Why upgrade to Windows Mobile 5?

TKlingman · 09-03-06, 10:57 PM

I have an X50 with Pocket PC 2003 and I see that an upgrade to Windows Mobile 2005 is available - and has for some time.

But I see that Dell is not recommending this OS for the X50 - at least at this time. But if it were, what am I potentially missing?

I'm wondering if anyone can point me to a review and/or summary of what's new, better, etc. in Windows Mobile 2005 over Pocket PC 2003.

Thanks.

w3iner · 09-03-06, 11:02 PM

You are not missing out on that much. If your PDA isn't broke, why fix it?

rcab · 09-03-06, 11:13 PM

TKlingman welcome to aximsite
You have to purchase the wm5 CD if you want to try it. As w3iner said if your pda isn't broke why fix it. I would suggest that you stay with wm2003se. If you have the wm5 upgrade cd and still have a dell warranty then you may want to see if you can convince dell to upgrade you to an x50v. See this link to see how others were able to get dell to upgrade.
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showt...ll+upgrade+x50

cmagdanz · 09-03-06, 11:48 PM

My PDA is x50v with WM2003SE. I have considered upgrading to WM5, but so far have choosen not to. The two features I understand WM5 has that WM2003SE do not are 1) no loss of RAM data if battery goes dead and 2) Pocket PowerPoint. For awhile WM5 had the major disadvantage of not supporting bluetooth stereo headphones, but I think that's been resolved.

To address #1, I keep everything of value in My Documents, so it's sync'd with my PC. For #2, I'd sort of like to have PPP, but it's not that important to me.

Other than potential memory loss and PPP, I have read lots of posts both praising and complaining about upgrading to WM5 on an x50v. People who have upgraded from x50v WM2003SE to x51v with WM5 are glad they did. My x50v still works wonderfully; it seems like a waste to buy a new PDA when the one I have works so well.

Chas

cmagdanz · 09-03-06, 11:52 PM

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/edit...s-mobile-5.htm

09-04-06, 12:42 AM

I agree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Trust me. It isn't worth the headaches. By the way, welcome to Aximsite.

Patrick Y. · 09-04-06, 01:47 AM

Don't even consider WM5 on x50v... Trust me.

09-04-06, 03:39 AM

I am one of those people who 'upgraded' to wm5 and have been using it since.

it is not that bad, but u must be able to tolerate slower speeds and crippled BT, though the BT problem is partially fixed by install the widcomm stack that the great guys here @ aximsite had put together.

lostjak · 09-04-06, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by cmagdanz

My PDA is x50v with WM2003SE. I have considered upgrading to WM5, but so far have choosen not to. The two features I understand WM5 has that WM2003SE do not are 1) no loss of RAM data if battery goes dead and 2) Pocket PowerPoint.
Chas

Thanks for addressing the specific reasons! I was curious too. The PP would be wonderful but I don't need it badly enough for the hassles!
BTW.. It's nice to see someone else from NE!

CodeBubba · 09-04-06, 12:16 PM

If you're running an X50 stick with WM2003SE. There simply isn't a reason to upgrade to WM5 unless you buy a new machine equipped with it. As Kulnet said earlier - if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

-CB :)

09-04-06, 07:30 PM

the only advantage i c... and i meant he ONLY advantage is the 5-way navigation.... for easier one handed operation... thats about it..... but its not bad once you get the hang of it, and tweak it just right...

Jerry Atrick · 09-05-06, 05:05 AM

There are so many little improvements in WM5. The little but significant improvements to word, excel, the addition of powerpoint, the new softkey interface, the fact that RAM is RAM and ROM is ROM, it's just the little things. I mean, whats the difference between windows XP and 2000? (its a loose analogy, please dont blast me with technical mumbo jumble anyone).

cmagdanz · 09-26-06, 07:33 PM

Well, I took the plunge, and upgraded my x50v to WM5. What an extreme hassle, even though I carefully followed all instructions posted here on aximsite, which (by the way) must be followed explicitely. It took me about 3 hard resets to get the upgrade process down right. Then I must have done another 4-5 hard resets getting my software to alledgedly work in WM5. Everytime when I thought I had things working well, something else would fail to work. This whole process occupied an entire weekend after which I thought I was finally done debugging. Then I took it to work on Monday to resync with everything, and what a bunch of unpleasant surprises. Syncing problems gallore - for one all my Outlook tasks were reset to "Not Started." I couldn't take it anymore - keeping reliably productive with many hundreds of tasks, appointments and contacts is far more important to me than working out the seemingly never ending WM5 hassles on the x50v. My x50v is still under extended warranty, but I bought it before Dell announced WM5 would work, so when Dell suggested I restore to WM2003SE (during one of my troubleshooting chats with them), I took their advice.

My x50v works great again on WM2003SE. The process was educational, and I am now working with much more free Program Memory than ever before because I learned Pocket Informant and FlexMail work just fine in BIS (I had them in MM before). Anyway, I am thrilled to have a working x50v again. The "benefits" of upgrading to WM5 were not even close to worth it for me.

Thanks for listening.

CodeBubba · 09-27-06, 02:38 PM

Sometimes you have to learn these things by bitter experience. I've done more than my share of "upgrades" though I haven't gone for this one. My X50 with WM2003 is solid and stable and has dozens of things I use on it routinely.

I empathize with your wasted weekend - I've had my share of those!

-CB :)