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Apparently HP has pulled the plug on the iPAQ hx4700 and it is no longer available through the on-line store. This might be the insight we needed to explain the delay in the hx4700 upgrade download, but the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade is in fact still available on a CD for purchase.
Chin-Teik See, HP's vice president for consumer products and the mobile business group in the Asia-Pacific region, told CNET Australia that "the pen-based [handheld market] is shrinking at a rate of 30 percent year after year," and though the company is still committed to the PDA segment, it's "looking more to the converged space" going forward.
HP’s US website continues to state that the download for the hx4700 will be “available soon” but there’s the scoop for ya. I’m not so sure if the upgrade is worthwhile, but I guess that's for the owners out there to be the judge. Good luck folks! Be sure to let us know how things roll...
I'm beginning to think the whole "upgrade" is an urban legend. It DOES say on the HP site that the WM5 upgrade is available to purchase on the HP website for the 4700, except that if you actually go the the ordering page, there is no 4700 upgrade listed.
I'll get it when it comes out, just so I can play around with and and see if I like it, but for sure, I will have a copy of the previous ROM to flash it back if I don't like it, assuming it ever is ACTUALLY available.
Noticed today on HP website that the status of availability of the WM5 upgrade has changed from Spring 2006 to "soon".
I would like to add that if anyone knows the procedure to reverting back to WM2003 after a WM5 upgrade, I (and probably alot of others) would greatly appreciate it if you could share how to accomplish this task.
Noticed today on HP website that the status of availability of the WM5 upgrade has changed from Spring 2006 to "soon".
I would like to add that if anyone knows the procedure to reverting back to WM2003 after a WM5 upgrade, I (and probably alot of others) would greatly appreciate it if you could share how to accomplish this task.
Dank you,
H
Perhaps JDTagish has the answer to this question... and yes, we did catch that the status changed to "soon"... haha...I wonder if soon means before the projected Spring release or after Spring... *sigh*
Actually, you CAN now download the WM5 upgrade for the 4700. I bought it and downloaded it yesterday.
Now the question is really, will I do anything with it?
So far...no. I have the lastest ROM upgrade for the WM2003SE, but I don't know if that would be enough to "downgrade" the software or if it would just cause a fatal crash. Until I know for sure, I'm not upgrading.
I guess I'm not in a huge rush...I'll keep my ears open and check around to see what (if any) issues others are having before I risk my only device just yet.
Thought I would share my 'ordeal' with you guys about the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade, which I downloaded yesterday.
Like the rest of you I had been eagerly waiting for the release. The promise of better Office file support, persistent memory, possibly better connectivity. I couldn't wait.
24 hours later, I have now just downgraded back to WM2003, reasons why?
1. WM5 is very slow, there is a noticeable delay when clicking through screens, programs run slow, and internet browsing which wasn't the quickest before is even worse. WM2003 zips along in comparison.
2. Whereas before using WM2003, Activesync 4.1 and my firewall (Zonealarm) had no problems working together, this wasn't so with WM5, I had to turn off Zonealarm to sync.
3. When I final did manage to syncing, it was very slow again. Microsoft really do need to sort out a new update for Activesync.
4. Some programs don't work with WM5. I had to get another version of Pocket Quicken, my A-Z Map of London would not install properly. AI Roboform would not sync properly.
Also I used HTTPmail to get my Hotmail messages 'Offline', with WM5 instead it directs you to use the new Hotmail Live, so I couldn't download all my messages offline.
Some may argue that I didn't give it enough time but since downgrading, the PDA works much much quicker, it's stable and I've got all my old programs back, it syncs painlessly with my PC and there's always Clearvue for Office support.
I was a bit surprised that there weren't more users comparisons of WM2003 vs WM5 on the internet. Perhaps if there were I wouldn't have wasted $50 and the whole of yesterday.
If anybody else has upgraded I would welcome any feedback as to the advantages of WM5.
I also upgraded to Wm5 on my 4700 and although my results are identical to doogle's, I've decided to give it a bit more time. I downloaded Tweaks2k2 and used some of its Wm5 changes but I'll have to wait awhile to see if the changes helped. Overall I am not satisfied with Wm5, at least not in how it was done for the 4700. I may eventually go back to 2003SE because it worked but Wm5 is slow, herky-jerky at times, speedy at other times and overall doesn't offer any improvements over 2003SE.
For example, when using PIE, the left soft key shows "favorites" but once accessed for a favorite the soft key changes to "back". If I want to go to a different site using favorites, I have to go to the right soft key "menu" and select favorites and then go to the site address. Although this extra step doesn't take long, why was the extra step added ? I really don't understand why Microsoft thinks Wm5 is an upgrade to 2003SE. Oh yes, I forgot Wm5 offers Powerpoint...whoopie.
I have the same problem. I downloaded WM5 last night and I cant get over how slow my 4700 is. I thought I did something wrong thats why I came looking for help. I was looking forward to this upgrade for so long and its like it ruined my pda. I used to lay in bed and brows the web and now the web is so slow I didnt thint it had a conection until I selected a web page and set the unit down and watched tv. It finally was at the web page but still downloading the site. Now how do I put my pda back to the old window os it came with. I dont know how and I cant leave it like this because now its garbage. Please help me some one. My email is dave7200@bis.midco.net if some one wants to just email me. thank you.
There are several registry hacks that have been identified as helping the speed issue. I used Tweaks2k2 to make these registry hacks and no longer have speed problems on my 4700.
As far as downgrading goes, the same 340mg download that put Wm5 on your device also has the download that will overwrite Wm5 with 2003SE. If I remember correctly if you start the download file as if you're going to run it again, there are three tabs at the top. If you go to the middle tab, it has an option for going back to 2003SE.
There are several registry hacks that have been identified as helping the speed issue. I used Tweaks2k2 to make these registry hacks and no longer have speed problems on my 4700.
As far as downgrading goes, the same 340mg download that put Wm5 on your device also has the download that will overwrite Wm5 with 2003SE. If I remember correctly if you start the download file as if you're going to run it again, there are three tabs at the top. If you go to the middle tab, it has an option for going back to 2003SE.
buzzard is correct... there is a roll back option that will allow you to downgrade back to WM2003SE...I picked these steps up:
The roll back option-
- Run the WM5 upgrade setup program.
- From menu, select "Preview and Install Software"
- Select the second tab on the top "Install Optional Software from Disk".
- Again, select the second option "Microsoft Windows Pocket PC 2003SE downgrade for the HP iPAQ 4700 series Pocket PC"
- Click the "Next" button and follow instructions accordingly.
Also, below are a couple of other things that you guys might find useful.
To clean reset the upgraded HX4700 series-
- Press and hold down the Contacts (second button from the left) and Inbox (3rd button from the left) buttons. While holding down these buttons, use the stylus to lightly press the Reset button on the bottom of the iPaq Pocket PC for about two seconds.
- A dialogue box will pop up prompting: To perform a clean reset which will clear ALL DATA in memory, press (Calendar) To cancel this request press (iTask).
- Press the Calendar button (first button fron the left) and the unit will begin the clean reset process.
[by cleaning reset, I'm assuming they mean hard reset or 'cleaning' out the device]
Eliminating some slowness -
- disabling error reporting was recommended to eliminate some of the slowness
I hope you guys find these useful! It's too bad that the upgrade isn't much of an upgrade at all.
buzzard, let us know how it turns out after giving it some time, thanks!
After better than one week of trying to like Wm5 I finally went back to 2003SE on my 4700. I got tired of how slow Wm5 was to open programs, how many times I would try to login to websites only to find out that I was pressing keys on the keyboard but they weren't always being picked up in the login. The Outlook task and contact notes area have a 5,120 byte limit in Wm5 (2003SE had no limit) and my battery seemed to drain much more quickly. I'd like to think that after awhile there will be a fix for this, but I doubt it. Wm5 clearly was never meant for a 4700 and I think a lot of people would have been happier (not to mention $40 richer) if HP and MS never bothered to develop it.
That's so sad to hear buzzard. I think the ball was ultimately dropped on HP since Microsoft sends out the OS to all manufacturers and it's up to them to customize (and test) the OS for each device. How dare they expect people to shell out 40 bucks only to find out it was a complete waste of time and money (this isn't the first time however)? That is one reason why HP is not doing better in the handhelds department.
We'll see if enough people complain for them to make a fix... then again, when has that ever worked?
Like others here, I just dropped $40 into the toilet and flushed it too. What a horrible disappointment and a waste of time. My apps I want to run don't run, the v-keyboard is about 1 second (or more) behind every tap on the screen, and the whole thing is incredibly sluggish. Didn't anybody at HP actually run this thing? Somewhat ashamed as my company (Microsoft) wrote this and my ex-employer (HP...well, Compaq) "tuned" and released it and what a piece of garbage.
Never again.
Frankly, I suggest that we all call HP customer support and complain bitterly and force them to fix it or give us our money back.
There is a link at HP in order to get a refund. I'm going to have to look around at Mobilitysite.com or PocketPC Thoughts.com and see if I can find it again. I already submitted mine and got an email from HP a few hours later.
I have given the upgrade every chance to work but it did nothing more then make my 4700 useless. I have a garmin 10 that has a wireless receiver that I use in my 4700 and since the upgrade I could not get it to work. It couldn’t even get logged into the wireless antenna. It would do nothing for a long time and then say it couldn’t log on due to time out. I used to use it for browsing all the time and then it went to a snails pace. True story, I selected yahoo.com and set it beside me and timed it. It took 12 minutes to load the page fully. I read what others told me to do to put it back to how it was and thank you so much, it worked. It’s back to normal. My gps works my browser works. I wasted forty bucks but I'm glad I didn’t spend forty bucks to have it ruined. I guess maybe that’s what they hope for, it screws up your unit so bad that when you do get it back to normal your just so glad to have it back you don’t care about what a rip off it was. I would love to call and tell them what I think but the only other time I called hp I got a person that had very bed english and I got so fed up I said good bye. I'm sure that is another ploy. No I dont like hp much anymore. Thanks again for the help
I tried the WM5 upgrade as well. It's not working well. The most annoying malfunction is that it's so extremely slow. This, while the hx4700 is a PocketPC with one of the fastest processors. Also things as Avantgo will not display correctly anymore on the hx4700. And there is more.
HP mentioned that they are working on the problem together with Microsoft. Perhaps an example of not having tested it properly.
I trust HP that they will come with a solution. In the meanwhile my hx4700 is back to WM2003SE.
That's interesting. Have you any idea as to why HP have pulled the plug? I only bought mine a few months ago and now it's obsolete!
Hey ccubillo...I believe it was due to performance issues and simply because it seems like the 4700 was not manufactured to support Window Mobile 5.0. I'm so sorry to hear that you have become a victim of "obsolete-ness", but this is a reality that all we gadget lovers must fare with eventually *shrug*
Thanks Jane. Out of interest, if you were buying a new PDA, which one would be going for? Especially if you wanted a nice large screen and sufficent memory to save largeish spreadsheets and Word documents (these being the main reasons that I chose the HP4700 in the first place!)
Thanks Jane. Out of interest, if you were buying a new PDA, which one would be going for? Especially if you wanted a nice large screen and sufficent memory to save largeish spreadsheets and Word documents (these being the main reasons that I chose the HP4700 in the first place!)
If I were you, I'd get the iPAQ hx4700's closest competitor: the Dell Axim X51v. It comes with Windows Mobile 5.0 pre-installed (wahoo!) and has a heafty 3.7" VGA (640x480) screen. Just thinking about it makes me drool...
Apparently HP has pulled the plug on the iPAQ hx4700 and it is no longer available through the on-line store. This might be the insight we needed to explain the delay in the hx4700 upgrade download, but the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade is in fact still available on a CD for purchase.
. Maybe we'll get a nice VGA iPAQ that actually can run Windows Mobile 5.0 if we complain hard enough. 
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