to get it working as well but so far I have no luck in locating the driver for it. I cant tell what chip or driver this adpator is using/needed but if anyone has success using a similar adpator, I do very appreciate that you can share your experience.

Anyway, the n311 is really an amazing device.
Cheers!

[JamesS]

I'd really like to get my USB mouse working with my n311 too. Same thing happens when I connect mine, i.e. it moves without a pointer.

I found this...

http://www.thinkoutside.com/btmouse_product.html

... which looks like it will do the job + gets good reviews, but $80...!?! Quite keen to avoid paying that kind of money! Particularly if I can use my existing USB mouse with the help of a clever piece of software.

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks.

[Andy Whiteford]

This IS the fix for the problem.

I am also testing this fix. Hope it will help.

gstr,

Has this fixed the issue for you? My device has been completely incident free for weeks and now I have what appeared to be a dead device yesterday and again today. I had to remove and replace the battery and when I powered on it went through the process as if recovering from a hard reset. Today, I noticed that there had been a significant drain on the battery during this time, probably a good 30% which was unusual. I haven't added anything in this time that I can think of that would have caused the issue although I was searching for Wifi networks over the weekend and then yesterday and today with the device plugged into my work pc via ActiveSync, SPB Weather would not automatically update from the Internet, I had to manually invoke a refresh in the application to update the weather data. I'm unsure if something over the weekend has caused this change and perhaps the way connections are made which may now mean I need to try the fake exchange account fix mentioned in this thread. As I said, I have been running for weeks without a single incident and now twice in two days!

[Godsongz]

I had 5 or 6 of these incidents with my n311 in the week and a half before I applied the fix, and 0 in the week and a half since.

[gstr]

Has this fixed the issue for you?

I don't know. I have had no accidents for last weeks, even before applying this patch.

I think I have found the reason. Sometimes, when SD card (or this plastic thing which is in slot by default) is taken out and in very often, something strange happens to n311. It doesn't turn off and the battery starts to drain very quickly. By very I mean 20% in 10 minutes. PDA doesn't respond to any buttons, even soft reset.

I have catched by Acer for a few times with about 20%-30% battery. Only possible solution was to take off battery for a while. Almost everytime it happend when I kept my PDA in a pocket of my jeans with SD card moved out.

Maybe you were wearing jeans for a last few days :) ?

GStr

[Andy Whiteford]

I have applied this fix and will keep an eye on it but it is really annoying me now as I want to know what is actually causing this since it never happened to me before.

[gstr]

I have applied this fix and will keep an eye on it but it is really annoying me now as I want to know what is actually causing this since it never happened to me before.

Remove SD card and don't use it for a while.

[Andy Whiteford]

I have always ran this device with a 4Gb SD card so I don't think that is causing the issue we have here; I think the SD dummy card that you have has just been a coincidence given others haven't reported a problem with an SD card of any form with the Acer.
I know Dell Axim users reported an issue that seemed to be linked to a storage card however but that was resolved by a Dell update afaik.

[Godsongz]

Bummer, it's been two weeks since I applied the fix that I detailed in an earlier post, and just now I had to re-seat my battery to get my n311 working again. The unit had been sitting in it's cradle for about 3 hours, and it had been off (with the switch in the hold position) for perhaps 2 hours before I placed it in the cradle. No battery drain this time, so it must have been accepting the charge.

I was starting to think we had this bug licked for good too.

[PocketPCThoughter]

oh NO!

Acer n311 is on my "must-buy" list after feeling disgusted by the supposed "flagship" X51v.

I hope really Acer fixes this so I can feel safe getting the Acer, because the more I look at its design, the more I like it!!! I don't know why Dell X51v just "feels" so "ugly?" :D

[pheral]

I guess we can hope that Godsongz latest problem was a one-off, and not connected to the regular bug (that the battery didn't drain is a good sign of that).
I'm just waiting for it to happen to mine. And i keep forgetting about the damn hold button too, so i go to turn it on, and it doesn't do anything, and i start to panic until i realise i'm trying to turn it on with the hold on again. Duh. Stewpid paranoid pheral. :roll:

[Andy Whiteford]

I must be honest I haven't had any further issues since applying the fix and since you never had battery drain I'm hoping there was something else at play here.
Can everyone list the software they have installed on their Acer in this thread so we can see if there is any commonality here. Please list everything including freeware and trials.

[PocketPCThoughter]

Can anyone here stop me from crossing to the dark side by getting a Dell x51v (on sale in Canada for CAD$450) and help me with convincing myself to get the Acer n311 (CAD$520 from expansys) despite the $70 difference?!

[Godsongz]

I guess we can hope that Godsongz latest problem was a one-off, and not connected to the regular bug...

So far so good. No other problems to report other than that one incident. Since the battery didn't drain that time, I agree that the cause of that event may be totally unrelated to the original bug we've been working on.

In all other respects, I'm lovin' this PPC.

Can anyone here stop me from crossing to the dark side by getting a Dell x51v...

The rumors that Dell is dropping out of the stand-alone PPC market would be enough to make me look hard at the competition. Comparing the n311 and the x51v side by side, the x51v would likely win in terms of price/performance though.

[PocketPCThoughter]

The rumors that Dell is dropping out of the stand-alone PPC market would be enough to make me look hard at the competition. Comparing the n311 and the x51v side by side, the x51v would likely win in terms of price/performance though.

I know! Dell has much better price/performance ratio that it's confusing me from getting the Acer! Would buying the Acer based simply on its "looks" be a 'vain' thing to do? :P

[Andy Whiteford]

The rumors that Dell is dropping out of the stand-alone PPC market would be enough to make me look hard at the competition. Comparing the n311 and the x51v side by side, the x51v would likely win in terms of price/performance though.

I know! Dell has much better price/performance ratio that it's confusing me from getting the Acer! Would buying the Acer based simply on its "looks" be a 'vain' thing to do? :P

Depends on what you will use it for. If you will do a lot of video watching on it then I would go for the Dell but otherwise the Acer wins it hands down for me.

[Harkonnen]

Have you guys tried the high capacity battery pack (part no. CC.H0203.003)? I wonder if it's the same size as the one that ships with the device. And if not, how does it fit?...

[Andy Whiteford]

Have you guys tried the high capacity battery pack (part no. CC.H0203.003)? I wonder if it's the same size as the one that ships with the device. And if not, how does it fit?...


I haven't seen any of the official Acer accessories yet in the UK but I would assume that the high capacity battery will be oversized and include some form of revised rear cover as is normally the case with these batteries.

[pheral]

I'm thinking of ordering the spare battery, probably the high capacity one (there's a phone number for Acer you can phone for spares) and i'll let you all know when i get hold of it.

[PocketPCThoughter]

Depends on what you will use it for. If you will do a lot of video watching on it then I would go for the Dell but otherwise the Acer wins it hands down for me.

I won't be doing a lot of video watching, mainly PIM-related stuff.

But, I'd like to know at least I could play a couple of videos from time to time without lagging or dropping frames?!

[Andy Whiteford]

I won't be doing a lot of video watching, mainly PIM-related stuff.

But, I'd like to know at least I could play a couple of videos from time to time without lagging or dropping frames?!

If your movies are encoded about QVGA resolution then playback will be fine.

[Andy Whiteford]

Just noticed there is a new ROM version for the n300 - v1.00.16 - available on the Acer FTP support site. No idea what is changed in this release although I may upgrade over the weekend.

[Godsongz]

Interesting... I leave for a 5-day business trip tomorrow morning though, so I'll hold up upgrading until after I return. I'd hate to mess up my Acer and not be able to use it on my trip.

[Godsongz]

From the release notes for 1.00.16:
N300 OS image release note

Internal project name: Mabolas
Release by: Emma Liu

V1.00.16 WWE 2006/04/13 Eboot: v1.16Super IPL: v1.16Backup/Restore: v3.3.19AKU: 2.2.1 (build 14929)Implement:Fixed:
1. Contacts and Calendar icon will disappears after SW rest.

V1.00.16 WWE 2006/04/06 Eboot: v1.16Super IPL: v1.16Backup/Restore: v3.3.19AKU: 2.2.1 (build 14929)Implement:Fixed:
1. Release v1.00.16 for WWE.

V1.00.16 GER 2006/04/04 Eboot: v1.16Super IPL: v1.16Backup/Restore: v3.3.19AKU: 2.2.1 (build 14929)Implement:Fixed:
1. Release v1.00.16 for GER.

V1.00.16 ELL 2006/04/03 Eboot: v1.16Super IPL: v1.16Backup/Restore: v3.3.19AKU: 2.2.1 (build 14929)Implement:Fixed:
2. Release v1.00.16 for Greek.

V1.00.16 FRA 2006/03/30 Eboot: v1.16Super IPL: v1.16Backup/Restore: v3.3.19AKU: 2.2.1 (build 14929)Implement:Fixed:
1. When play the music then system enter to suspend still hear some music at this moment.
2. When execute systeminfo app, the start menu disappeared sometimes.
3. OALTimerUpdate cause UART transmission failed at 38400bps baud rate
4. Fix word completion issue
5. Fix 2577 auto run issue
6. Sometime AP button can't wakeup the device because system does not suspend completely.
That last bit about the device not waking up because it doesn't suspend completely... does that sound familiar?? hmmm. I still have a few days left on my trip but I think I'll be trying this ROM update when I return home. The problem with the device not powering up until after reseating the battery happened to me again this morning. The device hadn't been on charge for about 10-12 hours by the time I tried to use it, and I only had about 20% of my battery left once I got it running. I wasn't pleased. Thankfully it charges pretty quick, so by the time I'd had a shower, read the morning news, and eaten breakfast my Acer had enough of a charge for what I needed it for today.

Edit: Hmm, looking at the contents of the Acer_n300_SD_ROM_WWE_1_00_16.zip file here... there's a N300 OS image release note.doc word document that I snipped the above quote from, and a subdirectory called ACERN300. Inside ACERN300 there are four files, chain.lst, EBOOT.nb0, flash.dio, & superipl.nb0. On the FTP site at the same directory level as the update file there are directions for applying the update... but the instructions are in French only???

1. Copier les fichiers de l’image du Acer N300 sur une carte SD (64MB ou plus) et mettez la dans le PDA.
L’image du Acer N300 inclue les fichiers suivants : Répertoire : \ACERN300
Fichier : \ACERN300\chain.lst
Fichier : \ACERN300\EBOOT.nbo
Fichier : \ACERN300\flash.dio
Fichier : \ACERN300\superipl.nb0
2. Faites un Hard Reset (Photo 2)
3. Appuyer sur le bouton de mise en route jusqu’à ce que l’écran affiche un compte à rebours puis
« Download from SD Card » (Photo 3)
4. Relâcher le bouton de mise en route
5. Lorsque le Bootloader est mis à jour, vous obtenez le message « Update Finish » (en vert).
I don't speak French, but I can clearly see Hard Reset in there. All the more reason to wait until I'm home to do this. Darn, and I just got all my software tweaked the way I like it. I'm sure restoring a Sprite backup after the update is out-of-the-question. I haven't done a hard reset on a WM5 device before. Since everything is now in ROM, will I even need to reinstall all my software?

[Andy Whiteford]

I put this on last Fri and it has been fine over the weekend. I put the fake exchange fix on just to be safe but I think I have very slightly more program memory free and I'm sure the connections are now worded differently when you set up a new connection. You will need to do a hard reset although a restore of a previous backup may work although I personally would never recommend this.
Since there has been some issues with the Acer I would certainly do the ROM update.

[PocketPCThoughter]

Hi all,

are people with this Acer device still having issues with jerky VGA video playback? I wonder if this is a bad driver that can be resolved or something "unfixable" because the 400Mhz Samsung processor is simply not powerful enough?

[Andy Whiteford]

Hi all,

are people with this Acer device still having issues with jerky VGA video playback? I wonder if this is a bad driver that can be resolved or something "unfixable" because the 400Mhz Samsung processor is simply not powerful enough?

I'm pretty sure this is purely down to a lack of horsepower to drive all the pixels in full VGA resolution but I will check it out later on today when I get a chance.

[thierryb]

Hi all,

are people with this Acer device still having issues with jerky VGA video playback? I wonder if this is a bad driver that can be resolved or something "unfixable" because the 400Mhz Samsung processor is simply not powerful enough?

I'm pretty sure this is purely down to a lack of horsepower to drive all the pixels in full VGA resolution but I will check it out later on today when I get a chance.

this is a known limitation of the processor. And it seems that the graphic coprocessor is not really used by the softwares. People have asked the developers of TCPMP if they can do something, and we are waiting.

[thierryb]

But you can reencode your film, and people have found parameters that allows visualisation of films without any problem.

[Godsongz]

thierryb, do you have any links to listings of those parameters?

[thierryb]

No unfortunately. I will ask on a french forum (hardware.fr) and try, then I will give you a feed back. But let me few days. Other people proposed to encode in qvga, but on hardware the guy spoke of vga encoding.

[Godsongz]

I applied the V1.00.16 ROM update tonight, and reinstalled all my software, well, most of it anyway. I have NOT applied the fake exchange "fix" yet and I won't unless I see the problem occur again. I want to see if the ROM update addresses the issue.

In other news, I received an email today telling me that the 3-in-1 USB sync cable I ordered has been shipped. I had forgotten that I ordered it... back on April 4th! MobilePlanet won't see any more of my business.

[Andy Whiteford]

Okay, I tried some movie files again last night and the performance with the v1.00.16 ROM is unchanged from before so no gain there.

For accessories, I would recommend checking out Proporta.com in the UK. They ship worldwide for a flat fee and are very quick and reliable.

[Andy Whiteford]

As an update with the v1.00.16 ROM, the issue I had with the previous ROM and the backlight resetting to 10 seconds when I had a password enabled on my device has now been rectified. I can now have a PIN on my device and not have an issue with the backlight settings. :)

[pheral]

Yes, proporta look good, although i got my metal case for cheaper on ebay. And it seems at the moment the only place you can get the crystal case is at clove.co.uk. They don't have them in yet, and i have an order sitting with them since weeks ago. Pity, but there's no-where else to get the case.
Where's the ROM update, and what exactly does it doooo? I'm uninformed, a bit. Sorry.

[Andy Whiteford]

Check out my blog in my sig for details of the ROM update. It seems to have fixed a couple of small issues I was having and nothing appears to be broken so I would recommend doing the upgrade provided you don't mind the necessary hard reset during the process.

[indiekiduk]

Here is what Andy says on his blog:

"A new ROM update v1.00.16...<snip>....does include a fix for the suspend issue some people have experienced when the device is turned off but does not power back on. This update is available from the Acer FTP site."

English version
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/handheld/n300/osimage/Acer_n300_SD_ROM_WWE_1_00_16.zip 30.3MB

Good news...if you are having trouble turning it on I suggest connecting it via usb and it should come on.

By the way the n311 is only £222 at komplett :-) http://komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=317507

[Andy Whiteford]

Okay, since the ROM update I have had the power on issue twice, the first time, it completely drained my battery. The problem is that as soon as I did the ROM update, I then applied the fake exchange server trick. I never had this issue after I applied this previously but the only different now is that I have never been able to sync with my desktop since applying the fix as it is still boxed up while I prepare the study in my new house.
Soooo, I'm guessing that this ROM update does not address the issue that the fake exchange server trick fixes which suggests it is definitely a WM5/AS4 issue and also that this fix is dependant on your syncing your device after the trick has been applied.
I will be curious to know if anyone else has had this issue after applying the fix and if so, have you synced with the desktop since applying it?

[Godsongz]

I applied the ROM update 5 days ago, but NOT the fake exchange fix. So far I haven't had the power-on issue yet.

[pheral]

thanks Andy, i'd forgotten about your blog, i need to go and bookmark it! cheers guys :D

[Andy Whiteford]

I applied the ROM update 5 days ago, but NOT the fake exchange fix. So far I haven't had the power-on issue yet.


Have you got your Acer back to how it was before i.e. the same software installed etc.? Keep me posted on how it performs as I'm still a little concerned by this issue.

[Godsongz]

There are a few pieces of software that I haven't gotten around to reinstalling... Anthelion (a game I don't have much time to play right now), Conduits Pocket Artist (awesome software that I love using, but rarely actually do), Microsoft Voice Command (which doesn't seem to play nice with WM5), Phonature's Phontuner (best guitar tuner app for the PPC, but doesn't seem to work as well on the Acer as it does on my iPaqs). Perhaps a couple of others that I can't think of, but probably nothing of consequence to this issue.

[llop]

Hi, I'm new here. First, excuse mi poor english... :(

As an update with the v1.00.16 ROM, the issue I had with the previous ROM and the backlight resetting to 10 seconds when I had a password enabled on my device has now been rectified. I can now have a PIN on my device and not have an issue with the backlight settings. :)

I updated with the v1.00.16 ROM, and I still have a problem with the backlight resetting to 10 seconds, having a password or not... Maybe because I have reinstalled all using a backup? Someone knows a solution...
8O

Thank's!!! :D

[Andy Whiteford]

Hi, I'm new here. First, excuse mi poor english... :(

As an update with the v1.00.16 ROM, the issue I had with the previous ROM and the backlight resetting to 10 seconds when I had a password enabled on my device has now been rectified. I can now have a PIN on my device and not have an issue with the backlight settings. :)

I updated with the v1.00.16 ROM, and I still have a problem with the backlight resetting to 10 seconds, having a password or not... Maybe because I have reinstalled all using a backup? Someone knows a solution...
8O

Thank's!!! :D


I have not had the 10 sec issue since trying the new ROM. I would suggest you do a hard reset and start from scratch as some things contained in your backup will most likely be different from the new ROM.

[Godsongz]

Unless Acer explicity said that restoring from a backup made prior to the ROM update was ok, I'd have to be very suspicious of doing that. I spent the extra hour to reload apps instead.

[Andy Whiteford]

Oops, I have edited my last post - I meant I had NOT had the 10 sec issue since the upgrade.

[Godsongz]

Is there something special I need to do to connect a USB 2.0 memory key to my Acer? I have an old Targus 128mb USB 1 key that works fine, but all of my bigger keys don't. At first I thought it might be a size limitation, and maybe it's a formatting problem (haven't really played that angle yet), but I did notice that all the ones that don't work are USB 2.0. Any thoughts?

[Andy Whiteford]

Is there something special I need to do to connect a USB 2.0 memory key to my Acer? I have an old Targus 128mb USB 1 key that works fine, but all of my bigger keys don't. At first I thought it might be a size limitation, and maybe it's a formatting problem (haven't really played that angle yet), but I did notice that all the ones that don't work are USB 2.0. Any thoughts?

Not sure if it is due to USB 2.0 but I would have thought it would have been like a pc that only had USB 1.0 slots - it would work but only at USB 1.0 speeds. Can you check the formatting of your USB 2.0 cards - are they FAT or FAT32? I know the newer large capacity cards need to be FAT32 but perhaps that is the limitation for USB host even though the inbuilt memory slot will read FAT 32. Just something to check.

[Godsongz]

Did some testing on that...

My 128mb Targus (USB1) works with the Acer whether it's formatted as FAT ~or~ FAT32. My 1gb Lexar (USB2) doesn't work in either format.

[Andy Whiteford]

Did some testing on that...

My 128mb Targus (USB1) works with the Acer whether it's formatted as FAT ~or~ FAT32. My 1gb Lexar (USB2) doesn't work in either format.

I don't have a host cable to try it myself. Can anyone else try this out?

[Godsongz]

I get the same results using the USB port on the back of the Acer's cradle.

[thierryb]

My usb 2.0 1 Go from Intuix works connected to the craddle. So usb 2.0 is not always a problem.

[indiekiduk]

I tried the exchange server fix and that seems to prevent the power on problem as long as you power it on every day. I left mine for a week cradled and off and now it won't power on.

[thierryb]

I tried the exchange server fix and that seems to prevent the power on problem as long as you power it on every day. I left mine for a week cradled and off and now it won't power on.
what is your rom Version?
where are your software installed, on the n311 or on a Sd?
which could wakeup your n311 and stay it on?

[Andy Whiteford]

Well, the backlight resetting back to 10 seconds issue was resolved with the newest ROM but when started using a password on my device again, the power on issue happened. This happened 3 times in total since the upgrade. I have turned off the password and it has been working fine for almost a week now. I only ever seem to have problems when I have the password enabled!

[thierryb]

I have not activated the password. So I can't give you any idea.

[Andy Whiteford]

I have not activated the password. So I can't give you any idea.

Do you currently have any issues with your n300? Are you on the latest ROM v1.00.16?

[thierryb]

I have not activated the password. So I can't give you any idea.

Do you currently have any issues with your n300? Are you on the latest ROM v1.00.16?

I have no issue.
I am on the latest rom 1.00.16 (french)

[Andy Whiteford]

I have no issue.
I am on the latest rom 1.00.16 (french)


Can you try setting a password and running with that for a couple of days? I would be interested in seeing how it performs. You could set it as a simple PIN and also to come on after 4 hours so it is not too intrusive.
If you do experience any issues, they stop as soon as you disable the password again. Mine has been working perfectly since disabling the password again.

[thierryb]

I have no issue.
I am on the latest rom 1.00.16 (french)


Can you try setting a password and running with that for a couple of days? I would be interested in seeing how it performs. You could set it as a simple PIN and also to come on after 4 hours so it is not too intrusive.
If you do experience any issues, they stop as soon as you disable the password again. Mine has been working perfectly since disabling the password again.
Done. But could you tell me what I have to check?
I have had something bizarre. I have reseted my n311 just to verify if the pin is active. But before the reset was finished the backlight turned off. And every ten seconds until I have changed the value in the backlight control panel. Now the backlight is again ok.

[Andy Whiteford]

Yes, the backlight resetting to 10 seconds was an issue. I just want to see if you have power on issues with a password active.

[thierryb]

Not yet. But it seems that wifi is less stable. I have to confirm during a longer period.

[Andy Whiteford]

Not yet. But it seems that wifi is less stable. I have to confirm during a longer period.


In what sense? Does it have problems connecting or does the connection occasionally drop out?

[thierryb]

In what sense? Does it have problems connecting or does the connection occasionally drop out?

The connection drops out occasionally.
I confirm the 10sec backlight off.
And just ten minutes ago, I was not able to turn on the n311. I needed to reset it!
So I stop the test. I think it is enough conclusive: we have to not use the password protection.

[Andy Whiteford]

In what sense? Does it have problems connecting or does the connection occasionally drop out?

The connection drops out occasionally.
I confirm the 10sec backlight off.
And just ten minutes ago, I was not able to turn on the n311. I needed to reset it!
So I stop the test. I think it is enough conclusive: we have to not use the password protection.


Great stuff, thanks for confirming that. :)
Incidentally, I had WiFi issues as well but also had it with my laptop and had just moved house. I thought it was interference so changed to a different channel number on my router and all has been fine since but that timeframe fell in about the time I tried the Acer with the password.
Either way, I haven't had any issues without the password.

[185driver]

Some new-owner thoughts on the Acer n311...

I've been watching the n311 for about 7 months now, ever since it first showed up on the PPCT front page. Every PPC model seems to be a compromise in some way whether it be a feature, price, or styling, but this Acer kept growing on me as the right device to replace my aging but venerable iPAQ 3835.

The power-on and other issues I've been reading about concerned me, but the n311 is the only unit on the market right now that meets my own personal criteria for an everyday workhorse PPC, so I took the plunge this week while transiting through Singapore on my way to the USA and bought the only shrink-wrapped n311 unit I could find at Funan Centre electronics shopping mall. The final price was USD$308 after the small GST refund at the airport.

The first thing I did was to update the dot 15 ROM image to the dot 16 version. Memory increased by 0.99 Mb in the process to 81.37/37.47 (118.84 total). After 4 days of use and final loading of my software and docs, I've not yet experienced a power-on or backlight problem, even without the fake exchange fix, so I'm hoping that good fortune continues.

My initial impressions are very much in line with the various reviews I've read. BEAUTIFUL display...simply awesome, especially compared to the H3635/H3835 images I've been used to for the past five years. Processor speed is noticeably better than my old iPAQ, but document loading times and some menu response times are noticeably slower. I imagine this is a RAM vs. ROM issue. Video performance is certainly fine at QVGA levels, which is good, but I expect higher resolution MPEGs will not be.

I've always liked the iPAQ 38** form factor, but next to this little sports car Acer, it suddenly looks very large and brick-like. Because the Acer is not a common stateside device, I'm getting a lot of ooohs and aaahs from friends who realize the price point for this kind of screen size and quality in a small, well-featured package is quite good. I wonder if this unit will last as long for me as my faithful iPAQ did.

Unfortunately, I need to find a replacement power adapter. The Singapore-purchased unit came with a three-prong mambo plug instead of the 2-pin round one I was expecting and hoping for (I would have already had an adapter for that one). I'm not sure how to proceed on that adventure yet. I wonder if Acer would swap a power adapter with me? It was a nice surprise to find out that the unit will charge via USB in the cradle without AC power. My iPAQ certainly didn't do that.

I'm very pleased thus far with my new n311. It certainly isn't the PPC for everyone, but it's meeting my expectations pretty well and I think it's a fantastic device for the money.

[Andy Whiteford]

Great to hear - I'm sure the Acer will do you fine. Its not perfect but really is a great choice and I'm very satisfied with it as my main PDA.

[Quaider]

Has the Acer n300 series been discontinued?
According to a few internet based stores here in Sweden the units are no longer in production.

Anyone with more information about this? Can we expect to see a new device from Acer anytime soon? A smartphone perhaps?

[Godsongz]

That can't be right, it's a brand new line!?!

[Andy Whiteford]

There is a new GPS based PDA in the pipeline from Acer but afaik, the n300 series is still a current model and not discontinued.

[xrijkee]

Hy,

I am planning to buy a acer n310 and would like to know if any of you know about the compatibility of the processor. For quite a few (graphical) software toys I see a requirement of a requirement for a ARM or X-Scale processor... does that mean that it won't work on the acer, might not work of the acer or will it work just fine?

with kind regards,

Xander

[Andy Whiteford]

Hy,

I am planning to buy a acer n310 and would like to know if any of you know about the compatibility of the processor. For quite a few (graphical) software toys I see a requirement of a requirement for a ARM or X-Scale processor... does that mean that it won't work on the acer, might not work of the acer or will it work just fine?

with kind regards,

Xander

The Acer uses an ARM processor made by Samsung. All modern Pocket PC devices use an ARM core processor to meet their requirements. You will be safe in the knowledge that your n310 will be fully compliant.

[Joelacrane]

Ive been looking at getting one of these. I live in America, and i have an extremely limited budget. Can someone point me to somewhere where i can buy one?

[Andy Whiteford]

What is your budget? I would suggest checking out Ebay.co.uk or Clove.co.uk who will ship to the US.

[Joelacrane]

Well, i was looking at an iPaq rx1955 for $200 dollars on eBay USA, thats what got me looking in the first place. I couldnt spend more than 300 dollars, and even that would be pushing my budget pretty hard.

[Andy Whiteford]

Not sure how well that fits in with your budget but it is a great device provided you are not after top performing multimedia. Those links I provided are the best bet for you in getting one shipped to the US.

[Prevost]

Ive been looking at getting one of these. I live in America, and i have an extremely limited budget. Can someone point me to somewhere where i can buy one?
http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=130213

[ppcinfo]

I checked mobileplanet.com and their price for an Acer n311 is $485.00 US (which is quite steep in my opinion).

Does anyone know if this is the best price for the US, or is there somewhere else that might be cheaper? I've performed a few google searches but haven't found much.

Thanks,

ppcinfo

[Godsongz]

Interesting how this only seems to crop up when I'm away from all my normal resources... but...

I'm on vacation in Maine right now, at beautiful Embden Pond, and it really is gorgeous here. I'm sitting with my tablet PC at a picnic table in the shade of huge trees overlooking the water stretching out for a couple of miles to the north of me. I'm tapped into somebody's wireless Internet connection, no idea who as its a default out-of-the-box Netgear and totally unsecured. Handy though, since I needed to get in here and ask about my Acer.

I'm having power-on problems with my n311 again. Last night I went to use it at bedtime to read my ebook and I couldn't get anything out of it. I popped the battery out and back in, still nothing. I repeated the procedure and this time it powered up right away with a full charge on the battery. That was odd as the previous times it's done this to me there has always been a certain amount of battery drain. Anyway, I read for maybe 10 minutes before my eyes started closing (LONG travel day yesterday) and I shut it off and went to sleep. This morning again it won't power on. I've popped and re-seated the battery half a dozen times, tried plugging it into the USB port on my tablet for a charge, popped the battery a couple more times, nada, zip, nothing.

So now my n311 is a brick. Any ideas out there?

[Joelacrane]

Do you have the latest ROM? Idk, try every combination of battery, AC, and soft reset you can think of... Call Acer tech support. I'm sure you've tried all of that though.

Wow... a tablet PC. Lucky you. Those are really sweet. Have a good vacation!

[Godsongz]

I forget which ROM it has now, but I did update it a couple of months ago. Has there been another? I can't even get it to a state right now where I could flash it though. Oh well, good thing all my ebooks are also on the tablet :)

[damasko]

i had the same problem as Godsongz with my n310.
help! i'm very sad :(

Godsongz: i sent you a pm.

[Godsongz]

I had said that the battery didn't appear to be drained when I did get it working the first time, but that was because SPB Pocket Plus's battery bar across the top of my screen was full all the way across. I remember now that SPBPP often show what the battery was at the LAST time it was powered on, and then adjusts it's display a few moments later when it takes a new reading. Perhaps I saw it full and it readjusted without my noticing. Then if it went into the normal power drain again the second time the problem occured, I might just have a completely dead battery.

So my question is now this... id it possible for the battery to be so dead that the n311 won't even come alive enough to charge it? I'm wondering if I put the battery into the spare slot on the cradle and let it charge there and then put it back into the PDA... ok, it's a long shot I know, and my cradle is 300 miles away from me. I'll try that when I get home on Sunday.

[damasko]

yesterday i went home and i tried another time replacing battery and..it worked!
it powered up as from soft reset.
i don't know what to think about 8O
but i'm happy :D

[TVTina]

Mine has been doing this silly (lock-up) trick since I had it. I thought it was related to having an SD card installed but it makes no difference. I'm loathe to return it for repair because I don't believe anyone at Acer has any clue what's wrong with it. It is driving me nuts though!! Does anyone know what is the real cause of the problem? :cry:

[Godsongz]

As I suspected, the battery was completely drained. So much so that it would not even accept a charge when connected with the 3-way USB charge/sync cable, but as soon as I got home and dropped the n311 into it's cradle it woke right up. I'm typing this message on it right now in fact.

This power on/battery drain problem sure is a PITA though, and it always seems to hit me just when I'm least prepared to deal with it.

[Godsongz]

Bad news and Good news...


Bad news: I dropped my naked n311 about 4 feet to a hard tile floor. I actually knocked it off a counter so I guess it wasn't a straight-down-drop. When it hit the floor with a stomach-churning slap it actually bounced a little. The battery cover flew off and landed a couple of feet away, and the battery itself another couple of feet in the other direction.

Good news: It survived with flying colors! After putting it back together again it powered right up, looking like I'd just done a soft-reset (I do NOT recommend resetting your PPC this way!) and even under close examination I cannot find the impact point. There isn't a mark on this thing.

Whew :oops:

[Andy Whiteford]

I have written a review of the official Acer Flip-Top leather case for the n300 series over on my blog. Feel free to ask any questions in this thread.

http://www.donka.co.uk

[Jens Westergren]

Has the Acer n300 series been discontinued?
According to a few internet based stores here in Sweden the units are no longer in production.

Anyone with more information about this? Can we expect to see a new device from Acer anytime soon? A smartphone perhaps?

This is exactly the same information, that I recieved. So I contacted Acer Sweden and got the reply that because of personell shortage, Acer Sweden has decided to drop the Handheld division for now. They recomended itbutikken.dk, where I ordered it. I had to wait for quite a while, then they suddenly shipped it weeks before they were supposed to... and I love it! now I just have to find a place to buy the flip lock cover...

[Jens Westergren]

Great review of the Acer Flip-Top leather case! Any info on where I can order one? Preferably EU country.
Thanks

[Jens Westergren]

Where can I find out if n311 supports AD2P for bluetooth streaming of music? I checked the Acer site and I didn´t find any rom updates? A dutch site: (currently down) http://www.robertwebbe.nl/A2DP.html
said that WM 5 supports AD2P if rom version xxx is installed...

[Andy Whiteford]

Where can I find out if n311 supports AD2P for bluetooth streaming of music? I checked the Acer site and I didn´t find any rom updates? A dutch site: (currently down) http://www.robertwebbe.nl/A2DP.html
said that WM 5 supports AD2P if rom version xxx is installed...

Yes the Acer n300 series supports this - it is called 'High Quality Audio Setup' under Bluetooth Manager.

[Andy Whiteford]

Great review of the Acer Flip-Top leather case! Any info on where I can order one? Preferably EU country.
Thanks


This is where I ordered from:

http://odenwald-pc.covadis.de/Home/mode=article/art_nr=A_1280945


and English translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fodenwald-pc.covadis.de%2FHome%2Fmode%3Darticle%2Fart_nr%3DA_1280945&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

You can also pay by PayPal using this site and they were very helpful.

[llop]

Hi!
I'm here again. I don't know if you have discused about this before, but, there are a good wifi connection scanner software for our n311?
Hitchhiker creates net fakes, PocketWinc do not work in WM5, Wifi companion don't support ACER...
What is the better software for this in our Acer?

(And excuse my poor english one more time :oops: )

[Jens Westergren]

Yes the Acer n300 series supports this - it is called 'High Quality Audio Setup' under Bluetooth Manager.
I can´t seem to find this... All I find is Audio Gateway
under Bluetooth Settings/Services/Audio Gateway
Could this be because of an older ROM version?

What ROM do you run?
I have:
OS version: v5.01
ROM revision date: 20060413
ROM version: v1.00.16
Firmware version: v2.6
Bootloader version: v1.16

If I have an outdated ROM version, where do I find an upgrade?

I´m hoping to get it to work with something like this:
http://odenwald-pc.covadis.de/Home/mode=article/art_nr=A_1214434
or perhaps a similar from nokia.
The idea is to listen to music from the n311, and to automatically answer a call from my (soon to be) Nokia 5500. Do you think this will work?
By the way, I just ordered the case! Thanks!


Thanks in advance

[Andy Whiteford]

You need to open up Bluetooth Manager from the bluetooth icon at the bottom of the Today screen and select New. From this you will be able to select the 'High Quality Audio Setup' and follow the wizard.
I'm not sure about how you plan to use your phone although I don't see how this wouldn't work although you would be using two different Bluetooth services. They should coexist however but like I said I have never tried this myself.

[Jens Westergren]

Hello, I followed your instructions and a whole new world opened up! I´d never found my way into that meny before...Perhaps I should consult the CD manual a bit more often...
Anyway, I found the settings without problem, now I just have to find a nice bluetooth headset with an intergrated mic.

Thanks!

[chajtek]

Hi. I've got two things:
POWER ISSUE:
before shutdown for a long time try to close all programs it helps.

My trouble:
I can't use WLAN util (form trayicon)- acer hangs when starting it.
Hopefully i can switch WiFi on and off and Wireless Manager, Wifi Settings works.
I made Hard reset but this didn't fix the problem

[Shmanky]

Why does Mobileplanet.com say the product is discontinued?

http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=132729 (Acer n311)
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=130213 (Acer n310)

[Godsongz]

Well, that was a shoft lifespan. I'll probably still be using my n311 for another year or two anyway. It's still a great little unit. I guess this means that a future upgrade to WM6 is now completely out of the question :(

[Godsongz]

Well, that was a shoft lifespan. I'll probably still be using my n311 for another year or two anyway. It's still a great little unit. I guess this means that a future upgrade to WM6 is now completely out of the question :(

[Godsongz]

No activity in this thread for over 3 months? Wow, so, have all the n300 users moved on to other devices already? I've still got mine and use it daily and at least for the short term I have no intention of moving to another device. How about you?

[Shmanky]

No activity in this thread for over 3 months? Wow, so, have all the n300 users moved on to other devices already? I've still got mine and use it daily and at least for the short term I have no intention of moving to another device. How about you?

I bought the Acer n311 from http://www.clove.co.uk/ in January 2007 and they shipped it from the UK to Canada. I must say I am not enjoying the n311 as much as I enjoyed my iPaq 4150. The display on the n311 is very sluggish, like the start menu takes a while to draw, and then when you select an item it doesn't disappear right away it goes white and lags. And I get graphical artifacts on the screen if I use TCPMP and my mp3 playback cuts out if I'm doing something processor intensive like running a heavy app and while the n311 looks very stylish, it doesn't feel as nice in the hand because of the edges on the back--on the iPaq 4150 the edges around the back were sloped, or curved. This had two effects: it made the 4150 look slimmer than the n311, and it felt very comfortable in the hand.

So, I guess the n311 does all the things I wanted it for, but I'm not so thrilled with it. The four hardware buttons (today, calendar, contact, mail) feel like cheap plastic. The rest of the device feels fine. The external speaker only plays one channel--why aren't they combined to play both channels as mono at least? The device sometimes refuses to turn on, as I've read elsewhere, which is remedied by removing and reinserting the battery.

My only positive thing to say about it is that I haven't seen any bad pixels on it, the display is bright and clear, and web pages look fantastic on it at VGA resolution compared with QVGA devices.

[Jens Westergren]

Still using mine too. Only for basic things like calender...
Does anyone have suggestions for free a software to convert DVDs to a format playable on the n311? I´m thinking of buying a Nokia HS-12W bluetooth stereo headset, but I´m hesitant beacuse I´ve heard that it´s not certain that the combination of N311/Nokia 5500 phone/ HS-12W headset will work perfectly.
If I manually have to restart the music after taking a call I won´t bother..

/JEns

[185driver]

I still enjoy my n311 very much and use it heavily most of the time.

Shmanky has observed in his n311 what I too have observed (screen response delays, etc.), and the total freeze ups that happen from time to time are indeed a pain.

An n311 with better VGA motion graphics performance and an auto-adjusting backlight feature would put this unit over the top for me, but it's still fits my needs very well as is.

Has anyone else tried the new ROM update that came out last week (1.00.22 AKU3.5)? If it really fixes the need to pop the battery out from time to time, that would be fantastic...though I'm not looking forward to reinstalling all my apps again. I'm both surprised and pleased that Acer hasn't abandoned this model just yet. Kudos to them for that.

[Andy Whiteford]

I'm still using my n311 and loving it although I do wish it had a bit more grunt. I still haven't installed the 1.00.22 ROM yet although I think I may end up doing that tonight - I just hated the idea of having to reinstall everything but I think it is time for a clean out now.

[185driver]

I installed ROM v.1.00.22 last weekend. The process was smooth and surprisingly fast (to me). Other than a nifty new green WM splash screen, I have not noticed any new features yet. OS speed appears to be identical as before. As for stability, it is too early to tell, but I've not had any weirdness happening with touch screen alignment yet (as before), nor has the device frozen...except for one BIG problem.

It took several hours to reinstall all my apps and get the settings back the way I like them. During that time and in the 24 hours following I used both BT and Wi-Fi on several occasions. All was well.

Then I realized I had forgotten to reinstall Skype Beta, which had been running great on my device prior to the ROM install. Immediately, Wi-Fi quit working. Just tapping on the Wi-Fi icon and selecting "Turn Wi-Fi On" freezes the device on the spot and requires a soft reset to recover. The only troubleshooting I know to do involves looking at the Wi-Fi utility after reboot with Wi-Fi off, and it says "Driver Not Installed". So they appear to not be playing nice with each other.

I removed Skype from the device, but no joy. The Wi-Fi problem remains. I did a full backup, hard reset the device, and Wi-Fi works perfectly again. Restoring from the backup also restores the freeze up problem. So....I'm using the device without Wi-Fi for now. I won't have time to hard reset and reinstall everything again for some time.

As always, you're mileage my vary, but that's a quick run down on my experience with the new ROM image.

[Andy Whiteford]

I put 1.00.22 on last night and have only had a quick play with it. Not used WiFi yet but apart from the obvious exchange push support indicated by the new green splash screen, we now have a new battery icon on the top bar that shows 4 bars instead of the split two sections before which gives this indicator double the precision it had before. Also, WMP now stretches undersized video to full screen under full screen playback - it never did this with 1.00.16 even though 'scale to screen' option was enabled. This is welcome as it was a bug for me previously. Not had much time to play around with it but I will keep you posted.

[Andy Whiteford]

Well I am annoyed it took me this long to find this out but TCPMP and Divx playback is actually pretty decent on the n311. After the latest ROM update, I hadn't intended to put TCPMP back on my n311 as I never really used it as everything I encode for the PDA is normally to WMV format. I figure I would test out 2 files with similar bitrates etc. but one to WMV and one to AVI (Divx). TCPMP is obviously optimised more towards the latter format because full screen playback of the AVI was visually very smooth whereas the WMV was noticeably jerky. I benchmarked both files and the WMV had way more dropped frames and generally ran at a much lower frame rate. The AVI did have some dropped frames but they weren't visually noticeable during playback.
From now on, I will stick to encoded in DivX or possibly XviD for the n311. It makes video playback on the Acer a much more palatable experience.

[Andy Whiteford]

Update:

I have been running this new 1.00.22 ROM for two weeks now without a single issue. I have put all my software on apart from SPB Weather as I wasn't convinced about it trying to auto update and its potential to make a device 'hang'. I also haven't bothered with the fake exchange server trick and so far not the slightest problem.
I have noticed there is a new 1.00.23 ROM available for a couple of days now with some minor changes so I will update that tonight once I have backed up all my settings.

[teabag]

Exactly my experience. No problems at all in nearly a month and a huge leap forward from the older releases.
Thanks for pointing out the latest version, I will upgrade again when I get round to backing up.

[Andy Whiteford]

v1.00.24 is now out:

ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/handheld/n300/osimage/


Let me know if you try this out. I'm skipping this one for the time being at least since I have only just rebuilt my Acer.

[solarbus]

Wow ... I just bought a N311 and have had such problems... no return form Hard reset ( till i waited a few hours) but was amazing to read you lot crash testing this thing ( i read the whole lot from the 1st mention of the thing ).
Im on ROM 16 so i guess i should upgrade to ROM 24 ??
Methinks the hardware is a bit terminal though ; can't wait till I can afford to dump Microsoft forever but in the meantime live n learn. Once again thanks guys.. your info put my mind at rest ( it wasn't my fault yippeee !! )

Zilog Z80 still rules

[185driver]

Solarbus, you should find the latest ROM (x.24) to be quite helpful, though I myself did find the x.16 ROM to be satisfactory too, for almost a year. The n311 is a nifty device for the money. They've packed a lot of features under that diminutive hood. :-)

[Andy Whiteford]

Definitely upgrade from 1.00.16. 1.00.17 was a big improvement on 16 and the later releases just refine that.

[AKNews]

Hi, just wanted to share.
I was trying very hard to find information about the new N321, but couldn’t. Now I have bought it.
As far as I can tell it is identical to N311. And as N311 it does not want to switch on sometimes – had first incident just after 4 days of purchase. Now pretty much undecided whether to keep it or return it.
OS Version:5.01
Rom Version:1.00.24
Firmware Version:2.6
Bootloader Version:1.24
Outlook 2002 is not included anymore.

[Andy Whiteford]

The N321 and N311 are identical - the N321 changed its model assignment after AKU3.5 with push email support brought about by ROM 1.00.22 I believe.
As for the device not powering on, I think I have finally nailed down the issue and it is a WM5 issue. I am on ROM 1.00.23 and had a fairly clean set up but managed to get the device to not power up one time during the day - the last thing I remember doing was creating a new appointment in Calendar with a reminder. As soon as I hit OK I powered off the device. About an hour later I tried to power it on and no response so I had to remove the battery and then power it on again. Now when I set a new Calendar item with a reminder, I always leave the device to power off itself. I think the issue lies with setting up a notification event for the reminder and powering it off too quickly does not give enough time for this notification to be written to flash rom on WM5 devices - not an issue for WM2003SE and earlier units. The only other time the device shows this behaviour is in the morning when my alarm occasionally never went off and I had to remove the battery to power it on. As soon as I did that, SPB backup kicked off which was scheduled for 1am so I know the device encountered this issue before 1am - I'm guessing at midnight when it wakes up to schedule up coming events and notifications. I have since changed my power off options to turn the device off automatically after 3 mins instead of 1 min and also set up my backup to only backup in the early hours of Saturday morning instead of every night. I have never experienced this issue since.
Just as an FYI, if I set up an appointment without a reminder, I don't get this issue but regardless, it seems to be the time it takes to write this notification to flash rom from what I can see.

[Godsongz]

I just got around to upgrading my rom from the .16 to the .24 and I've got an odd issue here. Now, activesync seems to be giving my n311 an IP address of 192.168.55.101 (which it gives to pre-WM5 devices) instead of 169.254.2.1 (which it's supposed to give to WM5 devices). Did something in this update fool Activesync into thinking I'm not running WM5?

[Andy Whiteford]

I'm running .23 so can't comment on this. I wouldn't worry about it either way to be honest, provided you can connect and sync ok.

[Godsongz]

Yes, I'm syncing fine, but SOTI's Pocket Controller (one of my must-have apps) expects to see the IP 169.254.2.1 and fails. The same thing is happening with ActiveSync on my work PC this morning too. I even upgraded AS to 4.5 (from 4.1) on my work PC just now, but no change.

It's got to be something with the .24 rom, but I'd hate to have to backpedal to an earlier rom version though. I spent about 4 hours last night flashing the rom, reinstalling all my apps, and tweaking settings.

EDIT: I found the problem. With the new rom, probably with the new AKU, I had to check the "Enable advanced network functionality" checkbox in the newly added Start / Settings / Connections / USB to PC applet

[Andy Whiteford]

EDIT: I found the problem. With the new rom, probably with the new AKU, I had to check the "Enable advanced network functionality" checkbox in the newly added Start / Settings / Connections / USB to PC applet


Good find, thanks for sharing. Is it all working fine for you now?

[Godsongz]

Good find, thanks for sharing. Is it all working fine for you now?

Yes sir, working just fine. Better in fact, I think, than the .16 rom. I probably should have upgraded the rom earlier than this.

[AcerLex]

I've learned a lot from this forum. Thanks to all of you. A couple of questions about the Acer support downloads at their ftp site. I've learned from this forum the benefits of updating the ROM. But I notice that Acer offers a couple of driver downloads too, at this URL:

ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/handheld/n300/driver/

Have any of you used either of the files listed there?

[Andy Whiteford]

Not sure what the Polish file is but the 60k file is the USB driver so the n300 is recognised with Active Sync.

[AcerLex]

Thank you Andy!

[teabag]

Has anybody tried an SD card larger than 2Gb on an ACER N311? I'm running out of music / Tomtom map space!!

[Andy Whiteford]

Has anybody tried an SD card larger than 2Gb on an ACER N311? I'm running out of music / Tomtom map space!!


I use an Adata MyFlash Turbo 4GB SD card. Works great.

[185driver]

Has anybody tried an SD card larger than 2Gb on an ACER N311? I'm running out of music / Tomtom map space!!

The Transcend 150x 4GB SD card works too. That's what I'm using.

[denotkine]

I have bought myself an acer n311 [ROM version 1.00.24] about a month ago, and I have a few questions:

1 - on my old ipaq h3650, as wall as on my ViewSonic V35, I installed windows media player 7.1, I had the option to map all the hardware buttons during background play. That means the hardware buttons were controlling the media player, even if I had another program open on top of it. Is where such an option for windows media player 10, or do you know any other player that would have such an option?
Note: After finally installing the windows media player 7.1 on the acer, the program failed to run [shuts down before even loading the graphics; all I see is the program name in the upper bar for a few seconds]

2 - As I read in this forum, you mentioned something about the device having it's own IP when connected to a desktop computer; how do I discover it's IP, and is there a way to browse the desktop computer (file explorer -> open path -> \\192.168.x.x\ )?

3 - my device does not see my 4gb SD HC card. Are there any fixed so it would become visible?

4 - I tried to connect a portable plug-and-play keyboard to the n311 via the USB port, but it wasn't recognizable. Do I need to download any software/drivers for this to work? if so, where can I find them? Note: I was able to connect a bluetooth keyboard without any problems.

Thank you,

Ilia Denotkine

[denotkine]

sorry, forgot to mention: the 4gb SD card is SanDisk.

[jseet]

I updated by ROM from .16 to .24 a few days ago. I was having to soft reset my device at least once per day (hangs), so that made the decision to update a lot easier ...

The update went smoothly. At first, I tried restoring a backup (SKTools), just to see if it would work. Most of the programs did work. But some system functions no longer worked -- Activesync couldn't connect, no sounds, wireless and bluetooth both could not turn on.

After (painfully) re-installing all my programs, I find it a lot more stable. No hang-ups so far. The only change I made was a remapping of COM ports for Franson GPSGate. The USB serial port for ActiveSync is now COM5.

[solarbus]

Cheers 185 driver. I did the upgrade and my acer is ace. Does what I wanted. No more power issues.

[nour]

Hi Dears:

could anyone please send me the last ROM file of N300 (1.00.24)? or alink to it, because it's no longer available on acer FTP site.

your help is highly appreciated.

regards

[The Entertainment King]

I have V24 but I am still having the Power issue, having to remove and refit battery to get it to work...

Thinking I have no option but to return to acer to have them look at it.
Any advice appreciate before I take that step?

TEK

[teabag]

Do you have any third party software installed? I have SPB pocket plus and weather and until I sorted out some of the settings for these, I also had power on/off issues (e.g. disable auto updates on weather and ensure that poutlook.exe, tmail.exe, cprog.exe and instmsgr.exe are included in the list of exceptions to the close button rule in Pocket Plus).

[The Entertainment King]

Only thing I have installed onto it is DVD Profiler. Dont think it has any checks similar to what you mentioned.
ALSO
It has did this from the first week of getting it and a lot of others seem to have the same problem.

[teabag]

In that case you have to try Acer. It will be interestig to see their response.
I had the problems with power on/off originally when I got mine a year and a half ago. I gradually over the months followed all the instructions in this thread and all the various ROM upgrades and now I very rarely get the problem. If yours has been doing it from the outset with a clean install of the latest ROM then I guess it is warranty time.

[The Entertainment King]

Yes, that is what I have came to think also. Just not really wanting to send it off.......

Will update with what happens.

Thanks for the advice anyway.

[pawi]

Hi there,

I got my n300 a month ago from eBay, the device was bought in dez. 2006. I have the before mentioned power-issues and really need to upgrade.

Unfortunately I cannot find the 1.00.24 file anywhere. Not on the Acer FTP, not with google.

Does anyone still have the file and can make it accessible in some way? I need the upgrade...

Many thanks in advance

cheers, pawi

[The Entertainment King]

Just a quick update.
Decided not to return it to acer and I am 'monitoring' what is happening with it.
Over the past 5 days it seems to be working without a problem.
Fingers crossed it continues.....

TEK

[Joy Division]

Does anyone still have the file and can make it accessible in some way? I need the upgrade...
cheers, pawi

Hi,

I was looking for it myself, and fortunately I still knew the name of the original file. I've found it on http://muj.edisk.cz/stahnout-soubor/07541/Acer_n300_SD_ROM_WWE_1_00_24.zip_29.46MB.html

It's not an Acer site. In fact I don't speak Czech at all, the site looks similar to a rapidshare service. I do not know if that file has been tampered with or not, I didn't install it myself yet. :( I'm at 1.00.23 currently.

(to be honest, I'm not quite adventurous and I'm waiting for someone else to install it and tell me that it works just fine :wink: )

Greetings,

JD

[pawi]

hi there,

@JD: Well, I had no other option but to try it out. And YES, the file is OK! I've upgraded from 1.00.16 to 1.00.24 with no probs at all.

Ah, now the device is working smooth as it should. Thanks for posting...

greetz

pawi

[denotkine]

I'm sorry to bother, but I have no clue whom to ask.

I had my n311 for about 6 month, but it was bought on ebay (purchased about 2 years ago).

It worked fine until about a week. Since then, it started freezing for no apparent reason (sometimes- in the today screen, with no applications running), as well as it sometimes refuses to turn on.

I tried a hard reset (version 1.00.24), but the problem persists.

I tried contacting Acer's tech support, only to find out their canadian offices are closed on the holidays (i'll contact them asap).

Unfortunately, on their canadian site, acer have no support for PDA, since they were never on sale in the Americas.

Does anyone know what might be the problem or who to turn to?

I thank anyone who has any information.

Ilia

[The Entertainment King]

I'm sorry to bother, but I have no clue whom to ask.

I had my n311 for about 6 month, but it was bought on ebay (purchased about 2 years ago).

It worked fine until about a week. Since then, it started freezing for no apparent reason (sometimes- in the today screen, with no applications running), as well as it sometimes refuses to turn on.

I tried a hard reset (version 1.00.24), but the problem persists.

I tried contacting Acer's tech support, only to find out their canadian offices are closed on the holidays (i'll contact them asap).

Unfortunately, on their canadian site, acer have no support for PDA, since they were never on sale in the Americas.

Does anyone know what might be the problem or who to turn to?

I thank anyone who has any information.

Ilia

Hi and sorry to hear your having probs. I dont have any advise I can offer but I can assure you that this is a common problem with these PDAs. I bought one new, and had the issues you mention within the 1st month. I have tried loads of things to sort it to no avail.
Hope you have better luck.

PS, let me know if you do find a solution PLZ

TEK

[denotkine]

PS, let me know if you do find a solution PLZ

TEK


Incredible!

I just called Acer's Canadian department (I live in Montreal).
Besides not knowing what a pocket pc is (the n300 series was never on sale in the Americas, so I acknowledge that), the only answer I was able to obtain (even after mentioning that I have an International warranty) is to go on the www.aopen.com, since, according to acer, they are the manufacturers.

On that site, I found no mention of anything that looked like a pocket pc, and I don't want to waste money calling to Taiwan just to find out that they know nothing.

Anyone has any clues what to do?

Thanks

[denotkine]

hi again,

I haven't yet tried it, but i'm asking if anyone did:

once the n311 starts freezing without any apparent reason, did anyone try changing the battery?
Is it possible that the problem is with the battery, and not with the device itself?

thanks.

[juerg]

Dear all

I am desperately looking around for a ROM v16 (english). I found chinese and french, but no english version yet.

Has anybody laying around a ROMv16, or where can I download it. ACER's directories are clean like a swiss road, nothing about ROMs anymore.

Thanks for any help
Regards
Juerg

[AronVanAmmers]

A fellow in this dutch thread about the n300 (http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/29477660#29477660) has been nice enough to make the Dutch and English versions 16 and 24 (http://agentsmith.mine.nu/n300/) available online.