Can you upgrade the ROM of a Sharp Mobilon HC-4600?

I was just wondering ... I'm not going to do this; I haven't even got the device, but can you upgrade an HC-4600 for CE 2.0 to CE 2.11? I've heard plenty of comments about RAM upgrades from 16MB to 32MB but can you do this to a ROM as well?

Like nearly every other HPC manufacturer...the consumer was crapped on. Sharp did sell an upgrade, part# HC-SM09 which upgraded the OS from CE 2.0 to 2.11 (HPC Pro). The upgrade kit also upgraded the memory from 16mb to 32mb. It was sold for about a month and then discontinued. Almost impossible to find...a person would probably spend less money just buying another HPC that has the OS they want.

BTW, the upgrade only came after legal action was threatened agasint Sharp. Hence the minimal time it was offered. Check out the complaint by the FTC:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/2001/03/sharpcmp.pdf

Rich

Edited by Rich Hawley 2008-11-24 1:29 PM

Interesting info, Rich. I wasn't aware that the upgrade was offered for such a limited time. I've actually seen one or two upgraded HC-4600s on eBay over the past year or so.

You're right about the OEMs' reticence, though. Other OEMs promised upgrades from CE 2.0 but never delivered, including Philips for its Velo 500.

NEC was no different than the rest. They listed the devices as upgradeable as well, and never did with the exception of the 750C, when they did offer the 2.11 rom chip. But the 780 was advertised as well and you never saw a CE3.0 chip for it.

In all fairness however, the software upgrade to the 900C was a godsend in my opinion. Even if it did cost me $150 bucks, I was glad to pay it.

What I don't understand is why a 900C or a Netbook Pro couldn't be upgraded to Windows CE 5.0?

Cheers
SainT

There is a clue hidden in the Handheld PC's history ...

Sharp did release a Mobilon with Handheld PC Pro, which as you can see is why they released a Pro upgrade specifically for the HC-4600; they were still building Handheld PC's. It's the same with HP. Once they released the Jornada 680, they released a Pro upgrade for their previous 660LX. Casio never did a Handheld PC Pro upgrade for the Cassiopeia because they never released a Handheld with Pro; they wanted to stick with monochrome screens, but sadly for them H/PC Pro didn't support those.

A Psion Nebook Pro or 900C could easily be upgraded to CE5 or CE6. The problem is that you would need the BSP for the device in order to do it...and NEC isn't giving that up.

What about Psion Teklogix?

Paspie, you must be talking about the PV-5000 (aka Mobilon Pro). They followed the H/PC Pro trend and went with a subnotebook form factor. (I keep seeing a seller trying to sell a broken one for $10 on eBay.)

As for Casio, not quite true. The PA-2400W has H/PC Pro in ROM, and it's monochrome. (I have one of these myself - just wish I could find the RAM upgrade. 8 MB is awfully tight RAM space for an H/PC Pro device.)

Edited by CE Geek 2008-12-15 4:08 PM

That is exactly what I hate about Handheld PC 3.0 Pro. To many sub-notebook style handhelds, and Microsoft Access is in my way.

Edited by Paspie 2008-12-16 3:15 AM

OK, I'll bite.

a) How exactly is MS Access in your way?

b) And what style of handheld would you prefer that isn't already out there?

Ok, I don't need MS Access, and as far as the sub-notebook style, I prefer 640 x 240 palmtop style screens to sub-notebook style.

Are you saying that your dream machine (4600) isn't a sub-notebook style?

I don't care for the chicklet keys myself, but I've actually used the Casseopia for awhile before moving to Mobilepro 790/900 and now Psion Netbook Pros...

Big difference between the keys on the Mobilon versus the Cassiopeia A series. The Cassiopeia's keys are terrible - they're tiny and recessed. The Mobilon's keys are larger and raised, so they're far easier to use. (I still like the HP keys best though [both the 620/660LX and the Jornada 6xx/7xx] among the ultra-compact H/PCs.)

The thing is though, is that I'm not keen on the HP 620LX, HP660LX etc, Ericsson MC12, MC16 keyboards because they are often very stiff to push down; I don't put much force on the keys when I type. The Mobilon's keys do have a reason to be there (although they are not notebook style), because they make the device look great in the press images.

Here's a good example:



The black keys appear to stand out from the rest of the device, and somehow they blend well (note: this is the HC-4500, not the HC-4600; I like both now because they are so similar, infact I like all Mobilons from HC-4000-HC-4600).

Maybe Casio was trying a bit too hard to make the device portable when they chose to install a tiny keyboard. At least these are far from the terrible on screen keyboards on typical Pocket PC's and PSP's.
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Sorry for posting on a thread that is more then six months ... at least it's my own thread. And, there I was no other way posting this on a new thread ... it would seem a bit strange.

Don't sweat it - we've gotten a bit looser about that policy over time.

Gotta admit I really like the look and feel of the Mobilon HC-4500/4600. It's particularly cool now that I can use .NET Compact Framework apps on it.