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PowerBookDude · Mar 30, 2002, 07:15 PM

Can the new Sony NR70's run the upcoming Palm OS 5? I heard it might not be fast enough or something.

Thank you.

scaught · Mar 30, 2002, 09:41 PM

the NR70s have upgradeable firmware via flashable ROM like any good palmpilot should so i dont see why it wouldnt be an option. the problem would be seeing if this device is even made or supported by sony by the time OS5 comes out. they seem to release and discontinue products pretty quickly.

what have you heard that would make you think otherwise?

Mithras · Mar 30, 2002, 09:55 PM

Palm OS 5 is built to run on ARM architecture chips. The NR70s have the fastest Dragonball chip to date, 66Mhz.

Think of it as Mac OS 8.1, the first (IIRC) that required a PowerPC chip. My 68040 ran OS 8, and did what I needed it to, but it did fall behind the performance curve.

If the NR70 does something you want, go ahead and get it. If you want to have the niftiest gadget, and don't have a pressing need for a keyboard-camera-mp3 gizmo right now, you can wait for the first ARM devices, which will probably come out in late summer or early fall.

PowerBookDude · Mar 31, 2002, 01:09 PM

Originally posted by scaught:
<STRONG>what have you heard that would make you think otherwise?</STRONG>

From a feedback on a PowerPage article:

"This product has a VERY short lifespan. It is not upgradable to PalmOS 5 which will be ready this summer. Without PalmOS 5, it will need to be replaced by Sony with version with a faster processor (the 66 Dragonball is not going to cut it for OS5) to join the new Palms that will ship from various manufacturers this summer and fall. CAUTION: Buying the NR70 or NR70V will guarantee a case of upgrade rage in six-month's time."

Matsu · Mar 31, 2002, 03:49 PM

It's all available from the Palm webpage.

Palm intends to maintain two OSes for a time -- 4.x and 5 -- for the purpose of application compatibility. Any apps written for OS4 will work on an OS5 device, but OS5 WILL ONLY WORK ON STRONGARM based chips. You won't be able to upgrade any palm devices currently on the market to OS5 unless you have a way of changing the CPU. However, there is a large library of OS4 compatible apps, and many apps will probably be written to that standard so that they can be used on both versions of the OS. More demanding apps will eventually be OS5 only. Palm OS4 is probably going to take a few years before it disappears.

PS. PBD, Say hi to your Mom!

scaught · Mar 31, 2002, 03:50 PM

oh ya. mithras is right. i bow to mithras' superior knowledge.

PowerBookDude · Mar 31, 2002, 08:49 PM

Thanks for the help. I guess I'll wait for a new version of the NR70 that has StrongArm and Palm OS 5.

Matsu · Apr 1, 2002, 06:13 PM

I've got a palm.