2010 and the Axim

dryster · 02-07-10, 01:10 PM

I'm about to receive an Axim X30 in the post, excited about it as I have never had wifi on a PDA before, I had a Palm Tungsten E back in 2004 and that was a novelty for a few years. I do not subscribe to a mobile phone, so I'm a bit of a fossil and want a wifi unit to check my email and do some limited web browsing on the road.

The question is, will the X30 turn out to be another novelty and is the limitation of 2003SE going to make my association with the X30 a short term love affair?

spunker88 · 02-07-10, 04:37 PM

Well, many companies have moved on from supporting 2003se and older. But there is a lot of great software out there and as long as you dont mind knowing that youll never be able to get any new programs then its a great OS. Its very stable back when i used it on my x50.

For web browsing there is the built in Pocket IE, which is okay for mobile sites and really basic stuff. It will choke on anything modern since its an old version and Pocket IE has never been that good. There is an IE addon browser called FtXPbrowser which uses Pocket IE but gives it a few more functions and its free. There is also Opera 8.65 the last version for 2003se. Its not free, im not sure where you could get it today since its an old version, but this browser is pretty good and will allow you to go on some modern sites. But it is a few years dated now, so it may not work on everything.

For email there is the built in program or there is alternatives available. Since regular ol POP3/IMAP email hardly changes, even though the programs are dated they should be fine. For webmail you can use the mobile versions of yahoo, gmail, etc right in Pocket IE or Opera.

There is a great selection of software out there that will run on 2003se. Pretty much anything that runs on wm2003, 2002, or even 2000 will run fine on 2003se. Look in my signature for some freeware sites loaded with games, utlities, etc.

If you tell me what else you want to do, I can suggest software since I have used 2003se for years and just recently went to wm5 so I could try newer software. Oh and BTW the x50 can upgrade to wm5, but the x30 is stuck at 2003se since Dell never released an update for it.

dryster · 02-08-10, 12:10 AM

Thanks for the reply.

I can define upfront my initial wishlist, some of which you have touched on, first and foremost, an email reader. I use gmail and also have a yahoo email address, along with an ISP email address. Therefore, by the sound of it I'll be sorted with the mobile versions for yahoo and gmail.

So, a definition for a newbie - you mention "mobile sites" a couple of times in that reply, is that something that needs to be elaborated? - my initial search for gmail and yahoo mobile appears to bring me to a site that appears to support an app, so that seems simple, but the sites appear to be aimed at phones. The axim has not arrived at my doorstep yet, but is it as simple as being connected and typed m.yahoo.com in PIE to start the process? - my thoughts here being that the gmail I use on the PC is formatted for large PC screen, not X30 size, so logically there is an app or a site that sends out PIE formatted urls.

I will be a little question machine if thats ok, initially an excitement of being able to bing or google on wifi and check email will suffice, but you know that list will grow exponentially as the (old) 2003SE world is uncovered.

Looking at Opera mini 4.2 is encouraging, but immediately confusing with the concept of a midlet, I may be getting ahead of myself already. ;)

spunker88 · 02-08-10, 10:56 PM

The built in PIE and Opera have a user agent that is mobile, meaning that on quite a few sites, for example Google, typing in Google will redirect you to the mobile version since it can tell you are on a pda based on the user agent.

Gmail and yahoo mail both have a mobile webpage. They are marketed for phones but will work just fine on your axim with PIE.

Google search and Bing both have mobile versions that work fine on the older PIE. Im sure mobile bing will work fine since its microsoft.

Opera Mini is java based and will only run on windows mobile with hacks and a java program. Opera Mobile, while not being free is made for windows mobile.