My Discussion with Compaq today READ THIS

[FunMan]

Hello All,

Today I had an hour long discussion with a manager named Glenn at Compaq who contacted me at my office after I sent a very terse email regarding the QC issues and bugs with the IPAQ. He was very informative on what is going on devoid of marketing "spin" so I give his words much credit and here is what I have to share with you all.

There is going to be a FLASH ROM update at no cost sometime very soon (Decemberish). Microsoft has delayed this or it would have already been released. Compaq elected to wait on MS to send their bug fixes so it would be "a lot of bang for the buck" so to speak. Included will be a software fix for the digitizer issue, the speaker pops and others.

Dust issue - This is the biggest problem reported to Compaq, and Sony has caused a delay in fixing it. The new screens shipping in the latest units along with the closing of the hole in the stylus silo will hopefully eliminate as much of the dust as possible. It isn't really dust but tiny fragments of "glass" from the manufacturing process not done in a "clean room". I understand there is now such a clean room being used by Sony for this display.

I got the feeling that Compaq is listening and I understand some of their staff will be monitoring the forums. They are already monitoring this one. Don't be surprised to see them post back on the feedback you all give on this forum. I hope that we can all give constructive comments and not flamefests as level headed communication is what will get the most serious responses.

One final not on the Carepaq, they have units ready for anyone who has purchased one and you will definitely be taken care of. They send you a working unit and you send yours back in the same box. Next day shipping paid by them both ways. Warranty issues are being taken care of now better as he iterated they have stock to send out.

All in all, I thank him for taking the time to share with me and I am still glad I purchased an ipaq.

[Boxster S]

Included will be a software fix for the digitizer issue, the speaker pops and others.

It's about fricken time!

Dust issue - This is the biggest problem reported to Compaq, and Sony has caused a delay in fixing it. The new screens shipping in the latest units along with the closing of the hole in the stylus silo will hopefully eliminate as much of the dust as possible. It isn't really dust but tiny fragments of "glass" from the manufacturing process not done in a "clean room". I understand there is now such a clean room being used by Sony for this display.

Hell yeah!!

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Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Anandtech Web News Reporter
http://www.anandtech.com

[Neil Faulkner]

Thanks for the info FunMan...any idea when iPAQs with the ROM based and hardware fixes will be hitting the shelves?

Neil

[imported_tyler]

I've got my fingers crossed!

As a side note on the digitizer issue, I had a Visor Prism before switching to the iPAQ. My Prism didn't even recognize graffiti due digitizer problems that are very similar to those reported for the iPAQ. It was so bad, that I had a replacement unit sent by Handspring. Much to my surprise, the day my new unit arrived Handspring released a patch that totally fixed the digitizer issues. So for those that may be skeptical about the feasibility of a software fix to a digitizer problem, Handspring was certainly able to do it for the Prism. (I have read several theories on this board about bad screens, wearing out screens, etc. as the cause of the problem.) I would not be at all surprised if Compaq can solve the digitizer issues with a software fix for the iPAQ.

tyler

[This message has been edited by tyler (edited November 28, 2000).]

[Vegeta]

That's awesome! Just when I was beginning to lose faith in Compaq... at least they won't pull a Palm and charge for the ROM upgrade, grr...

[This message has been edited by Vegeta (edited November 28, 2000).]

[phi]

the dust is actual glass? that's hard to believe...i think compaq might have realized there were some manufacturing flaws, but I think they're neglecting what happens when we put our pocket pcs into our pockets and the dust starts to gather.

[FunMan]

I don't know about their timetable on all the issues, but I know they are working on them. I just wanted to let others know what I was told. You can draw your conclusions, just remember this. I have worked with the CE platform since the beta of ver 1. This iteration is by far the best. I never got the kind of info I did today from Casio or HP. So I took a lot of stock in what was said. Will it please everyone? Not likely. But I think Compaq is going at trying to make the ipaq the best there is and I am happy with that.

[imported_mar2k]

But no mention of a button pressing fix...

[SDRR]

Thanks much for the info! Very cool. I cant wait! Maybe thats why Ipaqs are currentlypulled off the shelves in the US

[Rand]

I look forward to hearing from someone who receives a replacement in the near future. Specially regarding dust. I too don't entirely buy the glass fragment explaination.

Anybody have any thoughts/info on Compaq replacing a unit with dust without Carepaq coverage?

Well, I think Compaq might have some more explaining to do...
http://www.brighthand.com/ubb/Forum33/HTML/005113.html



[This message has been edited by Rand (edited November 29, 2000).]