Review: Dell Axim X50v - Part I - The Externals

Supplier: Dell UK Manufacturer: Dell UK Product: Dell Axim X50v Colour: Black/Silver Cost: £289 ex vat; £349 inc VAT & Delivery Supplier Product Web Site: http://www.Dell.co.uk Home Page: http://www.dell.co.uk Dell UK have kindly provided 4WM with an Axim X50v, their flagship PDA for review. So Please read on and enjoy another review brought to you by Tekguru. For your delectation all photographs are thumbnails which may be clicked on to load a image. Official Specification: Processor: • • Intel® XscaleTM PXA270 624MHz Operating System: • • Microsoft® Windows MobileTM 2003 2nd Edition with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile Memory: • • RAM: 64MB SDRAM • • ROM: 128MB Intel StrataFlash® memory Display: • • TFT Colour 16-bit, Touch Sensitive, Transflective LCD • • 3.7” • • 480 x 640 resolution at 65,536 colours (VGA) Graphics: • • Intel® 2700G multimedia accelerator with 16MB video memory Control and Lights: • • 5-way navigation button • • Wireless on/off button lock switch • • 4 program buttons: calendar, contacts, inbox, home • • voice record, reset, backlit power buttons • • event notification • • charge status • • wireless status Expansion Slots: • • 1 CompactFlash Type II card slot (3.3v) • • 1 Secure Digital/SDIO Now/MMC Memory Card Slot (3.3v) Ports and Connectors: • • Standard v1.2 (115kbps) infrared port • • 36-pin Cradle/Sync connector • • 3.5mm headphone/headset jack Dimensions: • • length 119mm (4.7in) • • width 73mm (2.9in) • • height 16.9mm (0.7in) • • weight 175grams (6.2oz) Audio: • • audio controller I2S Codec, WM8750 sound chip • • stereo conversion 16-bit stereo; 8.0, 11.025, 22.05 and 44.1KHz sample rate • • full duplex record and playback • • integrated microphone and speaker Power Supply: • • AC Adapter • • Battery type: 1100mAh Lithium-Ion Removable, Rechargeable (standard) Wireless: • • integrated BluetoothTM and 802.11b Warranty: • • 1 year Next Business Day Exchange (standard) 3D Games: • • Enigmo and StuntCar Extreme® Part I - The Externals My excitement started to build once the package arrived at my doorstep. And with that in mind, I'll start with the packaging itself!! Dells marketing ethos is direct selling, and the company has built itself an incredibly successful business based on this strategy, and in line with that strategy, Dell PDAs are not available for sale through High Street retail outlets, therefore the units are delivered under plain packaging. The packaging the unit arrived in is incredibly sturdy, The outer box is split into two sections, providing both re-inforcement and extra protection for items contained therein. Within the main box, each item is also individually packaged, affording an another extra level of protection, no change of receiving a transit damaged PDA here! With everything out of the box, I proceeded onto the next event that every PocketPC owner must take after un-packaging their new baby, the initial overnight charge! Although eager to get my hands on the device and play, I fought temptation and slipped the X50v into its cradle and attached the charging cable, to ensure that the battery performs at its optimum level. Dell recommend the initial charge to be nn hours, but as spending time with ones family is important (even though a new toy is in the midst! ), an overnight charge was the sensible choice for me! The supplied cradle is both simple and very business like in its design, and holds the X50v at a comfortable angle, so tapping away with the stylus whilst in-situ on the desk proved to be a very comfortable affair. With removable batteries becoming the norm for today’s handhelds, the X50v’s cradle sports an extra slot immediately to the rear of the cradled device for charging a second battery, whilst charging the battery in the PDA itself. The Axim is, in my opinion, a very slim, stylish & compact PDA, the brushed aluminium/black colouring providing a striking eye catching contrast. Although, in my opinion, the styling leans ever so slightly towards the business sector, I feel that the X50v looks equally at home in a consumer setting! And don’t let the tiny form factor fool you, the X50v packs in a lot of features, which will be covered more in depth further in the review, although if your hands aren’t as big as mine, then it may not seem so tiny!! As the pictures show, the X50v is only slightly smaller in a side by side comparison with my XDA-II. This came as a complete surprise to me, as the X50v definitely feels a lot smaller and slimmer in the hand. Maybe it’s something to do with the brushed aluminium and black styling that gives it a more svelte appearance? Apart from the striking design, one of the first things I noticed about the X50v was that it comes with both Secure Digital and Compact Flash card slots. The SD card slot supports the MMIO standard, and the CF slot is type II compatible. Top marks to Dell for making this PDA truly expandable. I consider this an excellent bonus for GPS users for instance, allowing TomTom maps to sit on the SD card, whilst using a CompactFlash GPS card for in car or street level navigation. The second thing I noted as I inspected the X50v, was the size of the serial connector, it is a lot larger in comparison with the connector on my XDA-II. I’m not aware of any technical reasons as to its size, but it definitely holds the PDA in the cradle a lot tighter. As stated previously, the X50v comes with a removable battery, an essential facility for those hardcore road-warriors, enabling the continued use of the PDA when the initial battery runs down away from a convenient mains power source. Although I only had the one battery, to test the effects of battery changing, I fully installed the Axim and after a backup using Sprite Backup, I removed the battery to take the above photos. I am pleased to say, that all my apps and data were fully intact when I re-installed the battery. I tried this test a further 3 times, and each time, my apps and data were intact. No problems swapping batteries here! One thing to note, the battery is rated at 1100Mah, slightly less than my XDA-II, which is 1200Mah, but remember, the X50v doesn’t have a phone module to power, but more of batteries later!! The stylus design follows the current PocketPC trend of brushed aluminium and black, and once again, in testament to the excellent engineering of the X50v, it sits very snugly in its silo. I did a quick shake test, and there is no chance of this stylus falling out un-intentionally. A quick flick with a finger nail on the bevelled edge is all that is required to rest the stylus from its home! The X50v comes with the usual selection of PocketPC buttons on the front fascia, with calendar, contacts and mail all being present, along with the addition of a home button, which launches a program called home from HTC, the device manufacturer, but more on this later in the review! The X50v’s joypad with separate central button combination is a major step forward from the all in one joypad on my XDA-II. I have endless trouble controlling things such as selecting emails to read on the XDA-II, with false selects happening when moving through the inbox list, but have had no such trouble since putting the X50v to daily use, and I do like to check my email fairly regularly when away from home! Top marks to Dell for such a simple, but very effective design decision. Three more operating buttons sit on the left hand side of the unit. And once again, keeping true to current PocketPC trends, two of the aforementioned buttons operate the recorder and wireless functions, but the third is an interesting addition, and not one that I have personally seen before. The third button is provides a hardware based button lock capability, once activated, none of the function buttons, including the power button will operate until the lock is disengaged. This hardware feature works with the X50v on, in which case you will not be able to turn it off, or operate any other button features, or with the X50v off, which means that you won’t be able to power it on, even with the power button until the lock is disengaged once again. As with other PocketPC’s with buttons on the left hand side, I did find that I frequently caught the wireless button when I gripped the PDA, unintentionally enabling & disabling the wireless radio when I didn’t mean to. It took a little practice to get used to picking the X50v up a little lower, but now I find this less of a problem in my continued use of the device. Note the addition of an eyelet at the top left corner, above the function buttons. A nifty design feature normally found on mobile phones that will allow you to attach a wrist strap or cord, if so desired. Or possibly enable you to secure your device with a Kensington lock, should one be available in the small size required for the eyelet. The final button, the soft reset switch, is hidden on the back of the machine, and is recessed to prevent accidental activiation. And another excellent feature of the X50v is hard reset protection. A hard reset is effected by holding the power button whilst depressing the soft reset switch with the stylus, but, before the reset takes place, you are asked to confirm by pressing the contacts button on the front. This is an excellent touch in my opinion, so top marks to Dell. Now on to the most spectacular external feature on the X50v, the screen!! Unfortunately, my lack of photographic experience shows its hand here, as my photos do not do justice to this truly spectacular PDA screen. The X50v is one of the newer VGA models, and with Windows Mobile 2003SE’s screen orientation abilities, applications like Pocket Informant 5 really come into their own. A truly phenomenal screen, so clear and bright, I am truly amazed by it’s clarity, brightness & colour depth. Top marks to Dell here, the screen alone would be a reason to buy the X50v! Having never experienced a VGA screen before, it is a major improvement over the screens on my XDA-II and iPAQ 5450, I’m not sure I can go back!! The X50v comes supplied with a nylon slip case. While it does an adequate job of protecting the unit, and is not too bad in terms of styling, it makes the assumption that you will always have a pocket or bag to slip the device into, as it does not have any form of belt-clip. Alas for me, this is not always the case (no pun intended, honest!), and to this end, our very good friends at Proporta have stepped in and provided me with a sample of their excellent Alu-Leather X50v Flip case, which will be the subject of a companion review in the very near future! Exterior Pro’s • Aesthetically pleasing • Very Functional Design • Crisp, Clear & Bright VGA Screen • SD & CF Card Slots • Excellent Joy-pad design • Wrist Strap Eyelet Exterior Con’s • Nylon slip case • Position of Wireless Button Exterior 4WinMobile Rating: 99% Coming next: Dell Axim X50v, The Review Part II, the Applications!