The Best PDA under $200
Written: Sep 26 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Everything
Cons: Stylus
The Bottom Line: This is the BEST PDA for the money. It has almost all the features of any PDA, and it's only $200.
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| bossman52's Full Review: Dell Axim¿ X5 Pocket PC |
It was the week before Christmas and all through the house..
My dad told me I was getting a mouse??? No wait, a dell PDA. When I awoke that morning in my parents living room, I became very excited. My dad had just ordered his Dell Axim X5 and I just knew that's what I was getting too.
Being the computer nerd that I am, I already had everything I needed. Except I didn't have a good PDA. I had gotten a Handspring a couple years back. And don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, but the honest truth is you can only deal with the monochrome screen for so long.
So as my mom played Santa and handed me gifts, I went to open one, and there it was, a Visioneer Flatbed Scanner. WHAT?! A Scanner?! I almost started crying. I didn't need a scanner, much less a scanner that isn't a Dell Axim.
I was very upset by this, but only because my dad assured me that I was getting a PDA. To make a long story short, I didn't throw a fit, but my parents could tell that I was not excited about a scanner of any kind. So my dad calls me and tells me he has decided to go ahead and pay the extra money and get me the Dell using his Dell account.
When I finally get it in the mail, I tear it open. And there it is, in all it's glory.
The Formfactor
It has many features, but one of the best things about this PDA is it's formfactor. It's silver, and made of something solid. It's not flimsy like a Saturn. And you Saturn owners know what I'm talking about. This is a solid machine, this Dell Axim. It also has a rubber bumper on each side, that is used for an excellent grip.
Along the left side are several buttons for easy access. One is to record voice notes. Another is a reset button, and another is a cool little clicker that can be used to scroll up and down or "tap" items.
There are four buttons in the front, pretty standard for any PDA and they are used for software shortcuts. Contacts, Calendar, etc. Then there is a new fangled rolly button. I'm not sure what to call it, but it's all one button and can be used like a joystick or you can use it to press the "up, left, right, and down" buttons. So it's multi functional and multi directional.
Along the bottom is a place to plug it in for syncing, and a seperate power supply for charging. Another "feature" is that it uses a standard calculator type AC adapter. So you can buy a charger for it at Wal-mart, or even... Kmart.
The stylus leaves a bit to be desired. It's a little flimsy. That's the one thing about my handspring that I loved. The styles was made of steel. And each end unscrewed to reveal a screw driver, or a little pin for pressing the reset button. But this one is just a plain stylus. After about a year of use, the tip broke on it too. So that's the only draw back I can think of.
Memory and storage
This thing comes with it, standard 32 MB of "RAM" type memory, and 32 MB of storage space.
These are both good numbers, and the X5 comes with 64 MB of storage space rather than 32.
Some of this space is taken up by operating system, etc. It goes fast, but 32 isn't bad and will hold plenty of applications and "stuff."
External slots in the Dell Axim allow it to hold "multimedia" cards. Which are the tiny little cards that come out of some digital cameras. And more importantly, it has a CF card slot. This is where the action is. I bought a 64 MB CF card for 20 bucks. Not bad at all, and when I shrink my MP3s down to 900k (which is high quality on the Dell's tiny sound system), I can hold a ton of them on one card.
Also along the CF card slot lines; many toys are made for this slot. This includes digital cameras, 56k modems, and ethernet cards. The cards are expensive, but very cool and easy to install.
I bought a 56k modem for mine, so that I can dial-up while I'm on the road. Or anywhere they have a phone line.
Speed
The Dell Axim that I have has a 300 MHz processor. This is close to the speed of my desktop. Sadly. It runs very crisply with several applications running at the same time. The truth is though that you do need to close some down. Once you get up to 6 or 7 running, you should exit them to save memory and processor speed.
The other thing is that Pocket PC is also not the greatest operating system and the world. But overall the Dell runs everything easily.
Software
Again, this machine comes with PocketPC 2.0 (Windows CE Family). And what's great about it is, that it has all the new upgrades installed, and Dell's own little add-ons. For instance, some people have to download the Media Player update. Not Dell users. The Pocket PC came fully updated.
It also came with a switcher bar. This program allows me to switch between software, and truly exit software, rather than just minimizing it like the X in the top right does.
Price
This is the best part. Under 200 bucks! Under 200 bucks! You can't find a PDA like these for anywhere near this price. You can barely find a PDA that's color for under 200 bucks. Much less a 300 MHz, 32 MB Ram, 32 MB Storage beast!
And besides, it's a Dell. You know you can count on their customer service and reliability. I love Handspring, but they are taking a dive. And in a few years, you won't have any support. Dell, Windows CE, they'll be there.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
bossman52
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Member: Matt Hudson
Location: Fayetteville, AR
Reviews written: 66
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Computer programmer, a political nerd, a business executive, and an artist all mixed into one.
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