Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 20

The folks at Handspring have repeatedly stated the reasoning behind their decision not to use flash memory: component shortage. They wanted to avoid the same plague that Sony is now experiencing with the PS2. They also, probably, wanted to keep the price down.

Quit complaining about the lack of flash. You knew about it when you bought your Visor.

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Sam

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 109

Why I complain

Quit complaining about the lack of flash. You knew about it when you bought your Visor.
[/B][/QUOTE]

Ah, but that is not the whole truth.

Handspring has also preaced that the OS could be upraded through a SpringBoard or Memory Patch. Now, they have provided minor updates in the form of patch, and i have yet to see a Springboard OS upgrade.

So, yes, I knew there was no Flash, but I was under the impression that I would only lose a slight convenience (going in Flash ROM instead of RAM). I never thought I'd not be able to upgrade the OS.

I believe that PalmOS 3.5.2h could be made into an in-memory patch (even if it would be 100k-200k). Handspring, though, hasn't done this. Why? They don't want to cannibalize sales of their newer units? Could a third party make such a patch?

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Trinition ([email protected])

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 216

Why can't HS upgrade us to 3.3?

quote:

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Originally posted by Trinition
...I believe that PalmOS 3.5.2h could be made into an in-memory patch (even if it would be 100k-200k). Handspring, though, hasn't done this. Why? They don't want to cannibalize sales of their newer units? Could a third party make such a patch?

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This is why I suggested above that Handspring upgrade us Visor/Visor Deluxe owners to Palm OS 3.3 instead of going all the way to 3.5.

This way they will not canibalize their new Visor sales. (At least not much )

Didn't Palm do this? Hold back the upgrade to 3.5, while releasing an upgrade to 3.3, for a while after their new models were released?

And yes, any compentent programmer could write a patch. All it takes is the source code for 3.1H3 on the Visor Deluxe and the source code for the generic Palm OS 3.3 or 3.5.2. Of course you need a license from Palm also. Handspring does, of course, have all of the above.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Jefferson Citym MO, USA
Posts: 6

Re the software patch to upgrade to PalmOS 3.5, it appears that this is the approach Palm is taking with their mobile internet kit. See:

http://www.palm.com/software/mik/

Since the m100 and IIIe are not flash upgradeable, the OS upgrade must require a software patch in RAM (unless I'm missing something.)

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jpkovar

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Living in a town with a company that is making the flash rom chips for Palm (and others) I can say that you do not want flash rom while the shortage (and there IS a shortage) lasts. I've heard they're shipping sub-standard boards to try and meet demand. Keep what you have and wait until the shortage passes. I'm willing to bet that's when Handspring will release a product with flash rom. You've seen the response to the Graffiti recognition problem with the prism, imagine the outcry againts Handspring if they shipped faulty units. Palm can afford to do it because they're catering to a different consumer, and an unsuspecting one at that. The people buying Handspring (for the most part) are more technologically inclined than those buying Palm, and I think there's more of a sense of community. If it works, use it. You can sit here and complain all you want about what might come out and what might not be compatible and this and that and the other thing, or you can look at the situation and make a calm rational decision. More than likely the next step is going to be to OS4. Nothing we have right now is going to be compatible due to the hardware changes. Look at your options and buy what you need now. If you need something different in the future, sell what you've got and upgrade. That's the same as it's been since the beginning. And it's not happening any faster than it has been either. A new product a year is quid pro quo (except palm with the V and the VII and IIIx and IIIe and IIIxe and IIIc and Vx and VIIx). If you keep looking at what might be coming out you won't enjoy what's available today.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: SW Virginia
Posts: 290

quote:

---

Originally posted by jpkovar
Re the software patch to upgrade to PalmOS 3.5, it appears that this is the approach Palm is taking with their mobile internet kit. See:

http://www.palm.com/software/mik/

Since the m100 and IIIe are not flash upgradeable, the OS upgrade must require a software patch in RAM (unless I'm missing something.)

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Registered: May 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 87

Palm MIK - So?

Going off-topic of this post, but what does the Mobile Internet Kit offer me that I don't already get with my VDx and Nokia 6210?

I pick up e-mail, I surf the web (at 28.8kbs) and I can send SMS messages, what else is there? I don't want cr@ppy WAP.

[Edited by nurcombe on 12-05-2000 at 10:35 AM]

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Regards,
Jim Nurcombe
[email protected]