Product Requirements:
HP iPAQ hx4700 / hx4705 PDA

One of the few disappointments that I
have had from the beginning of owning my HP
iPAQ hx4700 PDA is the fact that it only came with 64MB internal RAM. While
this may sound generous enough, especially when one considers that the iPAQ File
Store includes an additional 128MB of ROM storage space, it really isn’t. As I
explained in Julie’s and my review, "Be aware that no
matter where a program is stored, it will be moved to RAM when it is time for it
to actually run. That is where the SDRAM comes into play. The 64MB SDRAM is
basically split in half. While one-half is available for loading programs, the
other half is necessary for running the programs. Therefore, the fewer programs
you can actually load in main memory, the faster the PDA will run and the more
program-running memory will be available. Since there is only 64MB to begin
with, it seems as if without even trying the memory will just dwindle. This
makes me think that 128MB SDRAM would have been a wiser use of extra memory,
rather than such a large File Store…"

 Even with only the applications
that had to be stored in the main memory of my iPAQ loaded there, my Memory
Manager looked like this…

Within just a few days of owning PAQo,
as my 4700 was christened, I knew that he was something special. Unlike other
PDAs that have quickly come and gone, the screen and form factor of this PDA
ensured that it would be my daily driver for a long time. With that in mind, I
did what many women will try to do when they are in a relationship with someone
that is just slightly less than perfect – I decided to "change him" for
the better. Luckily for me, this would not be hard to do.

By the time Julie and I were writing
our joint review, I knew that I would be sending PAQo to
Pocket PC Techs for their
64MB to 128MB
internal RAM upgrade service. I hadn’t actually received any low memory
warnings yet, but it seemed like it was only a matter of time before programs
such as
Where is My RAM? could no longer pin-point what was happening to my rapidly
shrinking internal memory.

Before I carefully wrapped my iPAQ for
his journey to California, I ran Spb Benchmark, just to see how the numbers
played before any improvements were done. It took about 30 minutes for this
series of tests to run, and by the looks of all the subjects covered it appears
to have been quite thorough. The following are the results of the tests run on
my freshly hard-reset iPAQ, as well as the results on my iPAQ after
Pocket PC Tech’s upgrade.

One caveat: I am not sure why none of
the Active Sync tests worked in my tests, but I am afraid that they are why my
4700′s average was not higher in the Spb Benchmark Index. If you take each test
individually however, you will see that the memory upgrade actually had a very
positive impact on the iPAQ’s performance .

I am getting a little bit ahead of
myself here, so let me go back to the ordering process for just a moment.
When you decide to take the plunge and get the memory upgrade, you’ll place your order
online. 
Pocket PC Techs will email the
packing & shipping instructions to you shortly. You’ll have to pay to
ship your item to them by the carrier of your choice, I chose next day air and
Pocket PC Techs provided 2nd day return shipping after they had completed the
upgrade. Basically, I sent PAQo in on Monday and got him back Friday morning.

According to the Pocket
PC Tech’s site, "During
the upgrade process we remove the existing 64MB and install 128MB. This memory
upgrade does NOT require our proprietary driver and is fully recognized by the
OS (126.27MB Available). This unit uses low voltage hi-speed BGA memory, so
stacking is not available and 128MB will be the maximum capacity."

When I received my iPAQ, I was pleasantly surprised to see the deluxe box that
he arrived in…

Inside the gray plastic envelope was my
much-missed 4700, along with a Klear Screen sample pack.   

After unwrapping my iPAQ, I was tempted to immediately
charge its battery and then reload all of its programs…but I held off until I
could once again perform the Spb Benchmark test, the results were of which were
shown above.

Once I had restored
all of my programs to the iPAQ and had got everything set up once again, I was
pleased to see my new main storage RAM figures.

A sight for sore eyes – 126.27MB
RAM

As some of you may recall from Julie’s and my review, "I
conducted a test with

BatteryBench .NET where I ran the 4700 on half bright (my usual brightness
setting) to 5% battery life. The iPAQ lasted for 280 minutes, or a total of
4
hours, 40 minutes." With the iPAQ freshly re-loaded with all of my
programs, I re-ran the same battery test under the same conditions, and the iPAQ
lasted for 344 minutes, or a total of 5 hours 44 minutes. I
have no idea why the iPAQ actually performed better this time, it may have
something to do with my battery now being broken in, but whatever the case, I can
certainly live with the results.

There are a couple of down-sides to
sending your brand new iPAQ in for the upgrade service. The first is that the
memory upgrade will void your factory warranty. For this reason, I think it is
best to use your iPAQ for a bit and make sure that there are no obvious factory
defects. Pocket PC Techs actually recommend that you wait until close to the end
of your warranty period. Of course, if there are any known issues with your
device, then you should send it in for warranty work first. Once upgraded,
Pocket PC Techs will provide a 90 day warranty on their parts and labor, as well
as on the motherboard of your Pocket PC.

This is the third brand new Pocket PC
that I have sent to Leonard and Mack, and I have to say that I have never
regretted "losing" my factory warranty on any of these PDAs for even a second.
Pocket PC Techs inspires that much confidence in me. Their staff has over
thirty years of combined experience doing these type memory upgrades. What’s
great is while they have your unit cracked, they will examine everything –
checking to make sure that all is well. I am not sure if this applies to every
iPAQ, but according to their site, "We
have noticed that Compaq has implemented several ECNs (Engineering Change
Notices). These ECNs involve adding several small rubber feet between the main
board and the screen assembly as well as a Mylar shield over a portion of the
board.  We install these items during the upgrade. The result is a unit that has
less chance of failing in the future."
These guys really know their stuff!

I know that there will be some who’ll
wonder why anyone would drop this kind of money on 128MB of internal RAM,
when one can easily buy a 1GB SD card for under $75. It’s simple really.
Just as you would want the largest amount of RAM on your home computer, you can
get the same type of benefits from a larger amount of internal RAM in your
Pocket PC. Internal RAM is what makes a computer run faster and better, and it
will do the same for your iPAQ or other Pocket PC device.

Price: $199
Read the 90 day warranty terms
here.

Pros:
Doubled internal RAM
Increased performance in many areas
No decrease to battery life – mine has actually increased

Cons:
Voids factory warranty
It’s not cheap

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

Pocket PC Techs’ HP iPAQ hx4700 Series 64MB to 128MB Internal RAM Upgrade Service Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 9, 2004 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
iPaq 3100, 3600, or 3700
series Pocket PCs
 

If you’re like me, you probably snatched up one of the iPaq PPCs when they
first came out. You probably also discovered that in order to do all the things
that an iPaq was famous for, you needed battery life. Unfortunately, the
3600 and 3700 series
PPCs only came with 950 mAh batteries. It wasn’t until the 3800 series that
Compaq decided to increase battery capacity and memory size, but at a cost of an
additional arm and leg! I didn’t have any to spare so I bought a H3635 and made
do. So what did one do if one had a 950mAh battery in one’s iPaq? Well, you
probably operated at very low backlight levels if any at all or you may have
purchased an Expansion Pack Plus with an additional battery. Unfortunately the
external battery on the Expansion Pack Plus only trickle charges the internal
battery. If the internal battery is already dying, then you are left with two
choices: replace the battery or buy a new iPaq! Not all of us can afford a new
iPaq on a whim so Crayton
Electronics has come to our rescue! They have a very affordable($39.99)
replacement battery made by Zukz that has the added bonus of being higher
capacity at 1600mAh. I have priced a number of competitors and the lowest price
I have seen for the standard 1000mAh replacement battery is $49. Pocket PC
Techs, Inc. is a great company that offers a 2000 mAh battery that uses
Hyperdrive technology that claims to double battery life compared to the
950/1000 mAh batteries, but I’ll leave it to you if you want to spend an
additional $60-$90 for that technology.

Hardware Specifications:

Battery Technology: Li-Ion, 3.7 Volts 1600 mAh Brand New
Zukz.com Brand.
12 month warranty from Zukz.

When I first received the battery, I was surprised at how tiny it was. Here
are some shots next to items for size comparison:

Here is a view from the top and on my H3635:

Installation:

So if you are intimidated by breaking into the seemingly
fragile case and installing the battery, don’t be. If I can do it, so can you!
Before you do anything, I strongly recommend that you do a FULL backup of all
data on your iPaq.

HP has a great Whitepaper that explains how to Backup &
Restore on your iPaq and you can find it

here.

While you are buying the battery from Crayton Electronics,
I suggest you go ahead and get the T-6 Torx from them if you don’t already have
it. You’re definitely going to need it.

If you want a quick guide to replacing the battery, Crayton Electronics
offers it

here.

If you want a detailed procedure on battery replacement, go to

http://www.ipaqrepair.co.uk/ipaq_repair.php for a list of great repair
guides or click

here. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read the documents.

Results/Performance:

The battery charged to 100% after 3 hrs. I didn’t have time
to perform a barrage of tests, but hopefully you will get a sense of how long
the battery will last from my functional tests.

If you want to compare times to original specs, HP has a
great iPaq Battery Explanation

here that has tables of expected battery life in hrs based on what backlight
and audio modes you are operating in.

For my test, I had a:

IPaq H3635 with a Whitney CF sleeve(no external battery)
SanDisk ConnectPlus 128MB CF memory/802.11b Wi-Fi Card

Here is what I did:

1. I changed my backlight setting to medium for the
   duration of the test.
2. Using the Wi-Fi card, I copied 60MB of MP3s from my
   desktop to my CF memory on the same card.
3. I started WMP and played the MP3s in the background for
   the duration of the test.
4. I then used Activesync to synchronize wirelessly with my
   desktop.
5. I composed some emails through Pocket Outlook.
6. I accessed my Hotmail account with Pocket IE and
   composed some more emails.
7. I opened MSN Messenger and did some IM with
   friends/family

After 1hr and 30 minutes of this continuous activity at
medium brightness, I still had ~70% battery left!

In my 2^nd test, I set the brightness to
Super-Bright and left the iPaq idle. I had already been using the iPaq on and
off throughout the day at medium-bright and my battery meter was reading 80%. At
Super-bright, it took 16 minutes to drain another 10% of the battery. This
approximates to ~2hrs to drain down to 40% battery capacity from a full charge.
I think it reasonable to say that this meets if not exceeds the original specs
for this brightness level.

Conclusions:

This is definitely a great way to extend the life of your
iPaq workhorse that has already given you years of service and at a very
affordable price!

Price: $39.99

Pros: 
Very reasonable price
Easy to install
More battery life/capacity than stock 950mAh

Cons: 
Less battery life/capacity
than other more expensive competitors
Minimal documentation

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

1600 mAh iPaq Replacement Battery Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 11, 2004 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
02/T-Mobile/AT&T SX56 Pocket PC Phone Edition

As anyone who owns a Pocket PC Phone Edition can tell you, this device is one
awesome example of what happens when convenience and practicality converge. The
only area in which I personally feel that this PDA falls short, is in its
inclusion of only 32MB RAM. For those of you that don’t understand the
ramifications of this, let me put it in layman’s terms: The Pocket PC’s
operating system is included in the Read Only Memory (ROM). The data and
additional programs that you choose to add are what fill the Random Access
Memory (RAM), which as I stated before, is 32MB in this unit. There is a gotcha,
though: of the 32MB, roughly half is allocated for storing the data and
programs, and the other half is allocated for actually  running programs
and loading
associated data. To sum it up, a 32MB machine is actually more like a
16MB machine in many ways.

Most Pocket PC users will find this number too constrictive after adding a
few programs, and as a power-user I found it stifling. Even though I bit the
bullet and purchased a 256MB SD card, I still found that there were some
programs that really needed to be installed and run from my main memory…and
the 16MB that was available just wasn’t cutting it.

If there was ever a time when I needed a RAM upgrade, this was definitely it.
As in the past, I turned to someone that I was familiar with: Mack and Leonard
at Pocket PC Techs. Over the years,
Mack has done several upgrades for Julie and I, and I knew that the company he
has formed with Leonard would be the only place I would trust to do work on my
PDA.

One of the biggest concerns I had regarding the upgrade was that the fabulous
battery life I enjoyed with the phone edition would be a thing of the past, once
my memory had been quadrupled. Here are two battery life tests that I ran before
sending my phone edition in for the upgrade.

First, I  played MP3s in a continuous loop, with the volume on mute, and my backlight off. I was very impressed to see that I got slightly over eight hours before the MP3 player quit – trying to conserve what little battery power was left. Since we all know that MP3 playback is especially taxing on a PDA’s battery, I felt this was the most rigorous test I could perform. Worth noting is the pathetically small amount of memory I still had available – even with my 256MB card being loaded past the halfway mark. Obviously, something needed to be done, and I was ready for Mack & Leonard to take care of my problem.

While I was telling Julie about my surprisingly good results, we both
suddenly got paranoid that since I had kept my PDA on mute, for some reason it
might not have had to lay out as much juice as it would have had it been playing
out loud or pushing a set of speakers. Sooooo, to verify my results, I drained
my battery again with another test. This time, I obtained these results while
playing MP3s in a continuous loop through speakers, with the backlight off.

Not too shabby! Once again, I got slightly over eight hours. I figured I
could be happy with the upgrade, even if it meant giving up an hour of battery
life. Of course, I was hoping that I wouldn’t really have to.

With much excitement, I boxed up my phone edition and sent it in. About a
week later, my baby was back…with 128MB of glorious memory!

According to the PPC Tech website, "PPC2002 does not support the 128MB
natively, so our proprietary driver is still required.  We have also found that
by using our driver, the data transfer rate is substantially faster when saving
to our disk instead of the normal internal RAM
storage."
 
What this means is that on my phone edition, it appears as if I now have an
almost 64MB PDA…

As to the other 64 MB? It is located in the T2T disk, which now shows up as a new and separate drive in my File Explorer. When I load applications onto my Pocket PC, I can now do it either directly to my main memory, or into the T2T Disk.

Also included with the upgrade is the T2T Disk Utility, which allows you to
see the available RAM in the T2T Disk as well as perform different functions.

All of these new improvements were well and good…but the nagging question
of how my battery life had been affected still begged to be answered.

Well, I am pleased to tell you that the memory upgrade didn’t do much damage!
In this table, you can see what happened when I repeated my test that involved
playing MP3s in a continuous loop through speakers, with the backlight off.

I got over seven and a half hours of use! Obviously, I could have gotten at
least 20 minutes more, but I have to admit that by now all of this battery
draining is making me nervous. Of course, the good news is that I know if I do
wind up killing my battery in the future, the PPC Tech guys would be the ones
that could fix it!

One downside to the entire upgrade is that doing this will void your
warranty, so you have to consider that before you take the plunge. Balancing
that is the fact that I am confident that Mack and Leonard could fix just about
anything that might go wrong in any PDA. They have definitely earned that
respect from me!

As you can imagine, the 
Pocket PC Phone Edition
upgrade to 128MB is expensive. If you are the type that won’t carry a PDA
longer than 4 months, then this upgrade might not be something you would even
consider. But if you are the type that finds a particular PDA after careful
research, purchases it, and then uses it for at least a year – then I would
highly recommend that you bite the bullet and do this.

Price: $299.00
64MB upgrade is also available for $129.00

Pros:

Quadruple the RAM without a memory card
Professional and timely service
Upgrade doesn’t affect battery life that badly

Cons:

Expensive – but I believe it is worth it for a PDA you plan on using for at
least a year

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

Pocket PC Techs 128MB Upgrade for the PPC Phone Edition Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 2, 2002 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Compaq iPAQ 31/36/37/3800 series Pocket PCs

I feel like singing "nanny nanny noo noo" while I wiggle my fingers and put my
thumbs in my ears! Why, you ask? Because I am the proud owner of the very
first 256MB Compaq 3835 iPAQ Pocket PC! Yes, you read that correctly, 256
wonderful megabytes that are mine, all mine!!!! Ok, I’ll try to contain
myself long enough to tell you more about this upgrade that you too can have…
for a price!

You may have read our earlier reviews of the
64MB upgrade and
128MB upgrades as performed
by Times2 Tech. Judie was the lucky one
to get the 128MB upgrade for her iPAQ, so after I purchased my 3835 unit, I
fired off an email to Mack at Times2 Tech to see if there was any way to upgrade
my Pocket PC to 256MB. Although they had already been doing 256MB upgrades on
the 36/3700 series iPAQs, they had yet to perform one on the new 3800 series. Of
course, I was more than happy to sacrifice mine to be the guinea pig! ) Judie
was super jealous when I told her about it… Even though she doesn’t use an
iPAQ anymore, she wished she could have the upgrade on her Casio E200.

Before I go any further, here’s a little background about the team that makes
these Pocket PC memory upgrades possible. The ‘team’ is actually comprised of
two separated companies: Times2 Tech and
Portable Computer Enhancements (PCE2000).  They joined forces and
talents to do memory (and other) upgrades for Pocket PCs. So, no matter which
company you go with for memory upgrades, you’ll see that they share the same
pricing structure and great service.

Typically, you ship your iPAQ to them, and about 4 days later, you’ll receive
your upgraded iPAQ back to your door! Super fast service! I also found that both
Mack from Times2 Tech and Leonard from PCE2000 were always very quick to respond
to my emails.

Although it usually only takes 4 days to get your unit back to you, it took
mine a few weeks. That’s because it was the very first 3800 that they had worked
with. This new model iPAQ has a different motherboard which required some
detective work to find the right trace that enabled the extra 128MB.

After this ‘problem’ was solved, they were able to use a new upgrade process
that they developed that enables the use of lower priced memory chips instead of
really expensive hi-capacity memory chips. They named this process the
Stacked Memory Upgrade because that’s exactly what they do, stack chips!

As you can see from the images above, the leads of the chips are bent in a
special way so that they can be stacked and soldered together. Below you can see
an actual picture of two stacked and soldered chips.

By itself, the Compaq iPAQ is only capable of recognizing a maximum of 64MBs
of memory. To get around this restriction, a special software driver must be
installed to allow the rest of the memory to become available. The driver is
very small (37k). Once it is installed (Times2 Tech or PCE2000 do this for you
before sending back your unit), the Asset Manager and Memory Manager will still
only show 64MB, but the additional 192MB will show in File Explorer as "T2T
Disk". Think of it and use it just like you would SD or CF cards that show up as
"Storage Card" or "Storage Card2" in the file manager when you copy files, or
when you install software using ActiveSync.

If you ever have to do a hard reset on your PDA, you will need to install the
driver again before you can access the extra memory. Also, any data on the
T2TDISK will not be erased unless a hard-reset is performed.

Other than displaying the total memory and total memory free on the T2TDISK,
the driver is also a utility that allows you to format, rename the disk from
T2TDISK to something else, and perform memory tests.

I’ve had my upgraded iPAQ back for a little over a week now and I have to say
that I absolutely love all this extra memory. I find that I’m not using the CF
sleeve much at all now. I’ve been installing all my applications on the T2TDISK
and leaving the regular 64MB of RAM alone. If I want to listen to MP3′s or read
ebooks, I save them to my 128MB SD card. This practice has been working well for
me so far and I really like carrying the naked iPAQ!

Of course, you will probably be wondering if this upgrade will have any
effect on battery life… The guys at Times2 Tech and PCE2000 told me that based
on their 3600 series testing, power on usage would be reduced by about 5% or
less. However, suspend time will be shortened considerably. On the 3600/256,
suspend time on a full battery is 3 days max instead of 4 to 5 days on
unmodified units.

I’m in the process of doing some of my own tests with my upgraded 3835. This
review will be updated as more data is collected (I’m having Judie do some tests
with her unmodified 3835 as a comparison).

My first test was to totally charge the iPAQ (naked, without any sleeves) and
then to record the battery percentage as displayed in the Power Settings
application every 2 hrs. The only steps I performed were to turn the unit on,
navigate to the Power app, record the battery percentage and turn the unit off.
Here are my results:

Judie did the same test on her unmodified 3835, and here are the results:

For my 2nd test, I decided to see how much life I could get out of one charge
with regular usage. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far on this charge (I’ll
update again tomorrow). The test was started with a full charge and with a CF
sleeve 256MB CF card installed the whole time.

Three hours sure doesn’t sound like much, does it? But unfortunately, It’s
only about 25mins less than what I remember getting with my 3650.

Remember at the beginning of this review when I said that you too could have
this upgrade, for a price? Well, the price for this mod is quite hefty… at
$499, this isn’t going to be something that everyone will want or be able to
afford. Heck, it’s $100 less than the price of the 3835 itself! That said, this is another one of those mods that diehard iPAQ people drool over. 
Just like a car enthusiast is always looking for something that will make his
engine faster, the extreme PDA enthusiast is always looking for things that make
his or her PDA stand out and push the limits. So, if you have the cash and need
a memory fix, this is really the ultimate! On the other hand, if you don’t have
that much cash, you can always by the largest SD memory card that you can
afford.

(If you don’t have an iPAQ and are interested in memory upgrades for your
Pocket PC, be sure and check their respective sites to see the upgrades
available for your model)

Price: $499 (includes 2nd day return shipping)

Pros:
Professional, quick and excellent workmanship
More memory for storing programs, applications, e-books, MP3s, etc.

Cons:

Very expensive
Voids your Compaq warranty
Shortens idle battery time

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

Times2 Tech / PCE2000 256MB iPAQ Upgrade Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 23, 2002 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Compaq iPAQ 3600/3100 Series

Updated 09/22/01 – new comments are in RED

Compaq created a monster when they produced their new iPAQ Pocket PC
last summer. Intrigued by its futuristic shape, multi-media capabilities, fast
processor, and promises of expansion; hundreds of thousands of ordinary people
gave the new PDA a chance. A percentage of this group found that instead of
simply gaining a new business tool that they could manage their schedules and
contacts with; they were sucked into a whole new sub-culture…one in which the
shiny PDA became an extension of their brain, and a necessary part of their
day-to-day function. Let’s call this group the "10%ers"…

Could you be a member of the 10%ers? Maybe…
1. There has to be a moment when you wake up one day and realize that you have invested
as much or more in your iPAQ and its accessories, as you would have spent – had
you simply bought a note-book computer. 
2. There has to be an almost rabid defense for this spending; because
even if you had bought that note-book computer, you would have never
carried it everywhere, as you do your iPAQ.
3. You have to genuinely care for your iPAQ as an extension of
yourself…many 10%ers will give their iPAQ a nick-name. Some will even install
.wav files, so that it seems as if their iPAQ is talking back to them when they
enter a command. A 10%er will freak out if he or she doesn’t know where
their iPAQ is, at any given time.
4. A 10%er doesn’t fret about the size of different iPAQ expansion sleeves -
they tend to quickly adapt and accept that with expanded capability comes
certain sacrifices. That doesn’t mean that a 10%er doesn’t sometimes wish that
the sleeves weren’t so necessary for such mundane things as additional memory,
though.
5. 10%ers spend a good couple hours each day scouring all of the available
Pocket PC bulletin boards, looking for accessories and upgrades that will make
their "babies" even more awesome.
6. A 10%er actively gives back to the Pocket PC community. They are the ones
that take time to give constructive answers for those that are stumped.
Newbies appreciate 10%ers, because they generally will not mock their
inexperience or ignorance.
7. A 10%er will dream up modifications for his or her iPAQ and its
accessories. They will think of what can be improved – and they will find a
way to do it. If others are interested, they will make this service
available to them.
8. A 10%er knows the difference between 1.77, 4G08, 28F128, Merlin, &
Rapier; and what the specifics were with each version of the iPAQ series: 3630,
3650, 3635, 3670, 3135, 3150, and any others…
9. A 10%er doesn’t care if others understand their obsession or not, they will
figure that the outsider just "doesn’t get it".
Especially since there are enough other 10%ers that "do".
10. A 10%er can never have too much memory. Don’t believe me? Then you
are not a 10%er.

With that said, I want to introduce a new service to you, one that is not for
the average iPAQ owner. This service is for the power-user: a true
card-carrying 10%er.

Some of you might be familiar with Mack
Baggette and his company Times2 Tech,
from the 64MB iPAQ upgrade
review that Julie and I wrote together several months ago. What you may not be
aware of, is that there are some other iPAQ upgrades and improvements that Mack
and his co-workers offer. 

I recently had three major services done to my 3670: I had the screen
cleaned and sealed, my stylus latch switched out with a custom aluminum
replacement, and I had my memory upgraded to 128MB.

So what possessed me to void my Compaq warranty on a relatively new iPAQ? It
really wasn’t that hard of a decision to make…

I have had my 3670 since March – I was thrilled to have a factory model with
64MB built in, but it didn’t take long to realize that some of the issues I have
had with my other iPAQs were still evident with this newest one. 

For starters, even though I could see the yellow tape – that Compaq installs
to seal the newer iPAQ’s screens – when I peered through the stylus hole; I still
had dust appear after a couple of months. This is probably because there was
a gap in the taped area at the top of my screen (viewable only through the
stylus hole) that white light just poured out of.  

With my other "older" iPAQs, I had experienced great success with
the "hair
fishing" dust-removal method I learned about from Dale
Coffing’s bulletin board. But with the yellow tape on my 3670 – it was near
impossible to do this. Since I did have the previously mentioned gap, I was
still able to manage some "fishing"; but with very limited success.
There was this huge dust-bunny that I could not get rid of. It
seemed like when I would go to sleep it grew…and every time I looked at it, it
was mocking me. I had resigned myself to living with it – until my stylus
latch also went out. 

That’s when I decided I would get Compaq to fix it all in one go. My 3670 was
still under warranty, and I knew the latch was a warranty item. I soon found out
however, that my huge speck of dust did not qualify for a screen clean. Since I
don’t have a Care-Paq, I didn’t have any strings to pull. 

This is the point when I realized that unless I had some huge motherboard
issue, the Compaq warranty probably wasn’t going to matter much to me in the
long run. Once I hit that point, deciding to completely void my
warranty by getting the 128MB memory upgrade I had recently heard about was
a "no-brainer". I decided that this was a good time to explore all of the services
and upgrades that Mack was offering. 

Since I know that there are people out there that have heard of these
services but aren’t sure what they involve, or what the results will be like: I
have once again offered up one of my iPAQs as a guinea pig.  

So without further ado, lets talk about these services and upgrades…

Screen Clean & Seal:
According to the Times2 Tech web page, they don’t guarantee that they will
remove all your iPAQ’s dust. They recommend that this service be done
"only on very dusty units". When you "only
have a few particles of dust then we will seal the screen to try and prevent
further dust, but we won’t attempt to clean it." 

Well, I didn’t have a lot of dust – but I did have that one massive
beast and a couple of its smaller offspring – and I am happy to report that they
are now all gone. Honestly – it was getting to the point that I almost gave that
dust-ball a name! 

Now my screen is essentially dust-free. I say essentially, because there is
still one tiny speck at the bottom left. Since I can’t even see it except when I
am being overly critical and holding my back-lighted iPAQ at an angle and
peering down – I hardly think that that speck counts.

So what exactly did Mack do to my screen? 

After dismantling my iPAQ and cleaning what dust he could, the screen was
then re-sealed, but not completely. 

Mack informed me that "We only cover the major corner open areas. And
leave the holes on the back of the light itself open."
I think that this is important, because a question had been raised in the past
about whether there needed to be some open areas left in the screen, due to heat
and condensation issues from the iPAQ’s backlight.

Mack says that "Compaq actually does a better job now than they used
to since they cover all 4 corners now", but I guess that must be
something they just started doing. My March model certainly didn’t have that
type of protection. In fact, looking down the stylus silo, it looked more like
only the sides were sealed, since I had that huge gap in the corner.

I no longer have a gap in the yellow sealing tape; so I am hoping that there
will never be any new dust. In a couple months, I will post an update to let
everyone know how it’s going.

Prices:  
Screen Clean and Seal w/Memory Upgrade $25
Screen Clean and Seal without upgrade $50

Pros:

Better sealed screen – no evident gaps

Cons:

Might not get all of your dust out, but should keep any new from coming in
Voids your Compaq warranty

Stylus Latch Replacement:
The stylus latch will eventually break down and stop working over a
period of time in just about every iPAQ out there. It appears to be a known
issue, and it is something that is covered by the Compaq warranty. 

That said: How many of you out there have put off sending in your iPAQ for
the stylus latch repair, because everything else was working fine and you saw no
reason to do without your iPAQ for something so minor, yet so aggravating?

Through a true exhibition of cooperation, two competing companies worked
together to find a common solution. Times2 Tech and PCE2000,
another iPAQ upgrade company, have shared the expense of  fabricating an
aluminum latch and are offering it to iPAQ owners .

With the Times2 Tech Stylus Latch upgrade, you don’t actually have to send in
your iPAQ to upgrade to an aluminum latch. Of course, if you are having other
services done to your iPAQ, you might as well have this done at the same time.

This is what the Aluminum Stylus Latch looks like:

Picture courtesy of Times2 Tech and PCE2000

Mack offers his custom latch as a part of a kit that you can purchase and
then install yourself. Included in the kit are: Detailed, illustrated
instructions and all of the tools and components you will need to do the upgrade
yourself, an (1) Anti-Static wrist strap, (2) Thin tipped tweezers to lift out
screws and components that you cannot grasp with your fingers, (3) Torx
screwdriver – size T-6 – to remove the bottom cover screws, a (4) Case Utility
Tool to separate plastic parts, (5) Two Kapton Insulation Shields (you only will
need one), and the (6) Stylus Lock Replacement Part.

Here is what the kit looks like:

Picture courtesy of  Times2 Tech and PCE2000

Since my iPAQ was going in for the screen clean and memory
upgrade, I was happy to have the stylus latch changed out by Mack himself. 

I thought it would be interesting to see how his latch
interacted with my stylus, and if it held it in as securely as the Compaq latch
used to. In my opinion, it does as well or better! I tried using both an
original Compaq stylus and the DJ stylus
that I use every day, and both were held securely and ejected smoothly. 

There are some cosmetic differences between the original stylus
latch and the Times2 Tech aluminum one. Namely, that the Times2 Tech version is
a bit more angular. You can easily see this in these photos:

 

Original Compaq latch vs. Times2 Tech aluminum latch
replacement

It seems as if the new aluminum stylus latch offers a little bit
more resistance when I press it. It feels "tighter", and less
"jiggly" than the original. 

I am interested to see if there are ever any issues of a metal
stylus latch rubbing against a metal stylus; but I think that the new latch
should last very well, and I am very impressed with this upgrade.

09/22/01 – I ordered the Stylus
latch upgrade kit from Mack to install on another iPAQ I own. I was very
impressed with the attention to detail in the instructions that Leonard, from
PCE2000 wrote!!

Taking apart my iPAQ was a scary idea; but
I figured that I couldn’t very well recommend telling you all to send off for
the kit, if I wasn’t willing to do it myself. I shouldn’t have worried. The
instructions were clear, the process itself was very straightforward, and I now
have a upgraded latch! This latch makes all the difference in the world if you
are worried about keeping your stylus in place.

I was surprised to find that the
"spring" every one talks about inside the silo, is actually just a piece of
extremely thin wire that has been wrapped around a plastic peg a couple times,
and then housed inside the latch itself. I don’t know why, but I was envisioning
a spring where the tip of the stylus sits, like you would find in the bottom of
a ball-point pen!

If you are worried that you have to be a
total computer-tech to do this upgrade, your fears are unfounded. Just be sure
to find a clean place to work, give yourself plenty of time to do this in, and
make a good backup of your iPAQ’s contents. You’ll feel pretty proud of yourself
once you’ve accomplished this! :0)

Prices:  

Stylus Latch Replacement w/Upgrade $25
Stylus Latch Replacement Kit $49

Pros:


Almost indestructible 

Cons:

Voids your Compaq warranty

128MB Upgrade:
Well, here it is…something that I had hoped for, but had never
thought I would own: a 128MB iPAQ. 

Can we just have a moment of silence here…just a moment…
<breathing in…breathing out> I am a little verklempt. Talk
amongst yourselves! 

Okay, I am better now…I think.

When Mack did Julie’s and my 64MB upgrades, I thought I had died and gone to
heaven. I thought it was the ultimate…but once the memory bug has bitten, it
takes hold…and you want more, more, more!! In the beginning, I liked
being able to carry my naked iPAQ with it’s added memory around; but I soon
found that I was once again reaching for sleeves to hold additional memory
cards. 

An early question on all of the iPAQ bulletin boards had been that if it was
possible to upgrade the iPAQ to 64MB, then why not 128MB, or even 256MB?
Unfortunately, it soon became evident that there was a limitation in the iPAQ
that kept it from being able to recognize anything larger than an internal 64MB.

For those of you that aren’t aware of this quirk, let me try to explain it in
layman’s terms: When you have a 32MB iPAQ, there are actually 16MB set aside for
Program Memory, and 16MB set aside for Storage Space. Storage Space is where the
programs reside, and the Program Memory is the memory needed to actually run,
or execute the programs. Likewise on a 64MB iPAQ, 32MB is set aside for Program
Memory, and 32MB for Storage Space. 

For whatever reason, the iPAQ is set up to be able to recognize no more
than a total of 64MB of Program Memory and Storage Space.. 

Obviously this created a problem for those never satisfied 10%ers…But not
for long.

Once again,  Times2 Tech and PCE2000 joined together and shared the expense of creating a driver that would
effectively turn the additional 64MB into a separate disk on an upgraded 128MB
iPAQ. 

This means that the iPAQ will show its 32MB each, for both Program Memory and
Storage Space; but will now also have an additional 64MB available inside
- rather like an additional internal memory card!

Once I became aware that there was a work-around for the iPAQ’s memory
limitation, and once I heard that Mack was now offering a 128MB upgrade, I knew
I had to have it.

When Mack agreed to do the work on my iPAQ; he asked if I minded his swapping
my 3670 motherboard for a 3630 board that he had upgraded to 128MB. For half a
second, I was like, "hmmmmmmm…" Then reality sunk it, and I realized
that it didn’t make a difference! My factory warranty was going to be shot
anyway, and since I knew that Mack had an excellent reputation for both
service and years in business – I figured what the heck?!

One of the requirements for getting an iPAQ to recognize any of the memory
upgrades that Times2 Tech does, is that your iPAQ must be running ROM v1.69
or higher. I found it interesting that they would not only upgrade your ROM
to v1.77 when you sent your iPAQ in for a memory upgrade, but they could even
resuscitate dead iPAQs that had crashed during the consumer ROM upgrade
process. Hey – what a great excuse to send your iPAQ in for a memory upgrade or
service! ;0)

Anyway, I am so glad I didn’t stress over changing out the motherboards  – amazingly enough, the board Mack traded out for mine featured one of those elusive 32MB Flash ROM chips, a 28F128! Holy Cow – I now have a 160MB iPAQ!  As you will notice, there is no mention of the additional 64MB that resides on the Times2 Tech disk in the iPAQ’s Asset Viewer. In order to see that additional memory, you have a couple of options.

When my iPAQ was first returned, I was able to reload all of my programs from a Compact Flash backup that I had performed prior to sending it in.  I next uploaded the driver that Mack had e-mailed to me.  Once installed, I reset my iPAQ, and that was when I saw the "t2tutil" icon.  Accessing the "t2tutil" program is one way that you can view "total" and "free" memory.

Dashboard skin created by Debbie McCormick

The other option is to use a Dashboard plug-in called FreeSpace, created by Tapani J. Otala.

Before we go much further, there are a couple things I would like to mention
about the Times2 Tech Disk Utility program. The first involves the fact that if
you have another name you would like to give to your additional memory disk, you
can. 

Choose the Rename option, enter your desired name, and then perform a soft reset. It’s that simple. I preferred to leave my disk named as it was. You can also Format your T2T Disk from this menu. For the curious, in his own words, this is what Mack told me about the differences between the Fast and Thorough Memory Tests: "The fast memory test just writes 0xff’s to every memory location and checks to see if it reads back as 0xff. The thorough memory test goes through 0xff, 0×00, 0xaa and 0×55 patterns." Also according to Mack, "The Debug mode creates a file in the Temp directory called T2TDisk.log that I can have a customer send to me so that I can possibly diagnose a problem, which I have never had to do so far."

Loading programs to the new disk couldn’t be easier. You simply say
"No" when the installer asks if you want to install in the default
location. You can then choose your new disk.

You will also notice that the T2T Disk is now listed in your program files.
It couldn’t be simpler to move or use files in your new storage area.

In case you didn’t catch that – I have Fade
installed on my T2T Disk. For those unaware of this excellent RPG, it is almost
impossible to load this graphics-intensive game on anything other than a
virtually empty iPAQ or an external memory card. I don’t even have to
"sweat it" with my T2T upgrade – it easily installed with tons of room
left for other games or Mp3s!

I can’t begin to tell you what an amazing service has been done to my iPAQ.
One of the best parts about it all is that I know that Mack stands behind his
work, and if there should ever be a problem with my iPAQ in the future -
even if it is something completely unrelated to the work he has done – he would
be able to find a solution for me. 

Mack does state on his web page that, "If your
unit has a failure
of any kind
please contact
us first as
your warranty
is now through
us and not
through Compaq. If
you send your
unit to Compaq
for any type
of repair, you
will lose your
memory upgrade
and they will
charge you to
repair the unit."

I should also mention that Mack strives for a three-day turn around on his
upgrade service – you won’t be without your "PAQi" for long!

Mack is a true 10%er, and I can’t wait to see what he dreams up
next!!!

Prices:  
You provide the iPAQ 3600/3100 Series 128MB Upgrade $349  
Refurbished 128MB iPAQs are available for $699
As promised: if you upgraded to 64MB previously, Mack provides a discount for
the 128MB according to the schedule on his web page

Pros:

90 day warranty on Times2 Tech’s parts and labor, as well as the
motherboard of your iPAQ
Professional, excellent workmanship
More memory for storing programs, e-books, or Mp3s

Cons:

Voids your Compaq warranty

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

Times2 Tech 128MB Upgraded and Improved iPAQ Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 22, 2001 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Palm m100 series

How many of us are ever satisfied with a PDA as it comes straight from the
manufacturer? How long does it take before we begin looking for ways to
customize it, and make it "ours"; whether that be by adding a new
case, special software, or even a new shell? 

Evidently Palm understood people’s need for personalization when they created
the m100 series, one year ago. Palm made it so that owners could switch out the
faceplates on the m100, to match whatever whim they were feeling on a particular
day. They even created a decent selection for people to choose from…but then they
charged as much as $19.95 for each one, and they were mostly offering
solid colors!

Well, it was only a matter of time before someone stepped up the plate, and
offered the personalization people wanted. PDA
Body-Guard, makers of the PDA Body-Guard line of accessories
I have reviewed here before, have created CoolPlates
for the Palm m100 series of PDAs.

Instead of selling only solid colors (although they do that, too); PDA
Body-Guard is offering some of the craziest, most fun, and yes – the coolest
plates that you could ever want to affix to the front of your Palm. With names
like Party Time, Siamese Cat, and Flower Garden, they have created a plethora of
patterns and designs ensuring that you would be able to pick out your otherwise
plain m100 in a line-up.

I was sent the Angel Sky, Tiger, and Blue Leather designs. 

 
 

These pictures are courtesy of PDA
Body-Guard 

I compared the three CoolPlate samples that I received to the one Palm
faceplate that I own: they were remarkably similar in design, weight, and
construction. I would have no reservation in saying that the CoolPlates seem to
be of comparable quality.

Installing a plate on the front of your m100 is simple; but for those of you
that have never
done it, I’ll walk you through the steps:

First, you need to remove your flip-lid. This is done by grasping the hinge at it’s base, and applying a firm, steady pressure as you tilt the lid down-ward and out.

Next, you grasp the tab on the back-side of your m100 that is attached to the faceplate, and with a steady, but firm tug, gently pull it forward and off. If you are removing a faceplate for the first time - it may be really stiff. It may creak like it’s going to break, and act stubborn and almost refuse to come off. Believe me, it will come off.

To install a new faceplate, hook the grooves on the bottom inside of the shell to the bottom of your m100. Then it is a simple matter of making sure that the tab at the top of the faceplate glides over the power button as you snap the new CoolPlate in place.

You’ll want to make sure that the sides are snapped down, too – so gently squeeze the sides of your m100 and CoolPlate together. Viola – you have achieved personalization!

I purchased a blue faceplate from Palm when they first came out. I paid
$18.99 for it, plus shipping. I figured that would be the last plate I
would buy, because for a plain faceplate – I wasn’t getting much
bang-for-my-buck. 

For $13.95 plus shipping, I could have had any number of FAB designs flitting
across the face of my Palm… Guess which product line I feel is the better
value? ;0)

Price:  $13.95 There are over 50 available
patterns and colors are listed here.

Pros:

Excellent construction, perfectly matched to m100′s body
Priced reasonably

Cons:

None

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm, Palm OS related, Parts

PDA Body-Guard\’s Palm m100 Coolplates Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 20, 2001 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Compaq iPAQ 3650

Isn’t there a saying that "you can never be too rich or too thin?"
Well, I’d like to also add that you can never have too much RAM! The standard
32MB iPAQ is fine as long as you don’t want to carry a bunch of MP3s with you,
or install the multitudes of shareware available. Once you run out of room, you
might start thinking about getting a CF
sleeve. That’s a great accessory, but what if you want your iPAQ to remain
skinny? One solution is the Silver Slider
CF Sleeve modification, and the other is the Times2
Tech iPAQ 64MB upgrade. Times2Tech will take your iPAQ and upgrade its 32MB of RAM
to 64MB of RAM. This will give you plenty of space for several MP3s, or plenty
of applications.

Times2 Tech is a small company that has been in business since 1995. Mack
Baggette, his wife and 3 other workers make up the company. In the
beginning  they did speed and memory upgrades for the HP200LX palmtops.
Since their start, they have done over 5,000 of the HP200LX upgrades. Now they have
to expanded their memory upgrade service to include the iPAQ and other Pocket PCs. 

When Judie and I first heard about the upgrade, we both immediately wanted
it. It wasn’t like either of us ‘needed’ it. I already had a CF sleeve and a
128MB CF card and Judie had the PC Card sleeve and a 2G DataPak. But that didn’t
matter to us, we wanted 64MB iPAQs! Considering that this would give us the
option of being able to go out sans our respective sleeves on occasion, the
upgrade just sounded so attractive.

Julie’s Upgrade Notes:
I packed up Judie’s and my iPAQs and shipped them off to Times2 Tech. I started
going thru withdraw symptoms less than 20mins after I taped up the box.

Luckily the wait was very short. Mack received the PDAs on a Monday and they
were back in my hands by Thursday of the same week! Now that’s service! Mack
hopes to keep up with a 2-3 day turn around. He even accepts overseas and
Canadian orders as long as they are accompanied with the original sales receipt
for customs.

As soon as I got mine back, I tried to power it on but it was dead. So, I
waited till I got home and stuck it in the cradle. But the charger LED wouldn’t
light up indicating it was charging. I was about ready to freak out till I
realized that the hard reset switch was off. So, I flipped it on and the iPAQ
turned on! I really felt like an idiot at the time… 

The first thing I did was go to the memory settings to see the effect of the
upgrade. Lo and behold, my iPAQ was now 64MB!

The next thing I did was check my unit over really good. I was worried about
screen and body scratches. Luckily, my iPAQ was in the same condition as it was
when it left me. I did find something though…. my iPAQ now has 2 new pieces of
dust under the display. I had always had only one dust particle but now I have
3. They are all very tiny and not especially noticeable, but they are
there. 

Then I tried to restore my backup from compact flash. For some reason it
would get to the very end and would give me an error. I was never able to
restore and had to re-install all my programs from scratch. I don’t know if this
had anything at all to do with the upgrade though.

After using my upgraded unit for over a week, I’ve not noticed any problems
at all with stability or battery drain. I can’t tell that there is any
difference with battery life. 

I’m VERY happy with the upgrade and workmanship from Times2 Tech. Mack
answered all my emails in a very timely manner and did a great job! It’s nice to
be able to install more applications directly on the iPAQ so that I can use my
CF sleeve for my CF modem.

Judie’s Upgrade Notes:
What Julie didn’t mention was that we had to wait almost a whole extra week
before we were able to send in our iPAQs for the upgrade. 

Thankfully, my 4G07 3650 model’s stylus latch broke. I say thankfully,
because I was able to send it in for warranty work one last time. Since doing
the 64MB upgrade does void your Compaq warranty, I was a little afraid to take
the plunge, however – since I was nearing the end of my warranty year, I didn’t
have that many misgivings – I wanted 64MB!!

Since I knew this was my last-warranty work, I asked the tech at Compaq if he
could please make sure that they installed the "new" catch, because
the one I had had a history of breaking (it had done so once before). Well, to
my astonishment, the day after I sent my 3650 to Compaq, a new non-model
numbered 4G14(!!) showed up. I almost fell over, because I don’t even
have a Care-paq! (Kudos to Compaq – a great experience, by the way)

Well – not only did this new unit have the fixed latch, it also had zero
dust, and the new ROM upgrade (v1.69) already installed. I figured I was totally
safe for sending it in for the RAM upgrade…now or never, right?

So I sent it Julie, and in the meantime, I waited….

When the modified iPAQ came back – I couldn’t even tell that it had been
cracked! I realize that these guys are professionals, but I was still impressed
that there were no scratches, scrapes, nor new particles of dust on my
iPAQzilla. They truly treated my baby with respect! :0)

There was that "AHHHHH" moment when I first went to the asset
viewer, and saw the System RAM size reading 64MB. There was an "OOOOOOOOH"
second while I looked at the memory slider. 

It seemed as if my iPAQ was a bit zippier, and I did not notice any
difference in battery life. I actually have found myself carrying the naked iPAQ
around, which is something I never did before!

But, in the back of my mind I was a little bummed… as I no longer had my
old iPAQ – I also no longer had my old ROM chip – which had been one of those
32MBs Compaq had stuffed in some of the early iPAQs, when there was a chip
shortage. 

What difference does that make, you might ask. Well, as we all know, Compaq
decided to come out with the v1.77 ROM upgrade this past week. I have read on
some of the popular Pocket PC boards that people with the ROM chip I used to
have were actually showing 32MB ROM after they did the ROM upgrade!
The greedy memory-monster in me wanted to be able to say that I had a 96MB
iPAQ!!! But, since I realized that I wasn’t going to be one of those lucky
folks, I decided to wait til a more "major" upgrade to install v1.77.
My fear was that I might be one of the unlucky ones that performed this
upgrade – only to be rewarded with either the "Parrot of Death",
or the "Blue Screen of Death". With no Compaq warranty, I would
be up the creek without a paddle.

I waited all of two days…

Today, I decided, "What the heck?" and decided to go for it! Julie
and I were in the middle of a chat session while I was doing it, and so she got
to be present while I had my HEART ATTACK as the screen turned blue, and got hung
on the upgrade!!!! All I could think of was how hosed I was! Remembering
that our good buddy Dale
Coffing had posted copious help-notes for the upgrade, I was thrilled to see
that he had a possible fix for the dead screen, too! Believe it or not – his
suggestion worked!

So now, not only do I have the fabulously upgraded Times2Tech 64MB iPAQ, I
have the most current ROM upgrade, also! Ya’ll should razz Julie just a
little…she actually has one of those 32MB ROM chips in her iPAQ, but she is
afraid to do the ROM upgrade because her active-sync connection is a bit
buggy…

One thing I would like you to think about is this: If you have an iPAQ that
is near the end of it’s one-year warranty, if you don’t have a Care-paq, and if
you don’t want to invest an additional $650+ in a new iPAQ with nothing changed
but the memory size (knowing that there may be a 4.0 version out either later
this year or in 2002) this is a great option. 

Mack and the folks at Times2Tech are professional, courteous, and treated my
iPAQ like it is something special. I suppose for the amount of money that I have
invested in it, it certainly deserved to be! Considering the 90 day warranty on
their upgrade, I am confident that if things go buggy they will stand behind
their work.

Price: $149 + return shipping (90 day warranty)

Pros:
Professional, excellent workmanship
Benefits of an iPAQ 3670 without paying for a brand new iPAQ!
More memory for storing programs, e-books, or Mp3s

Cons:

Voids your Compaq warranty

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Parts, Pocket PC

Times2 Tech iPAQ 64mb Upgrade Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 11, 2001 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Palm V/Vx

Sometimes reviewing the same types of products over and over can get a little
boring. Then something new and different comes along to snap me out of my
reviewer’s funk. Personality Packs from Parallel
Design is just such a product.

Personality Packs consist of a clip-on screen cover and a stylus holder that
are available in a wide variety of color combinations. The products are made of
polycarbonate which is a tough and durable plastic. The covers come in either
black non-see thru or translucent styles. Some of the colors available are:
Lime, Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, and Strawberry. There are 12 color
combinations in total.

I think that the design of this clip-on cover is simple and elegant. The
cover slides easily over the top of the Palm V and clips into the small slot in
the back of the case (the same slot that the Palm V modem and other similar
accessories use).

Removing the cover is just as easy as putting it on. You just have to lift
the clip out of the slot on the back of the Palm V and then slide the cover
off. 

When installed the cover lays flat on the face of the Palm V. It is about
1/16th of an inch thick but it does not flex or bend. It does however flip up
via a hinge at the top of the cover. It will open a full 180 degrees but will not
fold back around to the back of the PDA. The cover is very light and only weighs .56 oz.

The hinge has a nice amount of friction to it so that the cover does not fall
open on its own. Even if you hold it upside down, the cover won’t fall open.
It’s possible that the hinge might loosen with use though. But, I’ve been using
the cover for a week now and haven’t had a problem with it.

The translucent covers are nice due to the fact that you can see thru them.
The screen isn’t perfectly clear, but you can see alarm notices etc. I wouldn’t
use to try to look up an address though… unless you use the largest font.

You can also beam and hotsync while this cover is on with no problems.

The only tiny problem that I had with the cover was that I would forget to
turn the power on before opening the cover. It is a little awkward to turn the
unit on when the cover is flipped up.  

The Personality Pack also includes a stylus holder. This little plastic doo-hickey
(for lack of a better term) slides into either of the stylus slots and gives you
a tiny well to put your stylus in. Your stylus won’t snap into this holder, it
just rests in it. So, it is best to use if you are at your desk. You would not
carry your PDA around with the stylus in this holder.

One thing about the holder that I don’t like is that it is a &^#@ to get
out. It fits really snug in the stylus silo. Which gave me an idea that you
could probably put a string thru the hole in the holder and use this to wear the
Palm V around your neck. By the way, Parallel Designs doesn’t advocate
this 

I think it’s about time that someone came up with a hard screen cover for the
Palm V. The Personality Pack is stylish and useful at a price that is
nice. 

Price: $17.99 ($15.99 for clip cover, $2.99 for
stylus holder)

Pros:
Very cool looking
Functional
Protects screen while retaining slim form factor

Cons:
Can’t use the Palm V Modem (and other devices that use the slot on
the back of the Palm V)
Stylus holder difficult to remove

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Case, Palm, Palm OS related, Parts, Screen Protector

Personality Packs for the Palm V/Vx Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 3, 2000 at 12:00 am.

Product Requirements:
Device:
Palm III, IIIe, IIIx, IIIxe, IIIc, IBM WorkPad c5
or TRGpro

It’s time to bring up a product that has been available for a while, but that you may have not yet tried.

I’ve been looking at the goVox Digital Recorder by I-Vox
since it came out last year. I just never thought that I’d really use something like this, so I couldn’t justify spending the money. 

One reason that I didn’t really think I would use this thing was that it reminded me too much of watching shows where some self-absorbed idiot is caught constantly saying, “Note to self…” while talking into his portable voice recorder. It just looked laughable.

Well, one day when I was driving and needed to write a memo, I realized (as I was trying to drive and write), that perhaps that wasn’t the smartest thing I had ever attempted to do. Never mind the fact that I wasn’t really looking at the road, it was mainly that I wasn’t even able to see the screen on my Palm IIIc – which as we all know is notorious for poor visibility outside. “So, note to self…it’s time to reconsider my position on this subject!”

That was when I started to think that maybe a voice recorder wasn’t such a bad idea.

As I said, I knew that Landware had a digital voice recorder flip cover replacement for the Palm III, but I was afraid that like many III accessories it wasn’t going to fit my IIIc, due to its extra length. Well, it does fit. A little differently than it does for the III, however, it’s not bad.

We’ll talk about looks first; then we’ll get into the goVox’s functions.

The first thing that you will notice is that it is gray, which means that it perfectly matches the Palm III. As you are aware, however, the IIIc is black, so there is a difference in color from the lid to the IIIc. It is obvious that you have added something, but it doesn’t look hideous or anything like that.

For comparison’s sake, on the left we have a Palm III and on the right a IIIc, both with the goVox cover installed:

Notice that the Palm III’s face is covered to the bottom of the case, while on the IIIc there is an uncovered area of almost 1/2″. 

The bottom of the IIIc’s scroll button is just slightly lower than the bottom of the goVox. Approximately 1/10 of an inch of this scroll button shows at the bottom, which you can hardly even see in the picture, much less real life. There is certainly not enough showing that would allow this button to be pressed – not that this would turn your Palm on, if it were.

From the side, you can see that the goVox is a bit thicker than the regular Palm IIIc lid. The top of goVox that houses the speaker adds about 3-4mm thickness over the stock flip cover. The bottom part is just about the same as the standard lid.

The top photo is of the stock flip cover, and on the bottom, the goVox:

You might be wondering if installing this “feature-added” lid is going to increase the weight of your Palm. Well, the answer is yes.

The goVox weighs 1.7 ounces (with the included batteries). 

For comparison’s sake, the Palm III weighs 5.7 ounces. The combination of the goVox with the III is 7.4 ounces, of which the goVox is 23%. 

The Palm IIIc weighs 6.8 ounces. The goVox with the IIIc is 8.5 ounces, of which the goVox is 20%.

You will notice a weight and thickness difference if you are switching from the stock flip cover to the goVox. However, if you usually carry your Palm in a case, you will most likely not notice the difference, since your Palm III is now once again a stand-alone item – unless you happen to have a case that is large enough to accept both. 
One item that I would like to point out is that although the goVox is heavy, it did not swing freely when I picked up my Palm IIIc. Instead, it stayed tightly closed, which I feel is a definite “PLUS”.

Here are pictures of the goVox installed and open on both the III and the IIIc:

You’ll notice that in both instances, you still have the same range of motion that you would have had with the standard flip cover.

Now, it’s time to explain the functions of the goVox: 

In the upper right hand corner of the front side, you will find a speaker, and slightly lower on the left, a microphone. This is one of those microphones that you don’t need to be right on top of when speaking. It actually sounds better if you back off a little bit, and talk normally. The speaker is quite audible and clear when you are in a quiet room; however, there is no way to adjust the volume should you need to.

On the far right is the “Record” button. You press it once, and a light will begin flashing, letting you know that you are safe to commence speaking. The instructions said that there would be an accompanying “beep”, however, mine doesn’t do that.

When you are done recording, you push the “Record” button again, and the light will stop flashing. 
You can then press the “Play” button to hear your message. 

When multiple messages have been recorded, you will hear the last recording made being played. You can pause your message by hitting “Play”, and resume by hitting “Play” again. 

Deleting a message is easy – once it has been played, you simply hit the “Delete” button, and you will hear a tone, letting you know that the memo is now gone.

You can skip through your recorded messages while the goVox is turned on, which is done by hitting the “Play” button, yet again, and then either the “Forward” or “Reverse” buttons. 

As you are skipping through the messages, and as the memos are being passed, you will hear a series of beeps. That is your only way to reference that a message has come and gone. 

This is one of the things I think that Landware could improve upon with the goVox. Beeps blipping by do not
give you an accurate way to tell where the message you need ‘right away’ happens to be, if you happen to be toting a large amount of messages. 

Since the goVox is capable of handling either up to 99 messages, or up to eight minutes of recording, this could be a potential problem. 

I tend to only record one or two items at a time, and then erase them once I have transferred them to my Palm, so this really wasn’t a problem for me. But, I can see where this might be a potential problem for someone else.

On the inside of the flip lid, you will find a handy Graffiti alphabet reference sticker, along with a sticker telling you Landware’s web site address and (I assume) their technical support number, which is (201) 261-7944.

As you can see, this is also where you will access the batteries for the goVox. It uses two CR 2032 Li-Mn 3 volts, which are supposed to last for up to three months, with normal use.

So is the goVox right for you? Well, it could be. 

If you don’t want to carry yet another piece of equipment, in this case a portable recorder, it just might be. 

If you are like me, and feel that you have to enter a memo at the exact moment you think of it – then you should do the entire world a favor and make it safer by getting one of these. I am not going to say that it is a perfect product – it is however, a sound solution to a potential safety hazard, and definitely a true convenience.

Price: $54.95

Pros:
Convenient
Replaces stock flip cover

Cons:
Cannot adjust volume
Cannot reference messages with more than a beep
Adds additional weight to your Palm

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm, Palm OS related, Parts

goVox Digital Recorder Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 30, 2000 at 12:00 am.

Hardware Requirements:
Device:
Palm IIIx

Technology Resource Group  (TRG) is well known
for their add-in memory boards for the various Palm OS devices. The xtra xtra Pro,
designed for the Palm IIIx, is the latest in this line. It not only doubles the available
RAM to 8Mb, but also provides an additional 2Mb of non-volatile Flash memory. Bundled with
the xtra xtra Pro is TRG’s FlashPro software, which allows use of unused Flash memory for
applications.

Installation is relatively simple. Online
instructions are available, and the board previously available only with Japanese
packaging, recently became available with English packaging as well. The back cover of the
Palm IIIx must be removed, and the board is then snapped into the available expansion
slot. Once the xtra xtra Pro is installed, onboard RAM is disabled in favor of the RAM on
the xtra xtra Pro, so a HotSync must be performed to restore all user data. According to
TRG, this is a limitation of the IIIx, which can only address a maximum of 8Mb of RAM. Use
of BackupBuddy NG or a similar product is recommended to prevent loss of data.

Current users of FlashPro will find it necessary to reinstall the software, or rerun
FlashPro Setup, so that the software will recognize the newly available Flash. Apparently,
the available Flash is calculated once, during the initial setup of FlashPro. I’ve made
TRG aware of this, for possible inclusion in the installation instructions.

If you’re about at the limit of the IIIx’ 4Mb of memory, and you just can’t bear to
part with those back issues of InterText, then the xtra xtra Pro is the solution to your
problems. The installation plus restore took a total of about 25 minutes for my maxed-out
Palm IIIx. If you can install PC memory, you can install an xtra xtra Pro.  TRG also
offers the Palm IIIx with xtra xtra Pro pre-installed for $469.00.

Price: $99.95

Pros:
Simple Installation.
Provides additional RAM as well as Flash.

Cons:
Current users of FlashPro must reinstall for it to recognize the additional
available Flash.
Requires opening the Palm IIIx case.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm, Palm OS related, Parts

TRG\’s xtra xtra Pro Memory Upgrade Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 24, 1999 at 12:00 am.

Most people won’t argue when I say that the Palm V is a very cool PDA. It looks cool,
it feels cool, it is just downright cool. But, there were loud complaints when it came
out. People moaned that it only had 2meg of RAM and that it could not be upgraded. I could
understand these complaints because I had been using an 8meg Palm III for quite awhile.
Moving backwards to 2meg was / is very difficult. But, I really liked the Palm V for its
size and its great new screen so I settled…

height="181" alt="palmv8-6.jpg (6236 bytes)"/>

Well, there is now some very good news for those of us that bought the Palm V but need more than 2meg of memory. A company called EFIG.com has created an upgrade process for the Palm V that will give it 8meg of RAM. You can either send your Palm V to them to upgrade, or you can buy a new upgraded unit directly from them. Using TRG’s FlashPro you can also take advantage of the 824k of Flash (I tested FlashPro with this upgraded unit and it worked just fine). Here’s a bit of background info on EFIG.com. EFIG has been in business since 1997. They have electronics experience since 1975. Other products that they work with are high speed digital design for consumer and industrial products with a special focus on signal integrity and electromagnetic emissions compatibility.  DVD players and MPEG set-top boxes.

Probably the biggest questions on everyone’s minds are "What does the unit look
like after the upgrade?", "How will the upgrade affect my warranty?", and
"How will it affect my battery life or performance?"

I’ll try to answer each of those questions in order.

"What does the unit look like after the upgrade?"
To upgrade the Palm V, it requires that the two metal shells that make up the case be
separated. These two shells are actually glued together, and not held in place with
screws. That was my main worry, what would the unit look like after it was taken apart and
then glued back together again.

When the unit arrived, I was anxious to carefully look it over. I was sure I’d find some scratches, dents or other signs that the unit had been opened. I was really surprised when I could find no real signs that the two shells had ever been separated. If you look at the picture on the right, you’ll see my non-upgraded Palm V is on top, and the upgraded unit is on the bottom. You can see that there is a slight space between the seam where the two shells meet. In the photos, the space look pretty noticeable but I actually didn’t notice it until I took these pictures.

height="267" alt="palmv8-1.jpg (13496 bytes)"/>

height="312" alt="palmv8-2.jpg (14581 bytes)"/>

Here’s another picture of the other side. You can see the space between the shells on this side as well. Although you can see this, the case does not flex or feel any less solid due to the upgrade. Also, the space between the seam is even and not wider or narrower at different points. I tried squeezing the shells together to see if I could close the gap but the case didn’t budge.

To the right is another view of the bottom seam. I didn’t show pictures of the sides or backs of the units because there wasn’t anything different between the two that I could see. Actually the only place where there was any difference between my non-upgraded unit and the upgraded unit was the bottom seam. As you can see below, I’ve included pictures of the top seams. In these pictures, my non-upgraded unit is on top and the upgraded unit is on the bottom. These seams are perfect. The only thing I found on the upgraded unit was a bit of dried glue on the edge of the seam. Using my fingernail, I was easily able to scrape it off. The power button and contrast button work just fine on the upgraded unit. As does the removal of the styli on either side of the unit.

height="239" alt="palmv8-5.jpg (9243 bytes)"/>

alt="palmv8-3.jpg (16523 bytes)"/> width="328" height="242" alt="palmv8-4.jpg (16015 bytes)"/>

I’d have to say that the workmanship on this unit is terrific. If I didn’t know any
better, I wouldn’t be able to really tell the difference between the upgraded unit and my
unit. If that is your main worry about having the upgrade performed on your Palm V, I
would let you fears rest.

"How will the upgrade affect my warranty?"
The upgrade will void your warranty from 3com. EFIG.com will be supplying their own
warranty. I don’t have any details on this yet.

"How will it affect my battery life or performance?"
Unfortunately, I have only had the upgraded unit for a few hours and must return it soon.
As a result, I won’t have the time to do any real battery testing. EFIG.com has done some
of their own extensive testing. They found that  "active use" battery life
was extended.  But the downside was that an upgraded device will only retain memory
for 41 days compared to 100 days for a standard PalmV when that unit is turned off and not
in use.  You can find more details of their testing at their site.

As for performance, I can’t tell any difference between the two units. They both are
just as snappy at opening and running programs. I ran the same benchmark program that I
used in my Palm V review and came up with the same results
+/- one second.

So, if you have a Palm V should you upgrade it? That really depends on your typical
memory usage. The first thing I would do if you are filling the 2meg is to buy FlashPro (this software will let you use 824k of unused
flash memory). Then if you are still running out of memory, I would definitely consider
this upgrade. I am personally going to have my unit upgraded after seeing the great job
that was done on the review unit that I’ve had.

Price: $249 to upgrade your existing Palm V / $649 for
upgraded brand new Palm V / $40 for optional warranty

Pros:
Upgrades your Palm V to 8meg of RAM
You can’t tell physically the difference between the upgraded model and the non-upgraded
model.
They plan a fast turn around time for the upgrades. In on Monday and out on Thursday.

Cons:
Requires you to send in your Palm V to be upgraded.
Will void your Palm warranty. EFIG.com is preparing a warranty of their own.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm, Palm OS related, Parts

EFIG.com\’s Palm V 8meg Upgrade Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 21, 1999 at 12:00 am.

Ever since we saw the first mysterious clear cased PalmPilot, we have all lusted after
them. Come on, don’t deny it!  Unfortunately, the only way to get one was to be a
software developer or to know someone on the inside. Well, now it’s not as hard
to get your greedy little paws on the ultimate cool case for your Palm III because PalmPilotGear H.Q. has them!

PalmPilotGear H.Q. has both the clear case and flip covers in very limited quantities.

The clear case comes with very detailed easy instructions for replacing your original
grey Palm III casing with the clear casing. Switching out the cases will void your
warranty… so if something goes wrong with your Palm III, you have to switch back to your
original case before you send it in for repair.

Removing the original case and installing the new one, is easy. It took me about 10mins
total to do it. It was just a matter of removing the four screws, taking off the back of
the case, popping out the PDA guts, and slapping everything back together in the clear
case. You don’t even have to take out the batteries to do it!

After you’re finished, you have a very nifty invisible Palm III. The clear
case is exactly like the original casing only clear and smooth (not rough textured).

The feel of the case is a less rugged feeling. With mine, I found that there was a
little bit of give to the case when I squeezed it in my hand. With the original casing, I
did not notice this. It was very minimal, but I’m pretty picky.

The clear flip cover is neat because it lets you see what alarms are going off without
first lifting the cover… but, you still have to lift the cover to turn the Palm III off
or acknowledge the alarm. Although the underside of the flip cover has the indentation for
the graffiti sticker, it is still easy to see through.  The only bad thing about the
flip cover is that it is easily scratched and scuffed. I put the Palm III with the clear
cover in a RhinoPak 2000 case with the Delorme Earthmate.  When I took them out I
noticed that the flip cover was all scratched up. The rest of the clear casing wasn’t
though…

The clear case / cover are a neat alternative to the original casing and the price
isn’t too bad.  I wish the casing was a little bit more rugged. Maybe if it had the
same rough texture of the original casing, I’d like it better.  What I think would be
really cool would be an aluminum replacement casing just like the original.  
Ultimately, I went back to my original casing. Not for any real reason, other than I just
like the feel of it better.

Price: $44.95 (clear case w/flip cover), $9.95 (flip cover
only)
(This item is currently not available but is expected in the
Spring of 1999 at PalmPilotGear)

Pros:
Looks cool.
Doesn’t require a hard reset to install it.

Cons:
Flip cover scratches easily.
Case is a bit more flexible than the original.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm, Palm OS related, Parts

Clear Palm III Case Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 8, 1998 at 12:00 am.