Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC

Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Overview:

Pros:

Large VGA Display
Great graphics
Windows Media Player 10.0 Mobile
Fast processor and ample memory
Gaming Bundle included
Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Sleek design
User-replaceable battery.

Cons:

Heavy
Small navigation toggle
Lacklustre software bundle
Performance needs to be improved

Review:

As we all know, Dell is a multinational company that is world renowned for its high end computers and notebooks. In 2002, Dell entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) world with the release of Windows Mobile powered pocket PC devices. The first model was called Dell Axim X5. Over the years Dell has come up with smart PDA devices such as X5, X3, X30, X50 and X51.
Dell hit a grand slam in the world of PDAs with its X30 series, offering professionals a well-connected and powerful device at a very affordable price. With the release of the X50 series, the Texas-based company has proved itself to deserve a high ranking in the electronic world. The Axim X50 sports a 520MHz processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the very latest Windows Media Player 10.0 Mobile. The Axim X50 series of Pocket PCs offer design, expandability, value, performance, functionality, and a new factor: elegance. In this review, we will be talking about the design aspects of the product and compare it with its competitors. Towards the end of the review, you will know for sure, as to whether this product is worth your hard earned money.

The Axim X50 series comes in three flavours: Axim X50 entry level, Axim X50 mid level and Axim X50 v, each with its own advantages and obviously differences in specifications.

Axim X50 entry level:

Axim X50 entry level model comes with a 416 MHz Intel PX A 270 processor, the graphics solution that is included is Intel PX A 270 processor with WMMX extensions. It has a 3.5 inch QVGA display and 64 MB Strata Flash ROM memory or a 64 MB SDRAM chip as a memory module. For the sake of connectivity, it has Bluetooth and Wireless. Unfortunately, there are no games included in the PDA.

Axim X50 mid level:

Axim X50 mid level model comes with a 520 MHz Intel PX A 270 processor. The graphics solution that is included is Intel PX A 270 processor with WMMX extensions. It has a 3.5 inch QVGA display and 128 MB Strata Flash ROM memory (double that of Axim X50 entry level PDA) or a 64 MB SDRAM chip as a memory module. Its wireless technology is based on 802.11b Wi Fi and Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology protocols. Just like the Axim X50 entry level PDA, there are no games included in the package.

Axim X50v:

Axim X50v comes with a 624 MHz Intel PX A 270 processor, the graphics solution that is included is a 16 MB Intel 2700 G multimedia accelerator processor. It has a 3.7 inch VGA display and 128 MB Strata Flash ROM memory or a 64 MB SDRAM chip as a memory module. Its wireless technology is based on 802.11b Wi Fi and Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology protocols. The games that are included in the bundle are Enigmo and Stuntcar Extreme. We will discuss about each of its specific features in detail in the following review.

Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC

Design:

With the latest X50v Pocket PC, Dell has chosen a different form of design; it is now softer and gentler. We were not big fans of the squarish designs of the Axim X30, making it look like a drab and utilitarian model. So, the design change adopted by Dell is most welcome, especially its smoother, rounded edges and attractive silver and black casing. The device has a very solid built and the rubberised sides make the device more comfortable to hold on to.

The 3.7″ VGA screen:
The large 3.7″ VGA screen has a resolution of 480 x 640 with vibrant colours and pitch perfect brightness. The VGA screen allows greater details to be displayed in a very effective manner and hence can reduce the font size on screen. To compensate this, the font size settings can be altered accordingly. Depending on ambient lighting, the intensity of brightness can also be adjusted for optimal viewing.

Dimensions:
Dell has managed to create not much difference in the three variants of the Dell Axim X50, the dimensions of all the three X50s are about the same Length 119 mm, Width 73 mm and Height 16.9 mm. The weight of this magnificent device is 175 grams, a bit too heavy for a PDA. Even though the weight of the PDA is a bit too much compared to its competitors , considering the fact that X50v has a bigger and wider display , the concern about the weight can be put aside. The Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC PDA is also comfortable to hold because of its rounded edges. Using the touch screen and the reset stylus you can enter information into your device.

Stylus:
The stylus is long and slender, and may take some time to get used to. Though, it appears to be so fragile and breakable with its slender silver body and black plastic tips, once you start using it you soon realise that the stylus is far stronger than it looks because the body of the body is made with metal.

Buttons, slots and additional features:
As mentioned before in this review, the Axim X50v has built-in 802.11b wireless to keep you connected on the go. It is a known fact that these wireless capabilities can drain your PDA’s battery even when not in use. Dell has a solution for this issue as well; it makes it very easy to turn ON and OFF the wireless functionality using a shortcut button on the side of the device. To increase the battery savings of the Axim X50V, Dell has also included a display lock button on the side of the device. This is useful when you are carrying the PDA to prevent accidentally powering ON the device during transit. It is also useful if you are watching a movie on the handheld and do not want the screen to be accidentally powered off.

Apart from these buttons, Dell Axim X50V Pocket PC GPS comes with a wide range of other buttons and slots, some of them are mentioned here.

Infrared sensor: This sensor lets you transfer files from your device to another infrared-compatible device without using cable connections.
Microphone: Allows you to record audio.
Memory Card Slots: Compact flash card and secure digital memory card slots- for expand your memory requirements.
Power button: Press the power button to turn the device on or off. Press and hold the power button to dim the display. Repeat to light the display.

When the device is connected to external power and the main battery is fully charged, the power button light is solid green.
When the main battery charge is low, the power button light flashes amber.
When the battery is being charged, the power button light is solid amber.
When the device relays a notification, the power button light rapidly flashes green.

On/off button for WLAN/Bluetooth: Discussed in the earlier section of this review.
Home button: Press to launch home or to turn on the device.
Navigator button: Press the right, left, top, or bottom of the navigator button to move the cursor on the screen. Press the centre to enter a selection.
Contacts button: Press to launch contacts or to turn on the device.
Calendar button: Press to launch calendar or to turn on the device.
Record button: To record a message or an audio clip.
Lock button: Allows you to lock the device so that the device does not respond to inadvertent pressing of keys.

Features:

Horsepower:
The Dell X50v Handheld PDA is definitely a front runner when it comes to horsepower, thanks to its 624 MHz Intel X Scale PX A270 processor. Currently, the only other PDAs that run on the same processor are the Dell Axim X30 model (QVGA) and HPs iPAQ hx4700. Undoubtedly, the device is fast, but the response time for opening menus and windows is not that great since the device is running at VGA resolution.

RAM:
The Axim X50v unit has 64 MB of RAM, out of which 61.76 MB is user allocatable memory. Apart from that, it has 128 MB of flash ROM, 91.43 MB of which is available as Built-in Storage. Dell always uses Intel Strata Flash memory for flash ROM, which is proven to be much faster than NAND.

Expansion:
For expansion, the Dell offers standard Infra Red (IR), Bluetooth, a CF slot that is compatible with type I and type II cards. Apart from that, the X50V sports an SD slot supporting SDIO and SDIO. All these expansion options make the Axim X50v a versatile and expandable device that will work with GPS, CF cellular cards, presentation, modem and networking cards.

Graphics and Sound:
The Axim X50v Wireless Pocket PC uses the much talked about Intel 2700G graphics processor with 16 MB of RAM. 16 MB of RAM is an impressive amount of video memory for a PDA, and beats out all other PDA models in the market. The graphics processor used in X50v offers 3D acceleration and rendering, while all other PDAs except the gaming oriented “Palm OS Tapwave Zodiac” provides only 2D acceleration. Another notable graphics feature is that it has a fast pipeline between the CPU and graphics processor, meaning lesser delays in graphics processing.

Games:
The X50v comes with two Open GL games that show off the devices 3D performance: Stuntcar Extreme and the 3D puzzle game Enigmo, both gorgeous looking games.

Built-in Speaker, Microphone and Headphone:
The Dell has great sound and its built-in speaker is good enough to be heard in all environments except for extremely noisy ones. Music and movies sound great through stereo headphones that can be easily plugged into the 3.5 mm headphone jack, and volume is quite good and easily adjustable. Like most of the other Pocket PCs, the X50v has a microphone and can record voice notes and encourage the wannabe singer in you by letting you record your own music. Dell also includes a control panel for the microphone which lets you use automatic gain control and even set mic gain manually. The mic is located on the top left corner and the speaker is right below the d-pad. Another very useful feature of the X50vWireless PDA is that it uses a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, which works with almost every standard stereo headset and headset mic combo.

Video Playback:
The feature rich X50v did not leave Video playback behind, it is excellent on the device. Videos can be viewed in full screen mode, which is a unique feature of the X50v. It has a codec for the 2700G graphics processor to optimize video performance in WM10, and it shows because the playback feature, even when in full screen mode is impressive.

Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC PDA

Software Bundle:

Besides the fact that the Axim X50v is reasonably priced for the hardware you get, Dell has also managed to include an impressive software bundle. The software bundle includes: WLAN (a full-featured WiFi manager), Funk Odyssey VPN client and Resco Picture Viewer. It also provides software for Data Backup which backs up your PDA to a storage card. Besides the very obvious and required software tools, the device also provides us with very cool VGA 3D games Enigmo by Aspyr and Fathammer’s Stuntcar Extreme. Both games look amazing on the Dell PDA and exploit its VGA and 3D capabilities to the very best.

Axim X50v Battery:

The X50v comes with an 1100 mAh Lithium Ion battery which is user replaceable. This 110 mAh battery is just an average capacity battery for a Pocket PC, and proves to be a little low for a 3.7″ display VGA model running at 624 MHz with dual wireless (large displays, wireless networking and fast processors consume lots of power). Battery life is average for the X50V, giving about 3 hours of actual use in average conditions. However, if you need more power, Dell sells an optional 2200 mAh battery, which will obviously increase the battery life of the device and also increase the thickness of the PDA. For people who use wireless to a great extend might want to consider this extended battery or a second standard battery

Efficient battery usage modes in X50v:

We do not require 624 MHz of processor all the time, but we may need longer runtimes while travelling. To help us solve this problem, Dell allows the user to set the CPU speed to Power-Saving (208 MHz), Normal (520MHz), Maximum Performance (624 MHz) or Auto which sets processor speed relative to demand. Auto mode can set the CPU from 104 MHz up to 624 MHz depending on load and gives great performance overall. The Power-Saving mode is way too slow even for PIM lookups and working with Pocket Word documents, but Normal mode is just fine and may get you 15 minutes more out of your battery compared to Maximum performance mode.Like the previous versions of the Dell PDAs, you can charge the unit in its cradle or use the included dongle adapter to plug the charger directly into the PDA.

A Comparison with competitors HP iPAQ and ASUS A730:

Pocket friendliness:
If size is a major concern to you, the ASUS is the smallest VGA Pocket PC money can buy. Dell based Pocket PCs are a hair taller and the HP Pocket PCs are the largest. The HP based iPAQ is the only Pocket PC in this trio that has a magnesium alloy metal casing, while the other two have plastic casings. HP being the largest PDA in the group needs more space to accommodate its 4″ display. It is an accepted fact that Microsoft’s version of VGA does not make things terribly tiny. Hence the screen dimensions may not really matter to you unless you have tired eyes or want to view lots of photos and watch videos very frequently.

Performance Factors:
When it comes to performance, the iPAQ wins without doubt. The Dell Axim is just behind with very close benchmarks. Even though Dell has an amazing amount of video memory for a Pocket PC, the HP iPAQ beats it on graphics benchmarks. All the three PDAs look great for playing games and videos encoded at fairly high bit rates. When it comes to battery life, the iPAQ is a real winner with its standard 1800 mA battery. If you are the kind of person who does a lot of video calls on the move, the ASUS certainly wins since it is the only VGA model with an integrated digi-cam.

Gamers Choice:
Gamers will most probably favour the Dell and ASUS over the iPAQ since its touchpad is not the most responsive or usable for action gaming. When it comes to cost, the ASUS A730 and Dell X50v are less expensive than the iPAQ.

Warranty:

The Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC comes with a limited one year replacement warranty.

Verdict:

The Axim X50v is an excellent offering from Dell at a nice price, considering all the features. What we feel is that the unit should suit power users and those who crave for the VGA experience. The display is amazing; it looks great and provides the user with two awesome games. The design is attractive and ergonomic. Though the battery life is not very impressive for such a powerful device, the Axim X50v can be configured in three power modes to help save battery power. Solid performance and advanced multimedia capabilities make the Dell Axim X50v a suitable PDA for both serious and casual users. All these points put together, we feel that the feature rich Dell Axim X50v it is definitely worth a buy.

Check Compaq Pocket PCs, i-mate Pocket PC Reviews in this website.

Dell Axim X50v Wireless Pocket PC - Specification Details

Manufacturer	Dell
Model Name	Dell Axim X50v
Product Type	Pocket PC
Form factor	Compact
Dimensions (W x H x D) mm	73 x 119 x 16.9
Colour	Black
Display Type	QVGA, VGA TFT Color 16-bit, touch-sensitive, transflective display
Display Size	QVGA: 3.5 inches VGA: 3.7 inches
Resolution	QVGA: 240 x 320 at 65,536 colours VGA: 480 x 640 at 65,536 colours
LCD brightness	QVGA:100 nits VGA: 80 nits
Processor	Intel XScale PXA270 processor at up to 624 MHz
Memory	RAM: 64-MB SDRAM ROM: 64-MB or 128-MB Intel StrataFlash
Operating System	Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 2003 Second Edition
Navigation	5-way navigation button
Expansion Slots	one Secure Digital memory card slot supports 1-bit and 4-bit SDIO card one CompactFlash Type II card slot
Infrared	standard v1.2
synchronization connector	36-pin connector
Audio	stereo headphone connector and mono microphone connector
Supported Digital Audio Formats	MP3 , WMA
Audio controller	WM8750L sound chip
Stereo conversion	16-bit stereo; 8.0-, 11.025-, 22.05-, and 44.1-KHz sample rate
Record	full duplex record and playback
Wireless Connectivity	WLAN (802.11b) CF Host interface IEEE 802.11b Network standard Bluetooth wireless technology Wi-Fi certified Software support
Games included	StuntCar extreme , Enigmo
Battery Type	1100-mAh lithium-ion removable, rechargeable battery
Warranty	1 year Limited warranty Replacement