imported_EasternCanuck

Good evening!

I've just purchased my very first HP (hx4700) and very first PDA outside of the Palm realm. I'm absolutely loving the iPAQ, even though I've had to soft reset already while never before having a problem with stability with Palm.

REGARDLESS! So far I am still giggling as I play with my new iPAQ.

As much reading as I have been doing on the new ROM update, both from HP and from users on this forum, I am still perplexed as to whether I should bother installing it or not. So far, I am having no problems with my iPAQ (knock on wood) and I always figured that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I'm interested in your opinions. So far, from what I have seen, most of the comments have been about people installing the new ROM because they were having problems with the old one. But what about if you're not having any problems at present? Should I bother?

I appreciate your input and apologize for being a bit green around the ears.

Thanks in advance and thanks for such a great forum!

EasternCanuck

Zorglab

Well, I know lots of people have problems with the new ROM, but I haven't. Maybe it's because I've the french rom, maybe it's something else.

If you're happy with your 4700 as it is now, don't do anything.
If you're like me and want to go for a try, you could always make a full backup with Sprite Backup or the included iPAQ Backup utility (don't forget to include the File Store in the backup), upgrade to 1.10 and see how it goes. If you have a problem then, you can always revert to the previous version without much trouble. The only thing you can loose, is your time.

sugar_cube

I've got the English language version of the ROM upgrade - I had a problem with one bit of software (which has now been updated to fix the problem) but everything is now running smoothly.

So the answer is: It's your choice. Although if you decide to upgrade then make sure you have a copy of the existing ROM as well as the new ROM before you start! (There are links in the various threads on this subject for where you can download both).

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Oh, and by the way, well done on your purchase

yojimbo

congrats on your new acquisition.... If you plan to get an extended battery, do not upgrade, else your extended battery would be useless.

Cheers

Possum Roadkil

The only problem I have had is with the extended battery working like a regular battery. Once this happens it's not possible to just revert to the old ROM to get battery usage time back.

There have been some improvements with some of the programs but they are minor compared to the loss of battery time. I haven't reverted to the old one, since it doesn't fix the problem and then I'd be without the new improvements as well.

Nickster248

Originally Posted by EasternCanuck

Good evening! I'm interested in your opinions. So far, from what I have seen, most of the comments have been about people installing the new ROM because they were having problems with the old one. But what about if you're not having any problems at present? Should I bother? EasternCanuck

Yes, the first thing you should do is install the latest ROM update. I just received my new HX4700 a couple of weeks ago, and that was the first thing I did... and really, on a brand new Unit, that is the time to update the ROM.

I'm an old convert from Palm as well, but over the last year I've gone from an iPAQ 4150, to a Dell X50v, and finally to my beloved HX4700. Aside from the shortcoming of only having 64 MB RAM... 128 would have been much better... I love the HX 4700.

Driftless

Good Luck, enjoy, and remember this is a windows product...be easy with it and do regular maintenance like you would on your PC.

You'll eventually get the hang of it, and I'm sure that all of us will be here to help if/when you run into trouble.

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Driftless....

imported_Dermot81

Biggest problem I had with the new ROM was it wouldn't always connect to a wireless AP. This was frustrating since I roam around a lot, and I couldn't tell if it was the AP or the PDA's fault when a connection failed.

Also, a minor issue, but in GSPlayer when I held a button like volume up down, it would only go up one notch. Before, in the old ROM, if I held the button down it would repeat and go up until I let go of the button.

As such, I went back to the old rom, and things are back to normal.

For me, the new ROM caused more problems than it fixed. Actually, it fixed no problems, since I never really had any problems before the ROM update.

I'd recommend not upgrading, unless you use BT and Wifi at the *same* time a lot, then the ROM upgrade improves your chances of not getting that "not enough memory to initialize BT, please soft reset" message.

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Dell X51v + Motorola e815 | HP HX4700 | HP 2215 | iPAQ 3950 | iPAQ 3835

imported_drkostas

If you upgrade , use your standard battery during the upgrade process and not an extended battery. If you don't use an extended battery during the upgrade, battery's rom will not be damaged and so you will have no problem at all with the new rom and the extended battery.

imported_EasternCanuck

Thanks so much for all of your responses! I appreciate everyone's view and expertise on the subject.
I think I'll stick with the old ROM for the moment. I'm not planning on installing a heap of software at present so it won't be difficult to back everything up should I decide I need/want the new ROM later on.

Again, thanks very much for all of your input. It's nice to know that there is a place to come for questions and answers.

Cheers!

Phullcourt

After reading some of the initial feedback on the ROM update I also decided not to chance it and instead wait for the upcoming full OS upgrade - hopefully by then most of the problems with the new ROM will be resolved. However there will probably (with HP's track record) be several new issues with the OS upgrade - I'm just holding out hope that there was more extensive testing performed on the new OS as HP as well as many other OEM's have more of their reputations riding on the new OS versus a single device ROM upgrade.

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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend; inside of a dog it's too dark to read" - Groucho Marx

yojimbo

Originally Posted by drkostas

If you upgrade , use your standard battery during the upgrade process and not an extended battery. If you don't use an extended battery during the upgrade, battery's rom will not be damaged and so you will have no problem at all with the new rom and the extended battery.

is this true? I bought my extended battery after I upgraded my ROM and it still act like a normal battery.

alex_homepc

Originally Posted by yojimbo

is this true? I bought my extended battery after I upgraded my ROM and it still act like a normal battery.

In fact that's not the case. It doesn't matter whether you've used your extended battery while upgrading or not. The new ROM seems to recognize all batteries as Standart.

Possum Roadkil

Just confirming again that installing the update with a standard battery does not fix the battery issue. I get about the same ammount of time whichever battery I use.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried:
1. Putting an extended battery that has been in an updated hx4700 into one that has never been updated.

2. Putting an new extended battery that has not been exposed to the new ROM update into a hx4700 that has been updated but flashed back to the old ROM before putting the new battery in.

...and of course, what the results were for both situations. If HP's information regarding the cause of the problem is correct, I would assume putting a new extended battery in a device that has been flashed to old ROM would fix the problem and putting a battery that has been exposed to the new ROM in a PPC that has never had the new ROM should not fix the problem.

AshleyJ

Originally Posted by Possum

I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried: 1. Putting an extended battery that has been in an updated hx4700 into one that has never been updated.

Send me your extended battery and I will put it in my 4700 that has not been flashed to see what happens - no guarantee I will send it back though