Dell Axim X50v

[stadsport]

So, I've had an oooold pocket pc for over a year, an HP Jornada 540. 133mhz SH3, I don't remember any of the other specs. It ran Windows CE 3. It was a hand-me-down from my aunt, and had little dots in a square around the center of the screen from her playing Brickshooter constantly on it. But I didn't need much; it was just to replace my school planner, and it worked quite well for such a simple task. I also put on some Gameboy Color emulators and such.

Then recently, I was going to get an MP3 player to replace my CDMP3 player. I was looking into the m:robe-100, Creative Zen Micro/photo, and the Toshiba Gigabeat. Then I figured, for a little more money, why not get a device that can do everything those MP3 players can do and more? Being that I'm such a nut for emulation and gaming, I started looking around for a Pocket PC that could handle my needs in that area without falling short in others. I ultimately decided on the Axim X50v. The current model is the X51v, which has Windows Mobile 5. I didn't chose this for the simple fact that it's newer and doesn't handle a lot of more mature applications very well. Even still, the X50v CAN be upgraded to Windows Mobile 5 in the future if the user wishes. Now, onto the review!

The X50v sitting in its included cradle

Specs

Windows Mobile 2003 SE

Intel X-Scale Processor (ARM-based) at 624mhz

128 MB internal ROM :: About 100 MB can be used as non-volatile internal storage, a great plus

64 MB RAM

16 MB Dedicated Intel 2700G Graphics

3.7" VGA Screen

Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth

Built-in SD and CF card slots, both of which can be used simultaneously

Mine came with a 2200mAh extended battery pack. It sticks out a bit in the back, but it's flat so the Axim still rests comfortably on a table or something. It's not a hassle at all.

The device has 5 face buttons (two on each side of the d-pad and one in the middle), an 8-way D-Pad, two side buttons, and the power button. The side buttons are on the left side, and control WiFi (up) and Bluetooth (bottom). In games, they can of course be mapped to do anything, as with the rest of the buttons (sans the power button, of course). There is also a little switch on the side that locks the entire system from input. It'll continue to run, but it will ignore screen and button presses. Hold button. :)

Music

As I said, I was originally looking for an MP3 player, so music playback was important.

Of course music playback on this thing is great. The internal speaker (under the d-pad) is actually very loud and really doesn't crackle much on louder songs. This is cool because you can put it on full volume, lock the screen and put it your pocket. People have very funny reactions to music seemingly coming from nowhere. :D With headphones, the sound quality is excellent.

Because it seems to be a big topic of interest, I've decided to touch more on music playback on this.

The quality is very good. I compared it side by side with identical songs and headphones against my Sony Atrac3 CD/MP3 player. The first thing I noticed was that the Axim sounds much clearer. In the song "Fear" form the Rez soundtrack (awesome game btw ;)), there's a spot where the sound is completely off. On my CDMP3 player you can still hear almost a static sound, very faint, but present. On the Axim, it's off.

I listen to music extremely loudly. Full blast, most of the time. On my CDMP3 player, many songs would crackle (like "hey dj" by C90 Double Figures, which is probably the loudest song in my library) at full volume. None of that on the Axim. Finally, it seems like there are some very faint sounds, extremely high or low frequencies that aren't present when played on my CDMP3 player, but are crystal clear on the Axim. I noticed this very clearly on Track 5 from the Extreme-G 2 Soundtrack.

It's true this could be partially credited towards my CDMP3 player, but I've always been satisfied with the quality of its playback, and it seems to me that the Axim's sound quality is much better.

A relief for me was how well Windows Media Player handles music, in it's Library format. Granted, I wouldn't mind going through folders to find my music, seeing as that's how I have it organized anyways, it's great being able to sort through by Artist, Album, Genre, etc. I can also shuffle, repeat, fast-forward/rewind, etc. You're also able to configure most WMP functions to hardware buttons, so it's very easy to change tracks and such without even taking out the stylus, making it feel a little more like a portable MP3 player during use. I have it setup so the D-pad + center button pretty much controls everything. I'd also like to point out that for those looking into Pocket PCs as possible Mo3 player alternatives (much like I was), you can get some great deals of CF and SD cards, both of which the X50v can use. Newegg.com has 2gb CF cards for about $90 USD.

Video

While not as important to me, this was to be my all-in-one media device, so I gave it a shot. Windows Media Player handles video kind of badle, often locking up when I switch to fullscreen mode (if I'm in portrait/VGA atleast, I'll get more into this later). There are other video players out there, but WMP plays video at full speed and scales it and looks great just like a computer.

Games

Okay, this is where the fun really starts on this thing. For emulation, I reccomend getting the latest version of MorphGear (http://spicypixel.com) and FPSce (http://fpsearm.psxfanatics.com/). While both are far from perfect, they're very good. MorphGear handles almost everything. NES, SNES, GB, GBA, TurboGraphix, Gensis, Master System/Gamegear. It's got a ton of options for things like on-screen controls (which you can customize by making your own skins), screen scaling, expansion, rotation, framerate/skipping, sound, controls, etc. It plays most games great, though a few are slightly buggy (it doesn't seem to like Seiken Densetsu 3, but Secret of Mana plays fine). FPSce is a Playstation Emulator based on FPS. It actually runs surprisingly well. While many 3D games only hit about 30-40 FPS (you can frameskip, don't worry) it emulates pretty flawlessly, and even has sound. But I'm sure you want more than just text about it.

Ridge Racer. It says 5fps because I had just unpaused the emulator, and the emu only updates the FPS ticker once per second. Really runs around 30-40fps

Metal Slug X: Super Vehicle. Runs almost full speed

VGA Screen in a Pocket PC? I think you just blew my mind!

Yeah, this thing has a 640x480 (or 480x640, depending on which way the screen is set). Full color, all that jazz. Traditionally, Pocket PCs only had 320x240 screens, or QVGA (Quarter-VGA)

While Windows Mobile 2003 SE only has support for what's commonly called "SE VGA," which is basically making the screen look like it has a magically smooth QVGA screen, there are some hacks and programs out there that make it true VGA. I use SE VGA because it's very easy, but there are more advance alternatives out there. Screen rotation is built right into the OS, as with many applications. On the negative side, I have to say that the screen doesn't display greens as vibrantly as I'd like, but it definitely gets by. Response time on it is excellent, too. No ghosting whatsoever.

It's hard to put such resolution into perspective without a quarter~

Input

As mentioned, there are plenty of buttons, but there's also four methods of text input:

Block recognizer: This is basically Graffiti, the semi-handwriting recognition that Palm invented. Super accurate, though kind of slow and hard to get used to.

Keyboard: A basic onscreen keyboard.

Letter Recognizer: Like the block recognizer, but it recognizes true handwriting gestures. It can get kind of "confused," depending on your handwriting style. For example, my t's look like a crux, and it often mistakes them for an x if I don't write perfectly straight.

Transcriber: True handwriting recognition. Works very well, but is kind of slow to process, and doesn't seem to like true VGA mode at all. You can write anywhere on the screen, too.

The Axim X50v also came with a round stylus, breaking Dell's tradition of semi-flat syli, which is also what my previous Jornada 540 had.

Internet

As I mentioned, this thing has wifi built in. I honestly don't know if it's b or g, but I just use it for internet anyways, being that you have to switch your connection to "Work" to use it on your home LAN (which, granted, works prettly flawlessly). There's a pocket PC counterpart of almost every app out there, including AIM, MSN, and IRC clients. I personally just use Pocket IRC and the included MSN, but there's an old version of AIM I've been intending to install. They all work pretty good, I just wish I could find a way to join multiple networks simultaneously in Pocket IRC. I'm really impressed by how wel MSN handles on a Pocket PC. When you open a conversation, there's a Contact List icon at the bottom, and a Conversations drop-up menu, which lets you switch between conversations a la taskbar. The Contact List icon takes you back to the contact list without closing your conversations. It also has a Conversations menu. When using other applications while MSN is running, it alerts you of sign ins and new messages, via a little icon that appears at the titlebar of whatever app you're using. It'll show a speech bubble tooltip (like XP/2K have) if you click it, or are idle when it recieves a message. Such tooltips have options like "Chat" and "Ignore."

The machine is also surprisingly good at multitasking. I can talk on MSN, IRC, browse the web on Pocket IE (included) while Windows Media Player streams music via online radio. It truely feels like you have a PC that can fit in your pocket--a Pocket PC :).

Other misc software

There's a HUGE amount of software out there for Windows Mobile, and being that the X50v is a relatively popular make/model, there's many apps that have optimized builds just for it. I use some programs like iLauncher (puts those tabs/icons on my Today Page shown in the screenshot farther up), MultiIE (adds tabbed browsing and many other options to Internet Explorer). There are also insanely powerful customization programs out there, like WisBar, which lets you skin your entier PPC as if it were Windows XP.

Battery Life

I have to say, I haven't made any formal battery life tests, but let me put it this way. I got this thing right after school (around 3:00pm) and used it all day. It didn't run dead until I was at my uncle's house around 8:30 PM, when it started to say the battery was low. I go all day listening to music and playing games on it, and the battery just won't quit. I'm really impressed, and would definitely reccomend the extended battery to anyone looking to buy one of these things.

Cradle

Not a lot to say here. It came with a charging/ActiveSync (USB) cradle. Unlike traditional Axim cradles, it's very simple. Just a Dell logo and an LED (and in all honesty, I have yet to see this LED so much as blink). It's also god good weight to it, so it won't slide around aimlessly or fall off desks because of the cables. Oh, I almost forgot. The cradle also has a spot and port incase you'd like to charge a second battery at the same time the X50v (and its own battery) are sitting in the cradle.

Overall, this thing was the best $300 I've ever spent. It can pretty much do anything, and do it very well. It's sleek, sexy, and feels very solid. Not too heavy nor too light. If you have the money and want something that can handle all your portable media needs, this is definiltey it.

Edited February 6, 2006 by stadsport

[Von_Beard]

great review :D

[Noxel]

wow, very good review. Damn, now i want one badly!!

[Premgenius]

Sweet, I'm looking for get a PDA and mobile phone in one :D is Windows Mobile 2003 SE and Windows Mobile 5 the same software.

[chconline Veteran]

Hows the sound on it? I have the Dell Axim X30 624MHz I got like 3 years ago (Well still a powerful PDA, dont think it needs replacement...) anyway the SNR is horrible. Hows it on the X50?

[briangw]

I'm done with Dell. Ever since they wouldn't provide the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade for my Axim X30 (and the hardware CAN handle it), they've lost my support

[icecaveman]

I'm done with Dell. Ever since they wouldn't provide an upgrade for my Axim X30 (and the hardware CAN handle it), they've lost my support

Uh HP plays the same way and so do most others, Dell has far better record what that's concerned.

[briangw]

Uh HP plays the same way and so do most others, Dell has far better record what that's concerned.

But unlike Dell, HP upgraded my iPaq to Windows Mobile 2003 SE for $20.00. I'm willing to pay that for the Mobile 5 upgrade.

[1759]

I'm done with Dell. Ever since they wouldn't provide the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade for my Axim X30 (and the hardware CAN handle it), they've lost my support

Why would you even want 2005? They've been all sorts of complaints from people that "upgraded" their 2003/2003 SE PPC's to it, other than persistent storage and WMP 10, I don't see any benefits to 2005. Besides the X30 is an old device anyway, Dell isn't going to bother selling an upgrade for it.

I still use a Dell X5, and the only upgrade for it was from 2002->2003, but that was worth it (and because of screw ups at their end, it was free). That device could support 2003 SE, but it's old too, doesn't affect the usability of it; it takes notes, has a calandar, and supports 99% of PPC software.

[stadsport]

The sound quality from the built in speaker is decent. It's better than what I've heard coming from other pocket pcs. It can also go extremely loud. As mentioned, sound quality through headphones is superb.

DJ Prem: WM5 is the successor to WM2k3. It's intended to be able to run the same software, but not all does, Because of this, I really wouldn't worry about not being able to upgrade, brian. Though I can see why you're upset. Also, DJ Prem, there are special Smartphone editions of WM for such devices :p

Edited January 29, 2006 by stadsport

[chconline Veteran]

Have you compared the sound quality of the headphones to a dedicated player, say, a Zen Micro?

[stadsport]

Have you compared the sound quality of the headphones to a dedicated player, say, a Zen Micro?

My friend's got a Zen Micro, I'll ask her if I can try it out on Monday. I had a Sony CD/MP3 player beforehand, and this thing is definiltey better in terms of quality (and loudness). It would also depend on the bitrate of your audio files. Since there seems to be a good amount of discussion surrounding sound quality, I'll sit down with a few identical songs, use the same headphones and compare it right up against my CDMP3 player, and add any results to the review (if it'll let me edit by the time I'm done).

Edit: Done, check the Music section of the review :)

Edited January 29, 2006 by stadsport

[unimatrixzer0]

So with the extra slots, how much more memory could you put on it? I'd like to get one to also use as a GPS device in my car. Don't really know how much space map data would take but I'd guess a lot.

Edited January 29, 2006 by unimatrixzer0

[trek]

Great review. And wow, 640x480 on a pocket pc. Brilliant.

[briangw]

Why would you even want 2005? They've been all sorts of complaints from people that "upgraded" their 2003/2003 SE PPC's to it, other than persistent storage and WMP 10, I don't see any benefits to 2005. Besides the X30 is an old device anyway, Dell isn't going to bother selling an upgrade for it.

I still use a Dell X5, and the only upgrade for it was from 2002->2003, but that was worth it (and because of screw ups at their end, it was free). That device could support 2003 SE, but it's old too, doesn't affect the usability of it; it takes notes, has a calandar, and supports 99% of PPC software.

Because it can support it. That's like asking why bother upgrading from Windows 95 to 98. Obviously there are some imporvements on there besides looks. For one, memory management it supposedly better, which would greatly benefit my needs as I use mine with Tom Tom for driving directions.

[+Warwagon MVC]

as far as upgrading my Ipaq from 03 to 05 I say, if it an't broke don't fix it.

[thermal+paste]

fzero = awesome!

:D

[chconline Veteran]

Wow you listen to music at FULL VOLUME :no: :no: (Btw loudness != sound quality) your ears are pretty much screwed!! (Get some nice earbuds like Shure E2c, reviewed http://aphnetworks.com/node/847 )what I mean by quality is the SNR, treble, midrange, bass, crispness, how "clean" the sound is, how the bass has "bounce" but hard and solid, the crispness of the treble and stuff :p

[1759]

Because it can support it. That's like asking why bother upgrading from Windows 95 to 98. Obviously there are some imporvements on there besides looks. For one, memory management it supposedly better, which would greatly benefit my needs as I use mine with Tom Tom for driving directions.

Everyone agreed that ME was a newer OS than 98SE, but did that make it better?

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=114776 -> Problems people have had with upgrading their X50v's to WM05.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104366 -> WM5 tweaks

They are some workarounds, fiddling with the registry and what not to make it more stable, but fiddling with the registry should be for enabling/disabling little tweaks, starttimes, animations, etc, not trying to make the device stable because the upgrade breaks things. It was bad enough having to apply alarm tweaks/special application because WM2003 wouldn't set off alarms properly even though they worked fine in 2002. There are improvements, but probably just as many bugs too.

Perhaps the x51v is different because it uses WM05 off the getgo.

[briangw]

Everyone agreed that ME was a newer OS than 98SE, but did that make it better?

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=114776 -> Problems people have had with upgrading their X50v's to WM05.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104366 -> WM5 tweaks

They are some workarounds, fiddling with the registry and what not to make it more stable, but fiddling with the registry should be for enabling/disabling little tweaks, starttimes, animations, etc, not trying to make the device stable because the upgrade breaks things. It was bad enough having to apply alarm tweaks/special application because WM2003 wouldn't set off alarms properly even though they worked fine in 2002. There are improvements, but probably just as many bugs too.

Perhaps the x51v is different because it uses WM05 off the getgo.

Well, I can counter that by saying that's pretty much the only example you can use for a Windows OS, since every other upgrade was better! :laugh:

[chconline Veteran]

Windows ME was better than Windows 98SE for me. Heck I still use it.

[Brandon]

Ive seen a VGA PDA before, and compared to my X30 its amazing how much info can be fit on that small of a screen!

[asdfoi83wyrl]

Very nice. I would've gotten this over the Palm TX but I couldn't afford it :D

[Cube]

i recenlty upgraded mine to mobile 5, the slowdown issues have been somewhat fixed if you checkout aximsite some guy made a patch.

[JadeWolf324]

still no word from DELL about a definitive patch....very disapointing. great handheld tho!