MacIver

[QUOTE=expresspotato]NO WAY! It'd be a huge step backwards to exclude a CF card slot... USB HOST, MODEMS, GPS, MICRO DRIVES, BLUETOOTH, WIFI and more can all be done from the CF slot with universally available products. You couldn't do half that with a postage stamp sized SD slot.[/QUOTE

The next gen. Axim doesn't need a CF slot, at the least, two SD (agreed w/above), but CF? There's better memory coming ppl. Yeah, and my PC needs a 1.44Mb floppy drive!

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MacIver

Originally Posted by kulnet

On one hand, I actually use my cf slot and would be kinda upset if they got rid of it. On the other hand, if they replaced it with a usb host that would be sweet. How about both???

Handhelds don't have the power capacity to "host" USB... cmon! CF's use too much power, and as with what's mentioned above... I don't see ANY cameras with CF slots... maybe ancient ones. REM: ancient in electronics is about 1yr, old is 6months.

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Haesslich

Originally Posted by MacIver

Handhelds don't have the power capacity to "host" USB... cmon! CF's use too much power, and as with what's mentioned above... I don't see ANY cameras with CF slots... maybe ancient ones. REM: ancient in electronics is about 1yr, old is 6months.

Odd - most of the professional level digital SLR cameras still use (almost exclusively, I may add) CF-type I and II due to the existence of microdrives. See the Canon Digital REbel XT, the Nikon D2X, Hasselblad H2D 22MP digital camera, and even the lower-end Olympus E-500 for examples. I can think of maybe one camera in that range that even has an SD slot, and it's just an accessory for a camera which was designed for 'real' film. And most all of the above cameras I named were announced or released this year - not two or three years ago... which makes them state of the art technology as well.

While it's true that the consumer market's mostly switched from SmartMedia and Compact Flash to SD, the professional market (with the need for high-resolution photos) finds the current 2GB/4GB limit of SD to be a bit of a liability, especially since you can get 8-12GB on CF cards at the moment.... and the really good pictures can take up to 130-140MB apiece. With a 2GB SD card, you'd have room for about 15 shots. :D With a good 8-12GB CF one, you could fit around 60-90 of the same. Big difference there.

CF as a form factor still has some life in it, if only because more room on the card means you can fit more chips/devices in there. CF is NOT a memory standard, unlike SD - it's a standard for an interface, much as PC Card is, with a similar purpose - letting people fit devices into computers/PDAs/cameras with CF slots, which include things like memory.

A next-gen Axim needs a second slot of some sort - be it an SD or CF slot, simply because there are accessories available that use SDIO or CF interfaces, and to let people avoid making a choice between more memory and plugging in a device which cannot or will not work properly using Bluetooth due to bandwidth limitations or similiar issues. At the very least, they could use the extra slot for yet more memory, since the internal storage will probably always be outstripped by what can be added externally.

Maximum Dude

I find that I use all of the options on my X50v.

CF = 2gb Kingston Elite Pro 50x, used for apps, video, & pics.
SD = (3) 256mb SD cards f/ loading/swaping music, pics, files.
BT = Used w/ GPS unit, f/ DUN on Moto.E815, file copy w/ PC.
WiFi = LAN connections @ home, office, etc.

While I really like the design of the unit, I find I use the 2200mah battery much more than the stock 1100mah unit.

I just read where one hardware deveoper announced a single SD controller that allows a dual SD design using less power and less space.

Hopefully, this will lead to using the space/weight allocation of the CF slot & circuitry for more battery life & RAM.

All of this leads me to look towards a future purchase where the unit will have WiFi (802.11g anyone?), BT, VGA (or better) screen, long battery life, much more memory, and at least 1 if not 2 SD slots.

Imagine the "X70sv":
- Similar packaging (shape/size/weight) to the X50v. :love:
- Larger, brighter screen w/ 800x600 resolution.
- 2000mah (or greater) battery standard.
- 4gb of built-in Flash ROM.
- 1gb of built-in RAM.
- Two side-by-side SD or SD-Mini slots.
- BT v2.x.
- 802.11g Wifi.
- Slide-away thumbboard or keyboard.
- Stereo speakers.
- Windows Mobile 5.x, 2nd Edition, w/ SPK x applied. :exc:

OK, enough dreaming! truthfully, I expect the CF slot to go away. Single SD slot designs will be all you can find until the user complaints & reviewer comments pile up. Then the dual SD slot or a SD + SD-Mini configurations will appear.

Jeb Hoge

GlobalSat SD-502 combines a GPS receiver and 512MB storage into a single SDIO card. :) One nice thing about the two CF cards I have, though, are they're not so easy to lose in my pocket when I'm going to the digital camera kiosk at the drugstore. ;)

Lofty

Originally Posted by PocketBrain

Here is my idea for a new spec in the next Axim: No CF card Second SD slot USB host Built-in GPS receiver Built-in camera Built-in BT and WiFi Built-in cell 1GB - 2GB of flash ROM 256 MB of RAM 800 MHz XScale processor SVGA resolution Basically, the loss of the CF slot would make space for built-in versions the most common CF accessories. Possibly, would also have an option of a mobile dock with built-in 2.5"HDD and USB hub (2- or 4-port). Would they build this? Any other ideas?

No chance, its totally not feasible yet. Too much for one device, that would cost like $1250. What do you need 256 MB of RAM on a Pocket PC especially if it runs Windows Mobile 5. Also the power drain just from that memory alone would be awful. The 624 MHz Intel Xscale is all we will have for a while. Intel has a successor coming to replace the Xscale maybe in late 2006. It will be running as high as 1.25 GHz.

Unfortuately its not as effecient as the Xscale processor. It will have to run at about 800 MHz or 900 MHz to perform at the same level as a 624 Mhz Xscale processor. Kinda like how the Xscale had to run at 300 MHz to compete with a 200 MHz StrongARM processor.

I think this is far more realistic, here is what I think Dell will be releasing later this year (I'm predicting Dell will release 2 PocketPC's this year geared towards two diffrent markets):

Consumer Pocket PC

OS - Windows Mobile 5
CPU - 624 MHz Intel Xscale (unless something faster is released)
Memory - 64 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM, 30 GB 1.8" Hard Drive
Display - 4.0" transflective TFT (480 x 640)
Expansion - SDIO, SD card slots
Battery - 1800 mAh
Connectivity - USB 2.0, 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.0, USB Host 1.1
Extras - 3D Graphics Accelerator, VGA & TV Out

Business Pocket PC Phone

OS - Windows Mobile 5
CPU - 624 MHz Intel Xscale
Memory - 64 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
Display - 3.0" transflective TFT (480 x 480)
Expansion - SDIO, Mini SD card slots
Battery - 1800 mAh
Connectivity - USB 2.0, 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.0, Quad Band GSM\GPRS w\ EDGE and 3G
Extras - QWERTY Thumboard, 2.0 MP Camera

ir803

This is not a good move, I was a palm (sony Clie) user and I used a Clie NX73v with a CF slot, this let me preview photographs on a larger screen so clients could see their shots, it was a big help, but then Sony in their wisdom stopped producing devices with CF slots, they have pretty much given up all together now but as a photographer I need a CF slot thats why I came to own an Axim, if they lose that slot I will have to move over to HP or a Loox, pretty anoying when I am now used to my Axim, if it dies and I can't get a replacement I have to start all over again.

userfriendly

I am another who decided to opt for an Axim recently. It was because it seemed the best value for money in a somewhat mediocre bunch.
I was hoping to go for the new Loox N560 which does have built in GPS and wifiG + usb.
However forget about new loox models if you want CF as this has aleady been dropped. The new Loox was supposed to have 256ram and BT2.0(and this has been certified) but it/they only come with 128ram and basic BT....so no advantages there.

You can see that there is definitely a trend away from CF. We can discuss the merits of CF (I agree) but I think everyone should think carefully before buying any CF cards.....

texedomel

Originally Posted by Ba-gug

I'm with you!

yeah....gotta be dual slot! even if its dual SD!

nathanwj

dual sd = awesome./....

only problem i see is no backward compatibility... if you have noticed, the cf card has become totally obsolete from digital cameras... the next thing is pdas... but what needs to happen is a decline in cf use and buying power, and an increase in sd usage and buying... and also... sd and sdio is great , fast and more reliable.... but it still has a way to go for combatibility with accessories like modems and such.... they just need time to work it out... oh, and bluetooth is the way to go... unless you have wm5... but we wont go there