The Bottom Line: This little gizmo is a must-have for people like me who need to keep our own schedules, tasks, and do presentations. Was it worth the price? Yes, I guess so.
Let's be honest: no one NEEDS a PDA. These things are just fancy toys and with prices for the new Dell PDAs approaching those of most low-end laptops, it's tough to justify owning one of these things. But, I had to have it!! Moreover, buying a PDA is one heck of a frustrating activity. Most local electronics stores can offer little in the way of help (e.g., Best Buy, CompUSA, Future Shop, etc). Sometimes I think my cat knows more about the details of the products sold at these stores than most of the staff. So, I end up trawling the internet reading reviews by others, rather than trying things out myself. I will say this though, Geek.com has an excellent review of the basics of this and other PDAs.
Buying the PDA:
Dell is not the most "user-friendly" site I've ever used. Yes, they have lots of buttons to push (which is fun for my 2-year old son), but very few that tell you about specifics of the system. For example, I found it almost impossible to discover what software comes on the Dell PDAs. In the end, I had to go back to trawling the internet and hope my research proved true.
Despite my misgivings of buying something "sight-unseen" I found that all my research pointed to the Dell Axim X30 as the PDA best suited for my needs. I went to the Dell site, hit all the buttons (fun!), and with great gravity and trepidation handed over my credit card number. Having then pushed, "pay now" I sat back waiting for the inevitable e-mail informing me of my soon-to-be-built PDA. Then I waited. Waited some more. Really waited a lot here. For days. Finally, I contacted Dell (via e-mail, of course), asking a simple question, "where is my PDA?" I learned than that this simple question has a rather complicated answer. The short of things is that Dell wasn't building my little PDA. In fact, they claimed I never made the order. Now, I began to understand some of the frustrations listed by others about the wait-time and on-line ordering issues with Dell.
I was not going to be fooled again by Mr. Dell, billionaire or not! Rather, I went through my workplace, where we happen to be a Premier Dell customer (ha-ha, take that; Mr. Dell)! My, what a difference. I actually got a real human to respond to me. Got my quote, paid for my new electronic toy--ahem, I mean--vital work device, and sat back to wait. Then, an amazing thing happened. I actually got my PDA before I got any e-mail acknowledgement from Dell. Very strange here, as I was led to believe the item would be built to my specifications.
The Box!
The Dell PDA comes in a rather nifty, but bland box. All is well packaged and I was pleased to see that each item was broken down into separate compartments. Thus, there was no friction damage. The battery and such were very easy to insert, and I was charging the PDA in no time.
Setup
Setup is a breeze with Windows 2003, a little too easy for my taste. It's sort of like that old ominous line in the movies, "it's quiet…too quiet." Here's my first official beef with this thing. The cradle. Yes, it's very space-age with the silver covering and nice blue "Dell" that glows when the unit is plugged in. But, it's the plugging in part that's annoying: the connection just isn't easy. Sometimes I've had to hold the base with one hand and jiggle the PDA onto the leads with the other. My old, trusty Palm fit into its base just like a foot into a well-worn pair of boots. In fact, I far prefer the smaller travel plug because I find it fits better into the connection.
Body
The body is rather plain and clunky. However, I like the "feel" in my hands, which is more than I can say for the comparable HP units. The little "WiFi" antena is rather strange, as it sticks above the body. I have some concerns that the thing will break if I hit it wrong. The power button is nice and easy to use. The keys are easy to see and have a nice "feel" when pushed. Very nice that Mr. Dell thought to put a real headphone jack on the side rather than one of those little ones. And the little volume knob is OK, but feels a little flimsy. The battery compartment is easily seen and accessible, although I haven't done anything since I slipped the battery in for the first time.
Stylus
This thing is just strange. I haven’t liked it since the moment I used it. The stylus is very flat, and there is just no way to hold it comfortably for any length of time. I've got big hands, and I find the little right-angle clip at the top is always digging into my palm. And I doubt there is any way to replace this thing--if lost--except to have a few mailed from Dell.
Screen
The screen is quite bright and has fairly good resolution. I created a movie using "DVD-to-Pocket PC" and was extremely impressed with the visual and sound quality. But, as always, you can’t see much in any kind of bright light; which isn’t unexpected. There is fairly good "touch" sensitivity when using that awful stylus. But, I'm very glad I bought the screen protectors because you can really mark up your screen in a short period of time.
Speaking of the protectors, these things suck! You'd think that hundreds of dollars in electronics would get you a screen protector that fits the screen, right? Wrong! The darn protector doesn’t cover the entire screen. In addition to concerns about scratching the screen surface, I find myself running off the screen with the stylus; sorta like hitting the curb with the wheels of your car as you park. Even my wife was amazed that Dell couldn't get this item correct.
Software
I was a little jumpy making the move from Palm to Windows. Palm is just so nice and simple. But, I was worried about compatibility issues with all the Microsoft products I was planning on using (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). The opening screen is rather nice, and I loved that so many of the symbols were quickly recognizable, like my old friends "W" for word and "X" Excel. And the little "windows" tag is very intuitive for going to find things. Using word and excel is great! And PDA Adobe is fantastic! I've yet to splurge for the PowerPoint adapter to synch with a data projector, but I'm sure everything will be excellent. The "Notes" software works well as does Windows Media. MP3s play pretty well, but the volume could be better. However, making a play list is just a miserable experience. It's almost like DOS in that you have to hold up your left leg, bark at a blue moon, and tap 8 keys in the proper order. Come on Microsoft, make an easy drag and drop system! I've also been very pleased with the Margi Presenter-to-Go software. I do weekly lectures and presentations and the quality and ease of use of the PDA for PowerPoint is excellent.
I'm particularly fond of the screen-orientation options. You can switch the PDA from vertical to horizontal mode. This option is great when viewing PowerPoint slides, pdf copes of papers, etc.
But, let's be honest here: the software engineers at Microsoft only know one way to build things. Bigger and clunkier. As such, I have come to absolutely LOATH Outlook. This beast of a program takes forever to load. I can’t stand the calendar; Palm's was so much easier to use and look at. The "Journal" software is awful and I can’t figure how to turn it off. It just keeps chuggin' away storing all kinds of useless information. And I had just the worst time getting the PDA to synchronize the time correctly with my PC. My PC kept taking the PDA timelines and moving them ahead 1 hour. All because of daylights savings time. Nice. And for some strange reason, my PDA refuses to show all the active tasks on a consistent basis. The upshot here is that Palm has a far superior product in terms of schedules, calendars, and tasks.
I've also a major pet peeve with the Pocket PC software: I can't turn any of the programs off! Yup, they all stay on. Even hitting the little "x" buttons in the top corner does nothing. Nada. I had to figure out how to use the "switcher bar" to turn off things. And the "activesync" program always hangs.
Games
OK, this processor rocks! I played all kinds of games--from Quake to Doom--on my PDA. The frame rate was awesome, and the graphics sharp and clear. That little ball drop game "Jawbreaker" is addictive. I'm sure this Dell PDA is one of the best out there for games.
WiFi and Bluetooth
OK, I couldn't care less about these options. I'm not too keen on sending my personal e-mails over any free WiFi system as I sit amongst the caffeine addicts at my local coffee shop. And I don’t own or plan to own any Bluetooth stuff. Cords and cables are fine with me. Besides, my research seems to indicate that few people can get WiFi to work properly without the direct support of someone with a PhD in computer networks.
Overall
This little gizmo is a must-have for people like me who need to keep our own schedules, tasks, and do presentations. The games are very good, and I've been pleased with the unit. Was it worth the price? Yes, I guess so. The only problem with PDAs is that there prices seem to be going up whereas laptop prices seem to be coming down. And with miniaturization at work on laptops, it's getting hard to justify a PDA when a 2.8 lbs. Laptop is available.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 400 Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
DELL AXIM X30 624 MHZ 64MB PDA With WIFI&BLUETOOTH Display: 240x320 pixels at 65,536 Colors OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003!! Lastest Version. Slots...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.