I'd like to be able to play 320x240 divx, mpeg, and wmv videos on a pda. I'd also be able to check my email and surf the net on my wireless network and do some other organization tasks. I know any axim with an 802.11b card can do that but I dont know how much cpu power i need to play the video files.

These are the three PDA's i am considering:

X5 400MHz
Truemobile 1180 802.11b CF card
All original equipment, manuals, etc
In good condition but used.
$165.00

X30 312MHz WiFi
Sealed dell refurb
$224.98

X30 624MHz
Sealed dell refurb
$274.00

Im a highschool student so im trying to keep the cost down. The X5 looks good but i dont know in what condition the battery is, plus i dont get the 1 year warranty that is on the other two dell refurbs. Basically the major question is will the X5 400MHz or X30 312MHz be able to play 320x240 divx, mpeg and wmv videos? If not is the 624MHz version capable of this (im assuming it is from what i've heard).

Thanks for any replies. Im very new to PDA's

www.geeks.com has a brand new Axim X5 for $179.

All of the PPCs are able to play video smoothly.

Thank you so much for the quick reply. Im glad i dont have to get the 624MHz X30 because i really didnt want to spend that much. Im still considering the 312MHz X30 because of the warranty, brand new condition, and guarenteed battery but atleast i know $225 is the most i'll have to spend.

Just as a side note; is windows media player mobile 9 wmmx compatable? Because then id rather have the 312MHZz PXA270, but if its not a 400MHz PXA263 would be better. Ah the questions contine

Actually, the processor in the Axim X5 Advance is PXA255.

The Geeks.com deal comes with a 1 year factory warranty and it's also brand new with a keyboard and several charging/case accessories for $179, along with all the usual stuff PPCs come with.

It looks like the deal on that website may be over now. It was there for over a month. That's where I bought mine. Best bet, if you can't find the Axim X5 cheap enough, go for the 312MHz X30.

Yea, i couldnt find the X5 on that site either.

I think I'll end up buying the X30 312MHz. That 624MHz is tempting but 50 bucks saved is nice. And as far as the X5; i like the factory refurb status of the X30 - considering all of the X5's ive seen are used. Im going to keep looking around for another day or so and then make my final decision. Ill post back when i make my purchase.

Thank you for all the help

At 320x480 I think you should do okay.. but as a X50v user... I have to say go X50v! My reasoning is it lets me watch videos that I used to think were overkill.. Such examples include movies that I had compressed down to 700 megs or anime which is about 24minutes and take up 170mb. I just know they all play nicely without recompression and well thats what I like about it. The reason is supposed to be the optimised Intel 2700 video chip.
However, I have not tried it without the optimization and I know my x5 adv used to have difficulty playing the matrix trailer on the betaplayer site (the highest quality 30mb thing)

  

I think he is going for a relatively cheap price for a PPC that is able to view movies. 320x240 doesn't look that bad at all.

Yeah, thats true I know most pocket pcs can handle that 320x240.. Its just that I am impatient and like to watch without converting.. esp nice over network with larger files.

Wouldnt a x30 624mhz be the best option then? It is the most expensive but isnt that the mid with wifi and bt? In the event you want to use the internet or watch higher bitrate videos the extra cpu might be advantageous.

Another thing to consider is storage. How large are the files you want to watch? If you want a lot of media the x5 might be a pretty good option for the CF/SD option. SD is about $60 a gig so I know recomending the 624 would be at the cost of a gig of storage but I know I personally end up wanting more than I get and well that leads to me spending more to get stuff I wanted it to include trying to make it what I want it to be.

  

The X30 mid is definitely a good tradeoff when you consider that most units will safely overclock to 520MHz. The $50 you save would more than cover the cost of a high capacity battery which is a helpful addition for both WiFi and video playback (most would agree they are essential for video over WiFi).

awdark: In my experience the bottleneck when playing videos via WiFi is the network throughput rather than the processor speed, on my X30mid the video playback is pretty much the same regardless of whether it's running at 208,312,416 or 520MHz.

I have both an X5 and a x50v and the X5 drops frames with Betaplayer on some mpeg videos (usually at 352x288) that move too fast (e.g. music video clips, trailers). However, it does really good on 320x240 ripped DVDs in DivX format with movies with normal motion. It drops 0 frames with movies in divx in QVGA.

The x50v does not drop frames in these clips/movies I have tested with.

The x5 only has a 320x240 screen that is why you have problems playing 352x288 resolution.

 

Yeah, I've had problems playing 320x240 on some of my friends Palm's. Make sure that you have the right resolution that fits the device. Most programs allow you to pick the correct resolution.

All day today in school i was considering the 624MHz X30 just to be sure i would have enough power. If i were to get the 312MHz and it wasnt powerful enough i would kick myself in the butt until i replaced it.

As far as the CF/SD slot - not having CF isnt too big of a deal. I have a 512MB SD that i use in my digital camera which Ill probably use for a while since the camera doesnt see much use and eventually Ill get a 1GB for the PDA.

The 1700mAh battery is about 15-20 bucks so thats not a big expense really. Id get that if the smaller 950mHa doesnt seem to meet my needs.

How easy is it to overclock the 312Mhz to 416 or 520?

-Just noting- thank you so much for all the help here

if you want to play movies on the go, your first priority should be the fastest processor you can afford. your second priority should be RAM. personally, i wouldn't even consider the x30 low. if you want the x30, spend the extra $50 for the faster processor...you won't regret it. the x5 would probably play movies reasonably well, but i'm sure it would skip frames occasionally (depending on the encoding)