Dave's iPAQ

While Michael is correct that a company’s first obligation is to its stockholders, he has missed a crucial point — if you piss off your customers, they’re likely to leave. As the HP Forum thread on this shows, many people will take exactly that approach — and they’ll stop buying other HP products, too. I recall reading that customers are about seven times as likely to tell others about bad experiences with a company than about good experiences, too. That won’t help HP’s stockholders, will it? As for the claim that all the features won’t fit, I don’t buy that. My iPAQ 5550 has a 17.4 MB iPAQ File Store, which is basically Flash ROM that hasn’t been used. Put the extra features there and reduce the size of my iPAQ File Store. Another alternative is to offer the Professional version as the upgrade, which leaves some of the programs normally in the ROM image out and supplies them as RAM-installable versions. That’s what Microsoft did with Pocket PC 2002 and, I think, Windows Mobile 2003.

As for HP’s claim that some applications won’t work in landscape in SE, so what? The user can switch back to portrait without a soft reset.

Even if the application crashes the iPAQ, so what? Not all Pocket PC 2000 applications worked in Pocket PC 2002, and Compaq made the upgrade available. Not all Pocket PC 2002 applications worked in Windows Mobile 2003, and HP made that upgrade available. In fact, WM 2003 was a much more “dangerous” upgrade, I thought, because it severely changed the operating system infrastructure (swithcing from Windows CE 3.0 to 4.2, for example). The claim that current programs exist for landscape mode is also full of holes.

First, many of Microsoft’s existing Windows Mobile 2003 applications won’t work well in landscape, requiring a switch back to portrait to function properly. They should work fine in the SE upgrade because they’ll be designed to work properly in both portrait and landscape mode.

Second, the existing landscape programs require a soft reset to switch modes, a significant penalty. I have dotPocket, but don’t use it for landscape mode precisely because I don’t want to soft rest while I’m in the middle of doing something.

To see examples of applications that don’t work well in landscape, see my dotPocket review.

The only feature of SE that may not provide a benefit to existing iPAQ users is the VGA support, but even that’s iffy. If the ability to scale fonts works in QVGA mode, even the VGA support will provide a benefit. Compaq and HP have shown in the past that they can offer challenging upgrades, and I’m sure HP could do it again. They just don’t want to.

Many people still won’t buy Toshiba Pocket PCs because Toshiba had a habit of abandoning users of recently purchased devices. They seem to have learned their lesson, and offered SE upgrades for the e400 and e800 series. (And the upgrades were free, too.) It’s too bad HP is going backwards, and will likely learn the same lesson the hard way.

Steve Silicon Valley Pocket PC

http://www.svpocketpc.com

	Announcement: Moderators of Dave’s iPAQ 06-26-2004 David Ciccone (Administrator)
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While Michael is correct that a company’s first obligation is to its stockholders, he has missed a crucial point — if you piss off your customers, they’re likely to leave. As the HP Forum thread on this shows, many people will take exactly that approach — and they’ll stop buying other HP products, too. I recall reading that customers are about seven times as likely to tell others about bad experiences with a company than about good experiences, too. That won’t help HP’s stockholders, will it? As for the claim that all the features won’t fit, I don’t buy that. My iPAQ 5550 has a 17.4 MB iPAQ File Store, which is basically Flash ROM that hasn’t been used. Put the extra features there and reduce the size of my iPAQ File Store. Another alternative is to offer the Professional version as the upgrade, which leaves some of the programs normally in the ROM image out and supplies them as RAM-installable versions. That’s what Microsoft did with Pocket PC 2002 and, I think, Windows Mobile 2003.

As for HP’s claim that some applications won’t work in landscape in SE, so what? The user can switch back to portrait without a soft reset.

Even if the application crashes the iPAQ, so what? Not all Pocket PC 2000 applications worked in Pocket PC 2002, and Compaq made the upgrade available. Not all Pocket PC 2002 applications worked in Windows Mobile 2003, and HP made that upgrade available. In fact, WM 2003 was a much more “dangerous” upgrade, I thought, because it severely changed the operating system infrastructure (swithcing from Windows CE 3.0 to 4.2, for example). The claim that current programs exist for landscape mode is also full of holes.

First, many of Microsoft’s existing Windows Mobile 2003 applications won’t work well in landscape, requiring a switch back to portrait to function properly. They should work fine in the SE upgrade because they’ll be designed to work properly in both portrait and landscape mode.

Second, the existing landscape programs require a soft reset to switch modes, a significant penalty. I have dotPocket, but don’t use it for landscape mode precisely because I don’t want to soft rest while I’m in the middle of doing something.

To see examples of applications that don’t work well in landscape, see my dotPocket review.

The only feature of SE that may not provide a benefit to existing iPAQ users is the VGA support, but even that’s iffy. If the ability to scale fonts works in QVGA mode, even the VGA support will provide a benefit. Compaq and HP have shown in the past that they can offer challenging upgrades, and I’m sure HP could do it again. They just don’t want to.

Many people still won’t buy Toshiba Pocket PCs because Toshiba had a habit of abandoning users of recently purchased devices. They seem to have learned their lesson, and offered SE upgrades for the e400 and e800 series. (And the upgrades were free, too.) It’s too bad HP is going backwards, and will likely learn the same lesson the hard way.

Steve Silicon Valley Pocket PC

http://www.svpocketpc.com

I/OMagic Corporation (OTCBB:IOMG), a provider of data storage and digital entertainment products, today announced that it will soon ship the latest in its Portable Storage Device line-up, the GigaBank(TM) 6.0. The GigaBank(TM) 6.0 has up to 6 GB(a) of storage capacity in a mini (2″x0.5″x2.5″) and lightweight (less than two ounces) unit designed to store or back-up files, store MP3s or transfer files from one computer to another.

“The GigaBank(TM) 6.0 is perfect for anyone on the go,” said Tony Andrews, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development for I/OMagic Corporation. “It is pocket size so you can take important files with you anywhere. You’ll never have to be without the information you need with the GigaBank(TM) 6.0.”

The GigaBank(TM) 6.0 is powered through a USB 2.0 port (which is also USB 1.1 backwards compatible) which, when not in use, can be conveniently tucked into its enclosure. It comes with a carrying case, an extension cable for hard to reach USB ports and it requires no battery or power adapter.

The GigaBank(TM) 6.0 is hot swappable (a device that can be plugged/unplugged into a computer while the computer is on) and it supports Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE.

I/OMagic anticipates shipping its new GigaBank(TM) 6.0 in May 2005 with an introductory suggested retail price of $199. The Company also currently offers GigaBank(TM) products in 2.2GB, 4.0GB, 20GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB and 100GB options.

(a) Note: 1 MB=1 million bytes, 1 GB=1 billion bytes. A user’s total accessible memory/storage/data capacity will be less than stated as a result of the user’s operating system and other factors.

About I/OMagic

I/OMagic provides data storage products (such as CD-RW drives, DVD+/-RW, floppy drives and USB portable storage devices, including its MediaStation, DataStation and GigaBank(TM) products) and digital entertainment products (such as MP3 players, digital audio headphones and its Digital Photo Library(TM) system, which is a palm-sized portable external hard drive for digital music, photo and movie storage, as well as a line of EasyPrint(TM) digital photo accessories). The Company sells products under three brand names — I/OMagic(R), Hi-Val(R) and Digital Research Technologies(R) — through nationally-recognized computer, consumer electronics and office supply superstores and other retailers, such as Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fred Meyer Stores, Microcenter, Office Depot, RadioShack, Staples and Target stores, as well as catalogue companies and Internet retailers such as Buy.com, PC Mall, Tiger Direct and Dell.

Contacts

I/OMagic Corporation Nancy Andrews, 949-707-4806 nandrews@iomagic.com

While Michael is correct that a company’s first obligation is to its stockholders, he has missed a crucial point — if you piss off your customers, they’re likely to leave. As the HP Forum thread on this shows, many people will take exactly that approach — and they’ll stop buying other HP products, too. I recall reading that customers are about seven times as likely to tell others about bad experiences with a company than about good experiences, too. That won’t help HP’s stockholders, will it? As for the claim that all the features won’t fit, I don’t buy that. My iPAQ 5550 has a 17.4 MB iPAQ File Store, which is basically Flash ROM that hasn’t been used. Put the extra features there and reduce the size of my iPAQ File Store. Another alternative is to offer the Professional version as the upgrade, which leaves some of the programs normally in the ROM image out and supplies them as RAM-installable versions. That’s what Microsoft did with Pocket PC 2002 and, I think, Windows Mobile 2003.

As for HP’s claim that some applications won’t work in landscape in SE, so what? The user can switch back to portrait without a soft reset.

Even if the application crashes the iPAQ, so what? Not all Pocket PC 2000 applications worked in Pocket PC 2002, and Compaq made the upgrade available. Not all Pocket PC 2002 applications worked in Windows Mobile 2003, and HP made that upgrade available. In fact, WM 2003 was a much more “dangerous” upgrade, I thought, because it severely changed the operating system infrastructure (swithcing from Windows CE 3.0 to 4.2, for example). The claim that current programs exist for landscape mode is also full of holes.

First, many of Microsoft’s existing Windows Mobile 2003 applications won’t work well in landscape, requiring a switch back to portrait to function properly. They should work fine in the SE upgrade because they’ll be designed to work properly in both portrait and landscape mode.

Second, the existing landscape programs require a soft reset to switch modes, a significant penalty. I have dotPocket, but don’t use it for landscape mode precisely because I don’t want to soft rest while I’m in the middle of doing something.

To see examples of applications that don’t work well in landscape, see my dotPocket review.

The only feature of SE that may not provide a benefit to existing iPAQ users is the VGA support, but even that’s iffy. If the ability to scale fonts works in QVGA mode, even the VGA support will provide a benefit. Compaq and HP have shown in the past that they can offer challenging upgrades, and I’m sure HP could do it again. They just don’t want to.

Many people still won’t buy Toshiba Pocket PCs because Toshiba had a habit of abandoning users of recently purchased devices. They seem to have learned their lesson, and offered SE upgrades for the e400 and e800 series. (And the upgrades were free, too.) It’s too bad HP is going backwards, and will likely learn the same lesson the hard way.

Steve Silicon Valley Pocket PC

http://www.svpocketpc.com

Have you ever been using your iPAQ when all of a sudden a warning message comes up that indicates that you are low on power? If you have been engrossed in a program, game or just surfing the net and that message appears from nowhere, it sort of takes you back a bit if you’re not anticipating it.

All of a sudden you need to “shut down” and find a source to recharge your iPAQ. Hopefully you’re at home or the office and have your charger available so you can get that much needed surge of power into your device. Of course, with my luck, I would be in a situation where I needed to continue to complete that task I was working on and now I am faced with a potential disaster — no power. What is worse is that if I were in a location where I couldn’t get to a power source — what then?

I suppose a spare battery is a possible solution. If I could carry an extra battery, then if I was faced with a low power situation then I could at least change the battery to be able to continue with my task and avoid disaster. Having a spare battery is really not a bad idea even if you never use it; it certainly is a comfort knowing that you have the ability to continue with what you were doing after a quick battery change.

Although changing a battery “mid-stream” is a solution, is that really the best solution? For several years, I have adapted what I was doing or going to do because of the limited battery life I had on my iPAQ. I would use my iPAQ everywhere I went but if was always careful to make sure I was at full charge before I began a task. If I was not at a full charge, I adapted — that is to say, I either didn’t do what I wanted to do or found a power source to bring myself up to full power.

Truly this process, even though it worked, was an inconvenience. There had to be a better solution. I had given serious thought to an extended battery and eventually had given to me at Christmas, an extended battery that gave me more power than I had with the stock battery that comes with the 4700. However, I was surprised at how it came.

It was a larger battery but the extended back was empty. The design was a battery the same length and width of the stock battery but had a deeper measurement. A new back cover came with it but it was a silly design — it was filled with a large void space. Why? It made no sense to have an extended battery with a new cover that was large and EMPTY.

It was just a design feature I guess — dumb as it was, I had more power than before so I was able to perform additional tasks without too much fear of running out of power. But then that day did occur and I was not a happy camper. There was no question in my mind that if that battery was larger, that is, if it had extended into the void space of the back cover, I would have never run into that problem.