hx4700 wm5 upgrade

[tnelson2000]

I thought I read that the WM5 upgrade for the hx4700/hx4705 was going to be available to purchase today. Anyone have any news?

[redleg]

I just checked the HP website and nothing doin. I was pretty pumped as well about finally getting that WM5 goodness going but it seems like I'll have to wait a little longer...

[stainlesssteele]

There are keyboard drivers for the mobile 5.0 version of the 4700. But, no Mobile 5.0.

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/HandheldiPAQ/us/locate/1129_6089.html

[Wiggster]

Still no sign of the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmisc/vac/us/en/sm/pocketpc/MS5.0_upgrade.html) for us hx4700 users. Oh well, I guess I can wait 'til next payday.

[Menneisyys]

Some days ago, HP has silently modified the release date to 'sometimes in March'.

[tnelson2000]

"Some days ago, HP has silently modified the release date to 'sometimes in March'."

Did you note what year?? :wink:

[Frootloop]

if its as great as the hx24** wm5.0 upgrade, i would leave it alone! :wink:

[Brutalba]

To make my comments short, I hate HP :evil: . we bought hx4700 to enjoy the best pocket pc on the market. But HP is killing the image of hx4700. I remember last summer they promised the new wm5. THen they moved it to winter, and again they postponed it. This is ridiculous! hx4700 suppose to be the best pocket pc in the market, but hp is killing its own creation. Never trust HP again.

[lesterm]

To make my comments short, I hate HP :evil: . we bought hx4700 to enjoy the best pocket pc on the market. But HP is killing the image of hx4700. I remember last summer they promised the new wm5. THen they moved it to winter, and again they postponed it. This is ridiculous! hx4700 suppose to be the best pocket pc in the market, but hp is killing its own creation. Never trust HP again.

I sort of agree, but sort of don't... I don't mean to start something bad, but I think it's a valid point - does ANYONE agree with me?! Here goes...

I bought my hx a year and a few months ago. I bought it because what it could do then - at the time I bought it. At that time, I don't remember much thought of WM5 and it wasn't at the top of my, or I suspect many peoples list.

When WM5 details came out, it seemed as though the hx was designed for WM5 (memory config) and when it was announced it would get the upgrade, I was chuffed at this 'bonus'. I didn't feel that I deserved this upgrade - it was just a nice bonus [1].

I think maybe HP deserves some kudos for not rushing out a dodgy upgrade just to be first - we all know what happens then. That wouldn't be very professional.

I recently bought a O2 mini S (Wizard) and I'm very chuffed with it. But the hx is something special and in my humble opinion it IS the best out there - dodgy WM5 upgrade or not.

I'm still looking forward to the WM5 upgrade though - I'm just a sad gadget freak that can't resist stuff like this!

Sorry if my thoughts seem arguementitive and extreme - they're not meant to be, just another point of view to discuss!

Lesterm

[1] actually - if you bought it a few months ago, you would have been promised the upgrade - I understand your pov. I'm wrong..!

EDIT! Sorry - forgot my main points:

1) HP aren't killing their reputation - we are (I know - that doesn't stand up, but you know what I mean)
2) They've already said they're gonna ditch the non-converged device anyway

[Brutalba]

To make my comments short, I hate HP :evil: . we bought hx4700 to enjoy the best pocket pc on the market. But HP is killing the image of hx4700. I remember last summer they promised the new wm5. THen they moved it to winter, and again they postponed it. This is ridiculous! hx4700 suppose to be the best pocket pc in the market, but hp is killing its own creation. Never trust HP again.

I sort of agree, but sort of don't... I don't mean to start something bad, but I think it's a valid point - does ANYONE agree with me?! Here goes...

I bought my hx a year and a few months ago. I bought it because what it could do then - at the time I bought it. At that time, I don't remember much thought of WM5 and it wasn't at the top of my, or I suspect many peoples list.

When WM5 details came out, it seemed as though the hx was designed for WM5 (memory config) and when it was announced it would get the upgrade, I was chuffed at this 'bonus'. I didn't feel that I deserved this upgrade - it was just a nice bonus [1].

I think maybe HP deserves some kudos for not rushing out a dodgy upgrade just to be first - we all know what happens then. That wouldn't be very professional.

I recently bought a O2 mini S (Wizard) and I'm very chuffed with it. But the hx is something special and in my humble opinion it IS the best out there - dodgy WM5 upgrade or not.

I'm still looking forward to the WM5 upgrade though - I'm just a sad gadget freak that can't resist stuff like this!

Sorry if my thoughts seem arguementitive and extreme - they're not meant to be, just another point of view to discuss!

Lesterm

[1] actually - if you bought it a few months ago, you would have been promised the upgrade - I understand your pov. I'm wrong..!

EDIT! Sorry - forgot my main points:

1) HP aren't killing their reputation - we are (I know - that doesn't stand up, but you know what I mean)
2) They've already said they're gonna ditch the non-converged device anyway
hey. I also considering to purschase o2 mini or atom(not quite sure). I would like to ask you, is there anything in hx4700 that o2 can't do or missing(except he the big screen). THanks
Bat

[lesterm]

hey. I also considering to purschase o2 mini or atom(not quite sure). I would like to ask you, is there anything in hx4700 that o2 can't do or missing(except he the big screen). THanks
Bat

I've only had the O2 mini S a few days but I really love it. Functionally, there's nothing I've found I can't do on the mini that I could on the hx.

The biggest thing I miss is obviously the hx screen. People say that a 2.8" screen doesn't need VGA - it's far blockier than the 4" VGA hx. No comparison. Obviously I guess.

But - it really (really - honestly) doesn't bother me. I use a few spreadsheets, for example, and was worried that with a small screen they'd be really difficult to use. But I needn't have worried...

The keyboard, together with WM5 (which I think is great) make pocket excel a joy to use - even with the smalll screen.

To sum up - I'm happy to trade the beautiful hx screen for the keyboard and only having to carry one, small device around.

The hx and mini in my eyes are very different things though - and in my opinion both fantastic devices.

Hope this helps - I'm probably still in the honeymoon period, but really do think the mini is great.

Lesterm

[lesterm]

hey. I also considering to purschase o2 mini or atom(not quite sure). I would like to ask you, is there anything in hx4700 that o2 can't do or missing(except he the big screen). THanks
Bat

I've only had the O2 mini S a few days but I really love it. Functionally, there's nothing I've found I can't do on the mini that I could on the hx.

The biggest thing I miss is obviously the hx screen. People say that a 2.8" screen doesn't need VGA - it's far blockier than the 4" VGA hx. No comparison. Obviously I guess.

But - it really (really - honestly) doesn't bother me. I use a few spreadsheets, for example, and was worried that with a small screen they'd be really difficult to use. But I needn't have worried...

The keyboard, together with WM5 (which I think is great) make pocket excel a joy to use - even with the smalll screen.

To sum up - I'm happy to trade the beautiful hx screen for the keyboard and only having to carry one, small device around.

The hx and mini in my eyes are very different things though - and in my opinion both fantastic devices.

Hope this helps - I'm probably still in the honeymoon period, but really do think the mini is great.

Lesterm

[lesterm]

I've only had the O2 mini S a few days but I really love it. Functionally, there's nothing I've found I can't do on the mini that I could on the hx.

The biggest thing I miss is obviously the hx screen. People say that a 2.8" screen doesn't need VGA - it's far blockier than the 4" VGA hx. No comparison. Obviously I guess.

But - it really (really - honestly) doesn't bother me. I use a few spreadsheets, for example, and was worried that with a small screen they'd be really difficult to use. But I needn't have worried...

The keyboard, together with WM5 (which I think is great) make pocket excel a joy to use - even with the smalll screen.

To sum up - I'm happy to trade the beautiful hx screen for the keyboard and only having to carry one, small device around.

The hx and mini in my eyes are very different things though - and in my opinion both fantastic devices.

Hope this helps - I'm probably still in the honeymoon period, but really do think the mini is great.

Sorry - getting OT I guess. Still looking forward to WM5 for the hx though!

Lesterm

[Brutalba]

THanks alot lerterm. your posts are very helpful. the last question which i forgot to ask last night is, do you find the cpu speed slow. Because mini has 200mhz and hx has 600+ mhz. Its kind of big step backwards.

Before getting hx I had h5455. then i got hx4700 and it was superfast compare to h5455. with hx4700 i did not have any problems at all/. it was great.

what im really looking for is ultimate road solution. I travel alot and I use excel as my primary tool. And when hp said that wm5 will have excel that can do graphs, I was really excited. because i don't have to carry my laptop anymore. But, hp .......

Everyday i check if the update is available, since march 1st. And everyday im starting to hate hp more and more. i wish hp knows how frustrated their customers are. and more importantly how bad they are

[Menneisyys]

THanks alot lerterm. your posts are very helpful. the last question which i forgot to ask last night is, do you find the cpu speed slow. Because mini has 200mhz and hx has 600+ mhz. Its kind of big step backwards.

It isn't. Believe me: the Mini S is very fast - much faster than many think.


Before getting hx I had h5455. then i got hx4700 and it was superfast compare to h5455.

Have you upgraded the h5450 to WM2003? If not, then, that was the reason for its being slow. With the WM2003, it's not that bad.

[lesterm]

First - sorry about multiple posts above (after I hit 'submit' an error was returned, so I tried again..!)

I too was a bit worried about the mini s being a bit slow. But it's really not.

I've not pushed it though - PIM, media player, excel, games (virtual pool mobile, air islands) with iLauncher (prolly going to try the new spb pocketplus) and it's been fine. Not tried video or anything more taxing though.

Dare I say (I've not quantified this and it's all a bit subjective) the mini s is a tad snappier than the hx in day to day use.

Oh - realised why excel is easier on mini s than on 4" vga hx - no sip in landscape!

Hope this helps

Lesterm

[Brutalba]

First - sorry about multiple posts above (after I hit 'submit' an error was returned, so I tried again..!)

I too was a bit worried about the mini s being a bit slow. But it's really not.

I've not pushed it though - PIM, media player, excel, games (virtual pool mobile, air islands) with iLauncher (prolly going to try the new spb pocketplus) and it's been fine. Not tried video or anything more taxing though.

Dare I say (I've not quantified this and it's all a bit subjective) the mini s is a tad snappier than the hx in day to day use.

Oh - realised why excel is easier on mini s than on 4" vga hx - no sip in landscape!

Hope this helps

Lesterm
Hey Lesterm. Have ever thought about hw6500 or 6900? it has everything, including GPS. Im thinking about it BUT i don't wanna buy anything from HP because of wm5 upgrade for hx4700. I now how they treat their customers. But again, it would be great to have the newer hw6900. What you think?

[Brutalba]

First - sorry about multiple posts above (after I hit 'submit' an error was returned, so I tried again..!)

I too was a bit worried about the mini s being a bit slow. But it's really not.

I've not pushed it though - PIM, media player, excel, games (virtual pool mobile, air islands) with iLauncher (prolly going to try the new spb pocketplus) and it's been fine. Not tried video or anything more taxing though.

Dare I say (I've not quantified this and it's all a bit subjective) the mini s is a tad snappier than the hx in day to day use.

Oh - realised why excel is easier on mini s than on 4" vga hx - no sip in landscape!

Hope this helps

Lesterm
Hey Lesterm. Have ever thought about hw6500 or 6900? it has everything, including GPS. Im thinking about it BUT i don't wanna buy anything from HP because of wm5 upgrade for hx4700. I now how they treat their customers. But again, it would be great to have the newer hw6900. What you think?

[Brutalba]

First - sorry about multiple posts above (after I hit 'submit' an error was returned, so I tried again..!)

I too was a bit worried about the mini s being a bit slow. But it's really not.

I've not pushed it though - PIM, media player, excel, games (virtual pool mobile, air islands) with iLauncher (prolly going to try the new spb pocketplus) and it's been fine. Not tried video or anything more taxing though.

Dare I say (I've not quantified this and it's all a bit subjective) the mini s is a tad snappier than the hx in day to day use.

Oh - realised why excel is easier on mini s than on 4" vga hx - no sip in landscape!

Hope this helps

Lesterm
Hey Lesterm. Have ever thought about hw6500 or 6900? it has everything, including GPS. Im thinking about it BUT i don't wanna buy anything from HP because of wm5 upgrade for hx4700. I know how they treat their customers. But again, it would be great to have the newer hw6900. What you think?

[lesterm]

yeah - thought long and hard about the hw6900 - built in GPS would be cool! I like the form factor too - wouldn't need to rotate the device to get keyboard etc.

But - I didn't want to lose pixel realestate with the square 240x240 sceen.

Pretty cool though. Along with Palm Treo700w.

BTW - I haven't tried Planmaker with the mini S yet. It'd be interesting to see how it copes with textmaker/planmaker, but the improvements in WM5 and Pocket Excel mean I haven't been sufficiently irritated to load them!

Lesterm

[ds50137]

OK, I am in the minority, I can tell. But I like HP. They have always had excellent support and the products are innovative and work.

I am also a programmer that gets stuck under deadlines set by marketing...I would prefer that the progammer gets it mostly right and delays the release rather than getting it out there on time full of bugs...sometimes the world is too much like a Dilbert cartoon.

And yes, with any new upgrade, there will be unforeseen problems so I usually don't do any upgrading for a couple of months after the release of anything.

But the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 is $39.99 for download

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/307933-0-0-225-121.html

:way to go:

[ezimmerman]

Well,
My upgrade lasted a whole 4 hours before I canned it for the downgrade.
I am sure I have the same gripes that everyone else had:
- Eats battery life like Pac-Man on speed.
- Performance cut by about 1/3 to 1/2.
- Display "fuzzed" after each sleep mode.
- UI not easy to customize.

The list goes on. I am beginning to wonder if everyone was right about HP... :evil: :oops:

[ezimmerman]

Gee,
Now on top of that, I can't seem to get the downgrade to work like the original OS/ROM image did. Anyone else having any of the same problems after downgrading? Maybe HP changed some of the locations of key components...

:?

[ljclark]

RANT!

I gotta echo ezimmerman: WM5 on the 4700 sucks.

Erratic response to tap input.

Some programs the same or maybe even a tiny bit faster, but most slower.

Some programs that just don’t run on WM5.

Doesn’t wake up well – slow to refresh screen and become fully functional after sleep.

The icing on the cake is ActiveSync (ActiveSink?) 4.1…What a pile of crap! Despite looking around the web and trying some suggested fixes, I can’t stop it from syncing automatically. Just because I put the iPAQ in the cradle doesn’t mean I want to sync. With problematic programs like WorldMate (that thing will probably get dumped too – long on promises and short on delivery) that can never seem to stop syncing (despite setting the firewall to accept ActiveSink) you never get a chance to correct mistakes or setup other sync profiles. The only way I’ve been able to get WorldMate to work is to uninstall it, sync (and setup), and reinstall it, wait an hour, and then jerk the iPAQ out of the stand. And sometime the last day or so PhatNotes just stopped syncing altogether, despite resets, reboots, and reinstalls.

With ActiveSink 4.1 MicroSoft’s technological arrogance takes over. They decided that you have no choice regarding some features. I don’t mind defaults, as long as I can override. I long for a true ActiveSync manager that gives you an interface, controls, etc.

I’m not going to even try to downgrade ala HP/MicroSoft. I’m uninstall everything I can, erase every other file I can find, and then hard reset the thing and reinstall from the original 4700 CD.

And once I get it nursed back to health, I’m going to back it up two different ways and send it in for a RAM upgrade.

I have been using Palms since the early days. The weird thing is that I tried an iPAQ several years ago. I took the new unit into the office (for broadband access to downloads) and after spending several hours with it, boxed it up and returned the unit. I was shocked to find that Palm did a better job integrating with Outlook than the Windows WM (or CE) did (folders in contacts, for example). But as I upgraded Palms (Palm III upgraded, IIIC, Tungsten, T3, T5) I found that there were more and more situations where there were problems between my Windows machines and the Palm OS. So when the 4700 came on the scene and PocketMirror was ported to Windows Mobile, I made the plunge. WM5 and ActiveSink are worse than any Palm/Windows XP experience I ever had.

(So endeth the RANT!)
:evil: :evil:

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I’m not going to even try to downgrade ala HP/MicroSoft. I’m uninstall everything I can, erase every other file I can find, and then hard reset the thing and reinstall from the original 4700 CD.

I'm afraid you can't - the orginal CD, like with all Pocket PCs/Windows Mobile devices, does not contain the OS ROM. You'll still have to go back to HP for that.

[ljclark]

Yeah, yeah.

ROM.

That's what I meant. Easy download from the HP site. More than a little work to do getting things right again, but everything works so much better with the "old" stuff than with WM5. Talk about a waste of money.
:wink:

[ljclark]

Well...There is one little glitch.

At home the devolution back to 2003 and AS 3.8 went just fine.

But at work, I cannot get AS 3.8 installed on my crappy little Dell laptop. It keeps insisting that I have AS 4.1 still installed. I have rooted out files, ran a utility through the registry, etc. No joy I would prefer not to have AS 4.1, but may have no choice. Rats. :evil:

[buzzard]

When I went back to 2003SE I kept AS 4.1. It works perfectly and you shouldn't notice any difference between 4.1 and 3.8, at least I don't.

[ljclark]

There is a difference in the options between AS 3.8 and 4.1...but in the case of my computer at work, you have a point and it may not be worth worrying about.

At work I only hook the iPAQ up once or twice a day to sync files. Backups, charging, installations, and other "deeper" operations are done on my big machine at home.

Meanwhile, getting off WM5 has been a relief. Programs work consistently, the iPAQ wakes up properly, when I tap the screen something actually happens, etc., etc. Amazing how long and "hard" HP worked to make something that... 8)

[buzzard]

There is a difference in the options between AS 3.8 and 4.1
Out of curiosity can you mention what the main differences are ? When I was using 4.1 with Wm5 there were differences like no options for task categories. When I use the same 4.1 that was on my PC for Wm5 but with 2003SE, all of the usual task options are there. But, you may be right and I've overlooked something (wouldn't be the first or the last time for that). :lol:

[juni]

I've noticed that whenever I install something it takes hours for the device to speed up again. I'm also considering downgrading, but there are a few good things I like about WM5 too.

When I was working on the SciFi skin suite I had to take lots of screenshots with Pocket Artist. It took me an hour on the hx4700 to do it - and then I did the same on my h2210 - it took ten minutes. I did have the memory loaded with two sets of animated weather icons and many many skins.

What I think is causing the slowdowns is the ex-filestore memory. I have no hard facts but I suspect it is a different kind of memory from the normal main memory. I noticed it took a long time to install programs to it even before I upgraded.

[ljclark]

Out of curiosity can you mention what the main differences are ? When I was using 4.1 with Wm5 there were differences like no options for task categories. When I use the same 4.1 that was on my PC for Wm5 but with 2003SE, all of the usual task options are there. But, you may be right and I've overlooked something (wouldn't be the first or the last time for that). :lol:

Buzzard...You are more right than me. I was assuming that the changes I saw in ActiveSink 4.1 were AS changes. It appears that the loss of functionality is mostly due to WM5 (which moves it even lower on my list). Maybe the only difference is the lack of wireless sync? That would be useful for email, but I absolutely don't want my stream of e-mail on the iPAQ.

[l_emmerdeur]

I too downgraded back to WM2003SE last night. Went perfectly, and the iPaq is running fast and stable again.

[SHC]

After much deliberation I just bought am iMate JAMin pocket pc phone running WM5. After confirming with my doctor that my eyesight hasnt suddenly failed, what a great little device!
WM5 works without a hitch, not a single soft reset in a week, WiFi, Bluetooth etc it all just works.
I havent had to apply any hacks either apart from stopping Activestink trying to phone home every 10 minutes.
Just going to lie down in a darkened room to rest my eyes now.

[wildbill]

Does anyone know where I can download the downgrade ROM from?

[l_emmerdeur]

An update on my downgrade back to WM2003SE:

Although the iPaq is running very stable, I seem to be having a problem with eBook readers, both Mobipocket and MS Reader.

I open any eBook, read to a certain point, and then see garbled text, with Mobipocket freezing up when I try to continue paging through, and MS reader reporting it can no longer access the eBook file. I never had such issues prior to the upgrade. This happens with eBooks in main memory and on my CF card.

I SO regret ever having bought that PoS upgrade. With my hx4700 out of warranty, I'll have to buy a new PPC.

I assure you it will NOT be an HP.

[Brutalba]

I downloaded the upgrade the day it was released. At the beginning it was really slow and I was even thinking about downgrading it. But, recently something happened. Its not slow anymore, its really fast and I really don't know why. Before after doing soft reset, it took my at least good 4 second to open start menu. now it open immediately. I dont know what effecting it but it is definetely way faster than before.

[shooter.ca]

I downloaded the upgrade the day it was released. At the beginning it was really slow and I was even thinking about downgrading it. But, recently something happened. Its not slow anymore, its really fast and I really don't know why. Before after doing soft reset, it took my at least good 4 second to open start menu. now it open immediately. I dont know what effecting it but it is definetely way faster than before.
Maybe something about caching?
Coz after soft reset, the first time to open the start menu will take few seconds, but after that, the opening speed is fast...

[shooter.ca]

I've noticed that whenever I install something it takes hours for the device to speed up again. I'm also considering downgrading, but there are a few good things I like about WM5 too...
Juni: Do you still have the Wisbar Advance 2 on your HX4700? I uninstalled it after i upgraded to WM5 since the response time is extremely slow...I can't stand the LONG feedback time after a click on the screen. :evil:

[juni]

WA2 is actually pretty quick now. I don't know what has changed (except for the cache reg tweaks I did - that really sped everything up - http://smartmobileassets.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?,v=display,b=winmobile,m=1132411511 )

[shooter.ca]

Juni: are you using the latest beta version? or the one on the download page?

Thanks~

[juni]

The latest beta from the forums.

[jhettena]

Do the hacks described in this thread pertain only to the hx4700 or possibly others? I have an hx2750 and am considering what to 'keep in mind' if I decide to upgrated to WM5.