Review of the Dell Axim X5..

After playing with the Axim X5 for 3+ days, here are my initial thoughts:

Pro's:

  • Good featureset for the money.  (especially SD & CF slots)
  • Preinstalled with Windows Mobile 2003 for PocketPC.
  • Good battery life & fast recharge rate.
  • Lithium battery is easy to remove/replace (like a cellphone battery).
  • Extra battery charger slot in Cradle.
  • Dell "Switcher Bar" gives quick-access to running Programs, Power settings, and Brightness settings.
  • Dell "Home" utility gives a simple desktop for organizing programs. (similar to Palm OS program listing).
  • Nice lights, screens, and overall appearance.
  • Decent leather carrying case.
  • Good overall service and delivery.
  • Plenty of good sites for cases, apps, and accessories for the Axim.

Con's:

  • A little rough sliding into cradle.  Adding guides on cradle slot might make plugging-in easier.
  • Round shape and "flushness" of Function Buttons makes it difficult for people with larger hands.
  • SD slot is in top-left corner so the "toggle" control is moved down to the middle.  This makes it uncomfortable to use, and therefore less useful. 
  • Toggle "button" is hard to activate, when pushing-in instead of toggling, and tends to accidentally toggle instead.
  • Audio is OK, but overdrives the speakers when playing MP3s if set at anything above medium.  However, this works fine with headphones and has minimal noise.
  • Function Buttons take a bit to get used-to for games.  Also, the "navigator button" (arrow-key) is hard to control in games since you often accidentally hit the middle button when trying to push in a direction.  This is a big drawback to fast-paced games with alot of maneuvering or ones that require the middle button too. (only important if you like PDA gaming)

Wish List:

  • Fix "Cons" above.
  • Add USB socket on cradle for keyboard input. (This is supported by the PocketPC and can be seen on the Casio and other models.)
  • Include embedded Bluetooth and Wireless.  (I bought a DLink DCF-660w for $29, but its harder to fit in the case when installed)
  • Improve sensitivity of touch-screen.  Its not bad, but you have to press a bit harder than on other PDA screens, such as the IPaq.

Conclusion:

The Con's and Wishlist above may make you think I regret the purchase, but to get everything I want, I would have spent about $600 on the IPaq 5495 (not sure if thats the right model, just going by memory)

Overall I like the unit and see myself using it for years to come.  I still worry that competitor improvements in features may make me wish for a new unit, but I doubt this $250 price will be possible after things like built-in Cameras, Bluetooth, and WiFi become more common.

Regarding Pocket PC 2003 (er.. Windows Mobile 2003 for PocketPC), I didnt know its predecessor very well since my previous unit was older, but there are still a few things to mention:

  • Microsoft must improve ActiveSync!!!
  • API's for the Synch process must be simplified and more available (esp for .NET)
  • "Killing" applications vs Minimizing them to background must be simplified, otherwise they must improve the background "cleanup" service that kills applications based upon memory usage or at least offer configuration.

Thats all for now...but as I use, abuse, and code against my new "Mini_Me" I am sure there will be many more likes and gripes.

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