Suggestion: HOng Kong RAM upgrade

[biglug]

Hey All,

I sent my Axim X51V to HK for the upgrade. Alex Fung gave me a liitle better deal than what they normally offer. For $660 HKD, RAM was upgraded to 128, a new internal battery was put it, plus a screen protector. This equates to $87 in USD. You pay for the shipping to HK, they pay it coming back. Once they receive the unit, they turn it around in one day. I can't comment on the quality of work yet, but the price was good. I managed to ship it via FEDEX (with a discount through my employer) for $15. Total cost will be $102. I shoul have my AXIM back within a total of 7 to 10 days. If you send them your unit, mention this deal... and no, I am not getting a kickback from them. I'll let you know if their work was less than stellar. Their email is pda@palm-center.com

[gurachn]

Excellent!
I was just about to pack mine away, but I think I will hold off until I hear your report, biglug!
I am curious to hear on the type of battery replacement you get (OEM or cheap ebay knock-off?) and the quality of the screen protector.

Thanks for taking point on this one!

[ChangeLing]

I believe that he is referring to the tiny 'internal battery' that holds your clock
settings while you swap external lithium batteries.

Those tiny things require disassembling and soldering to replace.

[gurachn]

Ah, I see.
Is it necessary to replace those?

[laggflor]

Great, but has someone has tested the service?
I don't like my Axim to someone I don't know and where I only know the mail address. If anyone has tested this service please tell me.

Thanks, Florian

[ChangeLing]

There are many online topics about the internal battery needing replaced.

You don't need to worry about it now unless you have problems.

However, if your X51v is 'several years old' AND you are sending it in for
service that includes being disassembled then that is the perfect time to
have the internal battery replaced while the technicians are doing other repairs.

ChangeLing

[tdbaer]

Originally Posted by ChangeLing

There are many online topics about the internal battery needing replaced.

You don't need to worry about it now unless you have problems.

However, if your X51v is 'several years old' AND you are sending it in for
service that includes being disassembled then that is the perfect time to
have the internal battery replaced while the technicians are doing other repairs.

ChangeLing

Actually it's a capacitor usually referred to as the supercap. Intended to hold the volatile settings and active program info for about 5 minutes.

[biglug]

Originally Posted by biglug

Hey All,

I sent my Axim X51V to HK for the upgrade. Alex Fung gave me a liitle better deal than what they normally offer. For $660 HKD, RAM was upgraded to 128, a new internal battery was put it, plus a screen protector. This equates to $87 in USD. You pay for the shipping to HK, they pay it coming back. Once they receive the unit, they turn it around in one day. I can't comment on the quality of work yet, but the price was good. I managed to ship it via FEDEX (with a discount through my employer) for $15. Total cost will be $102. I shoul have my AXIM back within a total of 7 to 10 days. If you send them your unit, mention this deal... and no, I am not getting a kickback from them. I'll let you know if their work was less than stellar. Their email is pda@palm-center.com

HeyAll,

Got the Axim back today... it was gone 6 days total. The battery I was referring to was in fact, the internal battery that keeps the clock time etc... in memory while you swap out the main battery... I was having an ocassional message that said my internal battery was low, so I had the guy in Hong Kong replace it as well while he had the unit opened-up. Did he really do it, who knows... but I have not had the warning message at all today. I do know that he changed the RAM and it works well... no real speed increase noticed, but it does handle Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta alot better... multiple tabs open with NO low memory message from the Opera browser.
The guy in Hong Kong did not replace my screen protector, but he did include a brand new one in the box when he shipped it back to me (he just didn't put it on for me).
All in all, pretty happy with it... especially the price. I'll post again should any problems ocuur.

[ChangeLing]

I thought that the X51v came in two versions:
---- one, older version with an internal battery
---- two, newer version with an internal capacitor

ChangeLing

[KimChee]

Very curious to know the outcome of this...

[xxx3]

Does anyone know the part number or manufacturer of the Axim X51v Ram memory upgrade?

I'm curious, given that the original 128 MB chip came out 4 years ago, if there is a denser RAM chip (i.e. - higher memory than 128 MB) that is available?

Just trying to get ready for WM7 the best I can.........Thanks in advance Lenny!

[mstarick]

Originally Posted by ChangeLing

I thought that the X51v came in two versions:
---- one, older version with an internal battery
---- two, newer version with an internal capacitor

ChangeLing

Wasn't the X51 the older one, the one with an internal battery, and the X51v was the newer version?

[biglug]

Originally Posted by KimChee

Very curious to know the outcome of this...

Hey All,
I got the Axim back today...6 days total. It would appear that the guy in Hong Kong did replace the INTERNAL battery as I am no longer getting the warning message anymore (I have had the unit on for most of the day). THe internal battery keeps the clock settings, etc.. up to date while you change the main battery. Since he was already opening up my Axim for the upgrade, I decided to have him do this as well. No way to know for sure if he did the replacement, but it appears so.
As far as the RAM upgrage goes, my unit does have the 128 RAM installed. Alex Fung (the Hong Kong guy) actually took pictures of the screen and emailed me from HK so I could see that the work was done before I sent payment via PayPal. I have not noticed a speed increase per say, but the Axim handles my web surfing using Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta with no problem. Previous to the upgrade, I would constantly run out of memory (RAM) while surfing, and it would lock the axim up. Now, I can open 3 tabs of the browser, with lots of text and images on each, and it runs great with 69 RAM leftover (not sure what the minimum requirements will be on the upcoming Opera Mobile 9.7, which should be much faster). Running several programs at once is also no problem.
Mr. Fung did not replace the screen saver, but he did include a new one in a package when he shipped the Axim back to me.
All in all, I am pretty happy with the experience.... defintely cheaper than PPCTech upgrade price, as long as you can ship it to HK cheaply. I'll post any problems if they come up in the future.
Anyone know, in detail, how to change the pagepool on my X51v using Lennsh10 ROM?

[gurachn]

Thanks for the report biglug.
Nice fast turn around and sounds like the service was as advertised for a decent price.
I havent been having any problems with my internal battery and I dont think I will go for the screen protector if he doesn't it on as part of the service (I hate trying to squeeze out those last tiny bubbles!) but I think I am going to get the upgrade.

Still, being without the Ax for a week...

[Skipp2k@hotmail.com]

Has anybody from the UK shipped they X51v out to Alex, just wondering if you have to pay any customs when the item gets returned to me.

Thanks


Andy

Oh and hello to everybody, new to the board and the Axim X51v.

[MrMage]

I'm interested in the customs/shipping information, too, but for german customers :-)

[Antineutrino]

Originally Posted by xxx3

Does anyone know the part number or manufacturer of the Axim X51v Ram memory upgrade?

I'm curious, given that the original 128 MB chip came out 4 years ago, if there is a denser RAM chip (i.e. - higher memory than 128 MB) that is available?

Just trying to get ready for WM7 the best I can.........Thanks in advance Lenny!

I also was wandering about that....

[r2d3]

Originally Posted by MrMage

I'm interested in the customs/shipping information, too, but for german customers :-)

If you just upgrade your device you don't have to pay customs at all. You just have to clearly mark the unit as "REPAIR" or something like this.
For shipping just check you post office. I assume it's something like €20 with insurance.
Gruß
Markus