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OK iPAQ hx4700 WM5 folks, here are the promised results of the second test

By Werner Ruotsalainen, Submitted Monday, July 31, 2006
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Here's a continuation of my earlier test results published earlier today showing how the new, 2.0.1 HP iPAQ hx4700 WM5 upgrade behaves when the storage memory is actively and continuously written to. In the previous test, I've tested how an upgraded device with a clean main storage memory behaves; in the current one, I test how it behaves when the main storage memory is about 50% full.

A long story cut short: you should avoid filling in the main storage memory of the device, just like with the previous WM5 version.

More verbosely, the benchmark / test results:

When the storage memory is about 50% full (35 Mbytes free), the DockWare stress-test resulted in the following CPU utilization (again, check this article on how this should be interpreted):

Here are the results of the same test with the old, 2.0 WM5 version:

That is, the new, 2.0.1 situation is only slightly better than the 2.0 case, where filesys.exe ran about 40-45% of the time in this practical usage test. Now, it’s about 30% of the time that filesys.exe runs.

Note that both shots show the case of running the test with a clean device and, then, quickly moving about 45 Mbytes of MP3 files to the main storage (this is why there's a visible slope at about 2:40 in the 2.0.1 and about 2:00 in the 2.0 case). That is, the shots clearly show the difference between the 'clean' and the 'half-full' case: before the slope, they show the clean and after it, the "polluted" case.

Again and again:

  1. do not store anything in the main memory
  2. 2. relocate the cache of whatever Web browser you use (read / search my blog for tutorials on this - I've published many articles on this subject on all the available Web browsers)
  3. relocate the AtiveSync-synchronized Outlook mails (again, read my blog for the tutorial)
  4. if you access your mail via POP3/IMAP, use for example Qmail instead of Messaging because it’s able to store your mail on storage cards
  5. always clean up the storage and delete everything superfluous from there
  6. only install apps into the main memory that absolutely require to be there or can’t be installed to anywhere else (for example, the ThinkOutside driver, Pocket Controller, most Today plug-ins)
  7. etc. (read my old, hx4700 WM5, cleanup- and relocation-related articles!)

UPDATE (08/01/2006): discussions of these results (and the WM5 upgrade in general!) worth checking out, particularly for my additional answers: PPCT, MobilitySite.

Submitted by Werner Ruotsalainen on July 31, 2006 - 9:25am.

Will publish a big article on the RAM disk shortly.

Submitted by Werner Ruotsalainen on July 31, 2006 - 11:41am.

Mike, the new version is definitely better but it's not as good as that of, say, the Dell Axim x51v or the HTC Wizard. That is, if a hx4700 user doesn't follow my advice, he or she will run into filesys.exe compactions quite often (about 60% more rarely than with the older WM5 upgrade, though).

Unfortunately, the hardware (the stroage memory type) of the hx4700 itself is just not designed for running an operating system that uses the flash ROM for mass write operations.

There is only area of potential improvement: as has been pointed out in my big article on the hx4700 WM5 upgrade, the core compaction algorithm itself could be made much quicker by just eliminating the (pretty superfluous) "lets relocate everything" approach. That is, if the MS folks do change the algorithm and HP bothers to issue another ROM upgrade, we can indeed have even less filesys.exe problems. If Microsoft implements it and If HP continues supporting this "old" model, that is...

Submitted by Werner Ruotsalainen on August 1, 2006 - 2:55am.

Someguy, dunno if it's worth at all. It has caused a lot of lockup problems on many devices. The new, 2.0.1 upgrade version is about 60% better than the old, filesys.exe-wise: I think it's better to live with compactions than experiencing lockups because of the throttler.

Submitted by Werner Ruotsalainen on August 1, 2006 - 4:24am.

Also make sure you check out the linked (just updated the article to link them) MobilitySite and PocketPCThoughts threads!

Submitted by Werner Ruotsalainen on August 3, 2006 - 4:12am.

1. you can install anything in the main storage, but, then, filesys.exe compactions will "kick in" more frequently and will be lengthier.

2. I don't think so. PPCTechs only does RAM upgrade; I don't know of anyone that would change the ROM chips for more WM5-friendly ones.

3. are you sure you need the RAM upgrade at all? Unless we get a RAM disk that survives soft resets, the usability of 128M dynamic RAM under WM5 is far more limited than under WM2003SE unless you're into, say, heavy image editing where the 35-37M free RAM on a WM5 hx4700 won't be sufficient. Of course, this will change as soon as a new, reset-surviving RAM disk version is released.

4. while the N560, in general (except for the screen size and the plastic casing) is better than the hx4700, it won't ever be sold officially in the States. You can, of course, order them in the States as there're some importers in the States but it's not official distribution. If needed, I can look up the discussion threads that discuss these questions (ordering a Pocket Loox in the States).

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