Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Discworld
Posts: 21

quote:

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Originally posted by cptncelchu
Why would Handspring sell you a $50 upgrade for your Deluxe when you could buy a $200-$250 Platinum?

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Last edited by sysinfo on 06-29-2001 at 07:03 PM

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Michigan
Posts: 14

Well, today I was reading a PDF file from Motorola about upgrading a 68EZ328 (Visor Deluxe) CPU to a 68VZ328 (Platinum), and it turns out that not only is the pinouts different but there is also changes that have to be made to the OS. It looks as though it would not be as easy as simply putting the Platinum/Prism version of 3.5 on the PROM of the Deluxe. I'm not saying that it couldn't be done just that Handspring would have to keep track of the new OS version. Maybe they should just ditch the 3.1 OS and switch everything over to 3.5

Registered: Jun 2001
Location:
Posts: 10

Well, gee, if they were going to go to the trouble of providing such an upgrade, it would make sense for them go to straight to 4.0...

Still, the odds of such an upgrade are slim indeed, unfortunately

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 255

If I have to upgrade I can tell you right now it's not going to be a Visor. The edge looks nice I suppose, but damn, the Dlx model casing was crap.. both of them I had.

And its the lack of caring about the OS like this that would make me just dump HS all together.. no real loss really. HS did a good job of kicking Palm into actually doing something, so that's not bad at all.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 206

ack1313, I think you're missing the point of this discussion. You're talking about upgrading the CPU (motorolla's 68EZ328) and this discussion is about the ROM.

However, I don't know if the pin-outs for non-flashable ROM is the same as flash ROM. I've never messed with it. I got my VDx at Best Buy, got the 3 yr warranty, returned the VDx to take advantage of the $50 rebate, waited for the price of the VPL to drop to the same price I originally paid for the VDx, and traded my VDx in for the VPL. Sweet deal. I got a CPU and OS upgrade and I got $50 back using the rebate.

- Burns

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Check out my page on Visors:
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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 16

Fundamental OS improvements

quote:

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Originally posted by briareus
So what exactly are you missing in 3.5? I see a lot of griping, but no specifics other than "I can't upgrade the OS".

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location:
Posts: 10

Gee, if Handspring offered the OS/CPU upgrade, even at an exorbitant price, I think most people would take the upgrade.

Maybe then Handspring wouldn't be losing so much money. It's just smart business sense to sell upgrades to existing users. Most profits are made on upgrades nowadays...

EARTH TO HANDSPRING
COME IN HANDSPRING
A OS/CPU UPGRADE FOR VISORS WOULD BE HIGHLY PROFITABLE
END TRANSMISSION

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 30

I agree

Yes - I will pay for a CPU/OS upgrade too (although exorbitant is too much)

Handspring, hello Handspring are you listening?

Andrew

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Michigan
Posts: 14

Hello, the reason that I mentioned the CPU is that it looks as though Handspring wrote thier version of 3.5 to work with the new processor. If that's the case simply burning the 3.5H OS to a prom and plugging it into the Visor Deluxe won't work. On other sites I see that there is a long process to upgrading the OS for older models.
Not only do you have to make changes for your particular device (ie. Clie, Visoror or Handera) your changes have to be submitted to Palm for approval then tested before we the consumer would see the upgrade.
I hope that this doesn't take as long as it sounds. I love my Deluxe and use it every day. I won't upgrade to any of the new devices as the price for the benefit of the upgrade don't cut it.

Last edited by ack1313 on 07-22-2001 at 08:41 PM

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 26

I've written to Handspring's feedback about this issue on a couple of occasions when I'd bump walls because of no flash.

I really think that Handspring would do themselves a favor by offering a premium model that has flash. They just might see some nice sales for it.

I started with a Palm IIIx with OS 3.1 and was able to flash it to 3.3. Now that I have a Platinum and am used to the tappable menus, I'm going to bump the Palm to 3.5 to get them there too. No flash and I'd still be stuck at 3.1.

The flash is just so nice to have. On the Palm, I use FlashPro to back up critical databases and never had to buy a module to do it. The big limitation of the Palm, of course, is no real port so it was especially useful.

I also have a Platinum and do module development on that. For personal use I bought one of the Innopocket Flash Plus modules and love it. However, there's still no way to upgrade the OS other than store the newest patch for whenever power may go.

Unfortunately a lot of people would buy the cheapest one they could and leave the flashable ROM versions on the shelves instead of paying a $20-30 premium. I do think it compromises their product, however, but then Palm is also going to masked ROM PDAs. End result is only the mass market segment is supported - the lowest common denominator.