Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

The 16mb Flash Module from Hagiwara-sys is currently available in Japan and Singapore for about $133US. I received an email from a rep at Hagiwara indicating that the Module should be available in the US by the end of January (text found below). For those unfamiliar, the 16mb Flash Module does what the current Handspring 8mb Flash Module does, with twice the capacity and apparently with less than twice the cost.

For those that cannot wait, you can obtain one from vendors in Japan if you are willing to send a fax copy of your passport with ordering instructions (I have not found vendors in Singapore willing to sell to USA addresses). Use a web translator (or for those that can read Japanese)and go to:

http://www.visavis.co.jp/


Text response from Hagiwara:
_________
Thank you for your inquiry.

We are talking to Online shops for the distribution in the states. Shipping date will be Early of Jan, if everythins's going well.

As for the cost, please wait till we finalize the condition with Palmgear. What I can tell you right now is the price is lower than amount of 2pcs of Handspring 8MB module.

Thanks for your patience and will keep you posted.

MOTO

MOTO WATANABE
Overseas Sales
Hagiwara Sys-Com Co.,Ltd.
2-4-3 Nishiki, Nakaku, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0003 JAPAN
Phone:81-52-223-1301 Fax:81-52-223-1303




For those interested in the CompactFlash Module (which cannot run apps directly), the Matchbookdrive.com site is back up at:
http://www.matchbookdrive.bizland.com/home/


-Regards.

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 384

A 16mb module will be perfect!

Man, I need a lot of memory.

__________________
Fat's

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 118

Matchbook Drive - not shipping?

I've been following the news on the Matchbook drive, and it appears that the original news on it was not entirely accurate. The original design called for the CF card to be enclosed completely, and for the module to be the same size as the normal plastic spacer.

The design neglected to take into account the length of some connector, so the revised design now is a short CF adapter, of the type that has been discussed on board for about 3 months. The price for pre-orders is still the same, but I think that the new price for regular orders will go up. Also, the new shipping date is the beginning of Feb 2001, as the redesign has affected production/shipping.

It still seems like a decent unit, for those of us who don't want to fabricate our own. Does anybody have more recent/accurate info?

Tucson Sailors

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

MatchbookDrive up-to-date INFO

After speaking with the founder of MatchbookDrive today, I may be in a good position to answer some lingering questions that people may have.

The initial offer that MatchbookDrive publicized is no longer in effect due to unforeseen price overruns in production. This is partly why the original website was taken offline.

The module itself has also been slightly redesigned. In the original design, once the CF Card was seated, it was intended to be there permanently. The CF Card is now removable. This redesign cuts both ways. You can obviously use the CF Card in multiple components. However, the weakest link in this module (according to the founder of MatchbookDrive) is the connection between the CF Card and Module pins. Therefore, care must be taken not to bend the pins upon seating. To facilitate this, the Module case is now clear.

The CF Card will seat 3.3mm above the Module case. This WILL NOT interfere with the removable handspring hard shell case. As for interference with other cases, the jury is still out. I will let you know when I have one in hand.

The anticipated release price is $35 to $45 including shipping. The anticipated release date is February 7th.

The website for MatchbookDrive is:
http://www.matchbookdrive.bizland.com/home/

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: May 2000
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 6

Does the Japanese 16 MB have a Japanese Localized File Mover?

If so, can one download an English version? I live in Tokyo and I'm trying to decide whether to buy a 16MB or buy an 8MB from the States with a coupon, e.g., Staples, Buy.com, OfficeMax, etc.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Oxford, OH
Posts: 60

If you are interested in having one of these now, the instructions to build one on Kopis's site are very clear. I have not soldered in a hugely long time, but thought I might try it just for the fun factor... after about $30 for the short adapter, and another $4 for the module housing... some wire, and a little time, I buit my own. It is actually pretty easy. From the time I sat down to my desk, to the time I put it in the visor working, was a little less than an hour. And you get an added bonus of having your friends tell you that you are going to fry out your expensive toy... and then amaze them when you don't. This leads to much bragging rights with your visor friends.

The short adapter actually is pretty strong, and I am not too worried about bent pins, it all depends on how you construct it I suppose. I would suggest trying to build one, it is not too hard.
-Russ

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

Re: Does the Japanese 16 MB have a Japanese Localized File Mover?

quote:

---

Originally posted by stodghill
If so, can one download an English version? I live in Tokyo and I'm trying to decide whether to buy a 16MB or buy an 8MB from the States with a coupon, e.g., Staples, Buy.com, OfficeMax, etc.

---

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 3

The Hagiwara 16MB Flash is supposed to auto-detect the language of the Visor and set it appropriately (Japanese or English).

I bought one of these a week or so ago (I live in Japan). The instructions are printed in both English and Japanese with the file mover app displaying both English & Japanese screens.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

MatchbookDrive site updated

Looks like the final price of the MatchbookDrive is $35 + $2 shipping with a promotional $5 discount for the first 250 modules sold as of today.

Also, the shipping date has been bumped up a little to Feb 15th.

URL for more info:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~khudsonllb2/Order.html

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: May 2000
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 6

Japanese 16/8 Meg

Do the eight meg units also have the English file mover?

I'm not sure I need all 16 megs.

Russell Stodghill

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

16mb Hagiwara Module received!

I received my 16mb module from Japan today. EMS even delivered it on Sunday. The FileMover software is in English. The instructions are in Japanese and English. Thus far the module works great with no major differences between the 16mb and 8mb Handspring module with the big exception that this module lists 15.8mb of free space on the module.

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 16

Availabilty of 16 mg flash

Any idea when the 16mg flash module will be available in the US?

Jo

Registered: May 2000
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 6

I bought the 16 Meg module a couple of days ago. The space is great but I've been having some serious problems with conflicts.

I'm not sure what caused it though I suspect it was the way hacks are handled by one of those two new hackmaster replacements. Today any time I inserted the module I would get an error message that locked up the Visor. Eventually, after a hard reset I figure out that if I inserted the module while on a launcher screen while holding up the scroll key it would install the FileMover software. It was still periodically crashing though now I seem to have worked out the kinks by moving everything except for large database files back on to the machine itself. I can't really figured out what caused it and I'm a little afraid to find out.

Does anyone know if there are issues with Launcher III and the FlashROM? It seems to have given me trouble so now I'm test driving a lot of alternatives. I'm leaning towards Handscape but I think my Japanese OS is causing it to lock up.

Two questions about moving things to the Flash:
I want to backup the files in the regular memory. At times this causes two copies to appear in the Launcher so I'm worried about conflicts. Advice?

Do hacks run out of flash? What will not?

If anyone is interested I can pick them up a module at retail plus shipping from Japan. I'll get points on my Sakuraya card which can be used towards later purchases.

Registered: May 2000
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 6

I should make it clear that in fact the native operating system of my device is English. I am running CJKOS for Japanese display. I think it is conflicting with the screen handling routines of handscape.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 384

about the module

Hey stodghill, I don't know about the 16mb module, but I can tell you some of the experiences I have had with 8mb module. Hacks and Hackmaster are both bad things to store in the module. I think my visor locked-up on me when I attempted to run hacks and hackmaster from the module.

Also, one of the things that can cause an error message on the visor is to have an module-stored application running when you are attempting to remove the module. Regarding Launcher III, what I did was to store the Launcher III on the module, pulling out the module will cause my platium to defaut to the peference screen, but will not crash the visor.

Oh by the way, how much in US$ is the 16mb module?

[Edited by Fat_Man on 01-29-2001 at 11:30 PM]

__________________
Fat's

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 384

16mb Hagiwara Module!

quote:

---

Originally posted by DocVisor
Thus far the module works great with no major differences between the 16mb and 8mb Handspring module

---

__________________
Fat's

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

No more space constraints

The 16mb Hagiwara Module is an absolute medical must-have. I have 12 handheldmed books (including Merck) and Lexi (mega DB) on the module and I still have about 3mb left. I left 5mcc on the internal memory. Also, all applications seem to run quicker with more free memory.

Noted elsewhere, the current versions of SkyScape products run without incident from the flash module.

As far as overall stability, I have noticed a few problems in conjuction with the custom icon feature of SilverScreen 1.8 and removing and inserting the module...but nothing too serious. I had a few crashes initially but I believe this was due to the above launcher program. After this was resolved, I have not had any further problems.

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

Scans and Screen Shots of Hagiwara 16mb

Here are some screen shots and scans of the packaging:

http://members.nbci.com/DocVisor/

I've received many emails asking specific questions (often duplicate) about the 16mb module. Please post questions on this forum so that it is easier to reply to everyone.

Regards,
DocVisor

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 16

Cost and availablility

Hi Doc...

In a previous post, you said you believed the 16mg flash module would become available in the US at the end of Jan for about $130. Do you have any update on that information?

Jo

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

Cost & update (or lack there of)

I have not heard from the representative from Hagiwara since late December. If the timetable has changed (as it appears it has), I would not know. The delay was part of the reason I bought directly from Japan. The only change from Hagiwara has been the addition of an English translation of their website:
http://www.hscjpn.co.jp/english/e-springboard.html


The cost estimate I provided earlier is fairly precise. The 16mb module still should cost less than two 8mb modules. I do not know exactly what I paid yet since the currency rate varies day by day and I have yet to receive a statement. However, I am fairly confident that I paid about $135-140 with about $10 in export fees and shipping charges. Additionally, I expect a customs bill in the next few weeks for about $5.

Therefore, I paid about $155, delivered. Let me emphasize that this is NOT the best price to be had. I expect that the price will go way down as availability improves. Additionally, the intial selling point seemed to be the fact that the price would be lower than 2x8mb modules (<$160).

I have had some difficulty working with launcher programs and the module. Additionally, it seems if the batteries are left out and the Visor resets itself, it will not recognize what was previously on the module unless backup files are reinstalled.


Regards,
DocVisor

__________________
<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>