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Reviewer: David Hecht
Date: 01/06/03 Rating:

Summary: (Full Review) Dell is out to change the face of the Windows CE landscape with its affordable PDA. The Axim's strong points are that it does what more expensive machines do...for less. While HP's iPAQ H3955 still needs a bulky jacket to accept a CF card, the Axim will take both a CF and SD card as is, and for  considerably less than a Toshiba e740 .

The Axim comes in two configurations: for an extra $100, you get a 400MHz StrongARM instead of a 300MHz one, as well as 48 MB of ROM instead of 32MB, and (most importantly) 64MB of RAM instead of 32MB.

The real difference is only $80: the lower-end model comes with the synch cable instead of the docking station, but the docking station can be added as a $20 option. The high-end model lists for $349 and the low-end one for $249: both offer a $50 rebate through January 19th, 2003.

The Dell Axim X5 seems to have incorporated features from a number of successful products already on the market: the tapered body of the Handspring Visor, the rubberized side grips of the Casio E-200, the dual CF and SD slots (without extra hardware—take that, Compaq!) of the Toshiba e740. Even the power supply is well thought out: it has a cord between the “brick” and the wall receptacle to avoid clearance problems.

Additionally, the Axim has small rubberized taps on the back, which will keep it from sliding across your tray table when the airplane banks; nice crisp feedback from the clearly-labeled buttons on the front; and—in an interesting touch—the record and reset buttons on the left-hand side are beneath the rubber side grips, requiring substantial action to be pressed.

The Axim comes with a replaceable battery, and it is well worth it to buy an extra ($59 at Dell’s site), especially since the docking station has a slot for a spare battery to be charged. Given the Axim’s already-impressive battery life (reported, not tested), you may be able to go on a longish trip with just the spare battery and avoid the hassle of the external power supply, plug adapters, and so on. If you are a notebook totin’ fellow, you might want to invest in the USB synch cable ($10 at Dell’s site). Incidentally, if you previously owned a Casio Cassiopeia E-125 or one of the iPaq 3000 series, the power paraphernalia you have previously bought should serve you again: the various power supplies appear physically and electrically compatible.

On the down side, the speaker sounds a bit tinny, and the on/off button—located at the top of the device—isn’t really obvious, nor is the button’s internal light (amber when charging, green when charged, and flashing green when ringing an alarm) bright enough to be visible in a well-lit environment. The asymmetric stylus is like a larger version of a Swiss Army knife plastic toothpick, nearly flat on both sides, is a bit hard to get used to, and feels flimsy and cheap. I bought an extra set of three styli for $9 at Dell’s site.

I also had some trouble getting the handheld into the cradle at first, as well as the spare battery: and CF cards don’t slide in as well as I am used to from other devices. I suspect that Dell has chosen to loosen their manufacturing tolerances slightly to minimize their reject rate in a mass-market environment: if that’s the price for getting a device that’s as fully-featured as the current crop of $500-600 machines for less than half that price, I accept.

The Axim comes in two configurations: for an extra $100, you get a 400MHz StrongARM instead of a 300MHz one, as well as 48 MB of ROM instead of 32MB, and (most importantly) 64MB of RAM instead of 32MB. The real difference is only $80: the lower-end model comes with the synch cable instead of the docking station, but the docking station can be added as a $20 option. The high-end model lists for $349 and the low-end one for $249: both offer a $50 rebate through January 19th, 2003.

• Processor: Intel® XScaleTM Processor at 400MHz
• Memory :RAM: 64MB SDRAM
• ROM: 48MB Intel StrataFlash® memory
• Operating System: Microsoft® Pocket PC 2002 Premium
• Display: TFT Color 16-bit, Touch Sensitive, Transflective LCD
  3.5 inches
  240 x 320 resolution at 65,536 colors (QVGA)
• Control and Lights:
  Navigation button
  Scroll Dial - Up, Down, Action
  4 Program Buttons: Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Home
  Voice Record Button
  Reset Button
  Backlit Power Button Event Notification
  Charge Status
• Expansion Slots
  1 CompactFlash Type II Card Slot (3.3v)
  1 Secure Digital / MMC Memory Card Slot (3.3v)
• Ports and Connectors
  Standard v1.2 (115 kbps) Infrared Port
  DC Power In
  40-pin Cradle/Sync Connector
  Stereo Headphone Connector
• Dimensions:
  Length 128 mm (5.04 inches)
  Width 81.5 mm (3.21 inches)
  Height 18 mm (0.71 inches)
  Weight 196 grams (6.9 oz)
• Audio
  Audio Controller AC-97 Codec Chip; WM9705 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 1440 mAh Lithium-Ion Removable, Rechargeable (standard)
  3400 mAh Lithium-Ion Removable, Rechargeable (optional)
• Services
  1 Year Advanced Exchange Service2
  Optional 2 Year Next Business Day Advanced Exchange2
  Optional 3 Year Next Business Day Advanced Exchange2
   

 Entry Level (differences only)

• Processor: Intel® XScaleTM Processor at 300MHz
• Memory :RAM: 32MB SDRAM
• ROM: 32MB Intel StrataFlash® memory