Anyone have anything nice to say about 210/211?

dmlomartire · 08-16-08, 05:48 PM

I am an owner of a recently disabled Axim x51v. (It was running perfectly until it fell in the toilet - don't ask!

) So, I am now in the market for a new PDA.

I was considering the 210 but am concerned about the quality issues that have been reported here. Yes, the x51v had some early issues as well, but these were corrected over time via new ROM updates. It is unclear if HP is going to be supporting this device at all from what I have read. Plus, the xda community has been active in suppling new ROM updates for the x51v - WM 6.1 was just recent made available (I was running WM 6.0 on my x51v).

I was happy with the x51v and, besides the larger screen, there does not really seem to be that much of an advantage; and several noted disadvantages.

Does anyone have any good news to report about the 210? In particular, you former x51v owners - are you glad you made the switch to the 210?

-- Dave

Rosie · 08-16-08, 08:36 PM

Well, here's my story. (And sorry about the toilet).
I am a former X50 owner. Ended up stuck with WM 2003 because Dell couldn't make a WM 5 upgrade that wouldn't turn it into a brick. As I got to the end of the 4th year on the X50 and the end of my cell contract, my partner says why not get a Moto Q. So we did. All I can say is that WM Smartphone is no WM Pocket PC. So I bought a 210. I'm mostly happy with it. It has its moments, but mostly it's fine. I wish there was a sync cradle and the touch screen is somewhat annoying sometimes (especially on the right scrollbar), and nobody ever gives you a good enough battery, and it locks up occasionally, but it's not awful. It's Windows. When my cell contract is up in June, I'll go back to a flip phone of some sort.
I realize this isn't a glowing review, but I don't know of anything better out there for this price.

08-16-08, 08:47 PM

I moved from an X5 to a 210. Besides the low volume on the speaker and the lack of HP support, I have been very happy with it and have not had any issues. I love the large VGA screen.

on a side note, I never owned an X51v (wish I did at some point). I saw some good deals a few months back on geeks.com for refub models. I may have bought one of them had I saw that deal before I bought the 210 in Feb and did the rom upgrade from XDA.

08-18-08, 12:06 AM

I bought one for my brother. He uses it daily. There are no significant problems with it, and he loves it. He had the CF battery drain issue, but it wasn't a problem since he did not need to use a CF card.

The VGA screen is top notch, and thanks to the Marvell PXA310 CPU this device has, which I believe is class leading, he can play videos almost without restriction, apparently even better than my beloved HX4700.

It's not as sexy as the 4700, but I believe it is better value for the money.

It's depressing what lousy support HP provides, but that's generally true of all their products. Since in my experience they practically all work, and the technology is excellent, that lack of has not been a big problem for me. Your mileage may vary.

dkimak · 08-18-08, 01:50 PM

I'm a former x51v user that is VERY happy with the change. Yes, the 210 has querks. But I find it to be an upgrade to the x51v in that:

1) Much more responsive that x51v under WM5
2) Screen is much better (brighter)
3) Battery life is much better
4) Support for SDHC

The x51v was a great little workhorse and the 210 a great upgrade!

aedmunds7 · 08-18-08, 02:13 PM

Formerly a x50v owner and love my Ipaq 211 for its wonderful VGA screen screen responsiveness is good, no problem at all with any drainage on cf or no problem with sd, use wifi every day, get email, downloads, worth more to me than the cost. Ipaq 211 is the only pda that is comparable to x50v. Have Not regretted making this purchase, not only for me but my sister as well.

FrinkTL · 08-19-08, 11:37 AM

I replaced my (still working) x51v several months ago. Check here for my analysis comparing the Axim X51v and the iPAQ 211:iPAQ 211 or Axim X51v.

There are always issues with every piece of hardware I have ever purchased, regardless of the brand. Every device represents some sort of compromise. The real question is the compromise one that suits how you plan to use the device. For me, the screen, large amount of memory and huge battery were major wins over the X51v. Support for the highest capacity cards was a nice bonus too. I even came up with a way to dim the too-bright-for-nighttime-use LED lights for battery and WiFi. Here's the link to that: How to Dim the Battery/WiFi LEDs

I'm very pleased with my device. I use it all the time every day for nearly everything. Sure there are issues that I consider minor (since I don't use the CF slot), but none of the issues are a problem for how I use the device. With the right sound file, you can even get the speaker to be audible in some fairly noisy environments.

I'd definately suggest you give one a test try. I'd suggest buying the 211 from HP Home's site: Buy an HP iPAQ 211 Enterprise Handheld (FB041AA#ABA) from HP(they ship faster and are more service-oriented than the Business side of the house), especially if HP is still giving the 15 day "free look" (where you can return it for a full refund after 15 days if you're not satisfied with the device.

lloyd no f · 08-22-08, 07:33 AM

I thought I would add my little piece, even though its probably after the fact.
I've always been an axim owner - x5, 2 x50v & x51v and would have remained if dell continued with them
The last one - x51v I only bought 4 months ago mainly due to the then mainly negative comments my research found about the 210 series when my x50v died. It was stolen when my car was broken into and once again I was Dell shopping. Due to 1 Australian seller having an ipaq clearance and finding more positive feedback on the 210 I thought why not. What is important is that due to my last pc purchase I am VERY anti HP and thought my dollars wouldnt go their way ever again.
The 210 is very different to handle than the x50 but the main reason is the screen size. I love the screen I must say. The matt look and feel is excellent after adjusting to it. Colours are sensational, the processor speed is remarkable, battery life leaves axim for dead, and the SDHC support just awesome (my 16gb turned up today)
No unit is perfect but just about all the foibles are more than compensated for-like SDHC and CF drain. My gaming has been minor up until now but the D-pad looks worse than the axim. Most games I play are stylus reliant anyway so for me no issue.
At the end of the day I'm over the moon with the purchase. Ran into typical HP unnecessary rubbish today with needing to download the activate the latest shockwave active-x in IE7 just to find out how to hard reset (no printed instruction manual and all docs are exe on CD). But the fact I received a CD exceeded expectations.
So this is one die-hard axim fan who thinks the 210 is worth HP's shite. And at the end of the day, for the 210's main features (vga screen, processor, sdhc) competition is lacking
note i did consider the tytn which i think is kaiser in the USA. i personally made the right decision with the 210 (212 actually) as i like my phones small and ppc's powerful. thanks to menneisyys yet again for his in depth review

:soap: sorry if i dragged on

Islanti · 08-22-08, 01:15 PM

Former hx4700 user. Upgraded to the 210 after my hx4700 starting becoming very unreliable. I've been very happy with the 210.

aedmunds7 · 08-22-08, 05:19 PM

Boxwave sells cradles for Ipaq 210/211 for synching and charging; bought 2 and work great!

mysteryxpert · 08-27-08, 04:15 PM

I am a former AXIM X50 owner and I consider my IPAQ 210 purchase a DOWNGRADE for many reasons. Sure, the 210 has a bigger screen and more memory, but the AXIM's were plenty big.

In terms of speed, the 210 performs like a sloth. The two things I do most are looking up contacts and searching for key words in old calendar entries. The Search command in Windows Mobile 6 can take more than 5 minutes to show the results of a simple search attempt. My backlight and power often turn-off before I'm able to view the results! And when you turn the 210 back on, it dumps you back to the Start screen and you must start over with whatever you were doing. Windows Mobile 2003SE could find and display results almost instantly, and it always returned you to where you left off when you turned it back on.

The 210 is also much slower in opening all programs (Oxford dictionary, BibleReader, Avantgo, calculator, Mobipocket, Office, etc.) than the AXIM.

I did a lot of on-line research, but I foolishly did not try-out the IPAQ 210 before I bought it. One reason was I could not find a local store that sold it. If I could return it, I would. But I don't know what is available that is any better. (I really wish I could fix my AXIM and get it to synchronize again and I'd be satisfied.)

I strongly recommend that you purchase with an option to return it if you are not satisfied, even if you have to pay more up front.

DrAT · 08-31-08, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by mysteryxpert

And when you turn the 210 back on, it dumps you back to the Start screen and you must start over with whatever you were doing. Windows Mobile 2003SE could find and display results almost instantly, and it always returned you to where you left off when you turned it back on.

You might be able to change that. Go to '>>Settings>>Personal>>Today>>Items' and increase the 'Today Timeout' value. You might even want to disable this feature.

DrAT · 08-31-08, 04:23 PM

I wouldn't be without mine. It has its faults. Most of these are minor but they should have been spotted by even the briefest of beta tests. I think this is what angers many users.
Anyway, I'd recommend it. I refer it to my hx4700.

CaptainLovePoe · 09-02-08, 12:16 AM

I've had no problems with the 210 (touch wood) - a beautiful device.

Zavala · 09-06-08, 02:31 PM

First off, here's a list of the devices I've used so far:

Palm Zire72
Palm T/X (still have it)
Axim x50v (still have it)
Axim x51v (sold it long ago)
HP iPAQ RW4540 (still with me)
HP iPAQ 210 (Yup)
HP iPAQ 216 (Oh yesh...)

So, let's begin now...
If we focus on the differences between the Axim and the HP 200 series I would say... the compatibility and expansions.
Both axims work nice and so, BUT the 200 series makes almost the same work but a bit quicker. Yes, perhaps Dell has better designers and such, but hey there's no such thing as a "perfect" PDA so it mostly depends on your needs.
If you're NOT into very heavy programs or need LOTS of things in a PDA, axim is the best choice indeed mostly because of it's size and power. While the 200 series is more focused to something bigger as for heavy duty engineers and such.
If you're planning to change to a 200 series, first think if you REALLY need it or it's just a whim. For me, the 200 series is just what I needed and works wonders (specially because of the HC compatibility allowing you to have 48 gb of storage).
Now, in a curious note here: The iPAQ 216 has exactly the same chipset as the axim x51v and believe me, it almost feels like one except for the wider bluetooth compatibility.

Hope this helps.