Sad axim user, please help

sblive · 09-03-05, 01:51 PM

Dear Aximsite users,

In March, I purchased an axim X30 mid with wifi/bluetooth. I had been a Palm 3XE user for the previous 4 years. At first I liked the axim -- great screen, awesome synchronization with outlook, IE and Wifi. But the longer I used it, the more I realized I just didn't like it.

First, the buttons on the botton are annoying to press - they are the click type. My old Palm had buttons that depress much more, and they had a soft depression. Second, the axim is slow. A lot of time I would pull out my pda to find an email or a phone number but upon tapping the messages or contacts icon, it would freeze up and I would look embarrased. But I had no idea that 312 mhz would be slow. I had come from a 16 mhz pda previously and it was fast. Even pressing the shortcut button sometimes it would slow down or freeze. Also, some programs like Pocket IE tend to crash a lot and I end up having to do a soft reset 3 times a week. With my palm, I did a soft reset maybe once every 6 months.

I have even done hard resets to uninstall everything except the basic OS dell shipped it with - but still it crashes. I even install the ROM updates, but no luck.

I believe my axim is just like yours - crashes for the same reasons, but for me, I just can't put up with it anymore. I gave myself 5 months, I think it's time to go back to a palm. It's too bad that I wasn't able to test drive the Axim because we have no dell stores where I live. I think I wouldn't have bought the axim based on the buttons, speed, and OS. But of course I spent $300 on the axim. If I could get back $200 I would be happy. Even $160 would be nice. I am asking you fellow axim users which would be the best way of selling my Axim? I have never done ebay or yahoo auctions and don't know whether these are reliable.

Thank you all, and I hope you are having better experiences with Axims than I am.

Dumbman1991 · 09-03-05, 02:06 PM

the reasonn why your pocket pc was slow is because palm os is a very simple os that doesnt take much power to use (and if it was black and white then thats y it was so fast compaired to the axim which it probably was at 16 MHz) windows mobile takes much more power and speed to run but it has more features and works much better (i switch from using a zodiac and well the zodiac was horrible for freeware apps they all sucked but pocket pcs have gooooood apps) so i recommend buying a different ppc with more speed (and ur not gunna get anywhere near $300 for it more like bout 150-200 for it)but anyways i reccomend ebay i mean everyone goes on ebay (unles they dont trust ebay at all)

Gigi · 09-03-05, 02:06 PM

It sounds like you might be having a problem managing memory. Unlike Palms (I think), Pocket PCs are capable of multitasking. This means that you could have stuff running in the background without knowing it. When you go to Start - Settings - System tab - Memory, how much Storage and Program memory do you have? When you look at the Running Programs tab, what do you see?

There are a few things you can do to help with your Axim's performance:

1. Make sure you properly close running programs. Tapping on the X at the top right hand corner does NOT close programs but "smart minimizes" them. To close them, you need to use the Switcher Bar (Start - Settings - System Tab - Switcher Bar) or a third party utility such as Magic Button, Wisbar Advanced or Spb Pocket Plus.

2. Install/save as few things as possible in Main Memory. Are you installing programs in a memory card, or in Main Memory? If Main Memory, you're using up precious RAM. Uninstall those programs (some will only run in Main Memory though) and reinstall in memory card or Built-in-Storage.

3. Clear temp files, especially those from Pocket Internet Explorer. These build up very quickly and will bog your system down. In PIE, tap on Tools - Options - Memory tab and clear history and delete files. You can also delete cookies under the Security tab. For a very throrough cleaning solution, try either MemMaid or SkTools.

4. Take a look at Memory Help tutorial.

If you're really intent on selling your device, you could also do it here in the Classifieds forum. Don't expect to get too much for it as many people have been getting incredible deals on the X50v.

Dumbman1991 · 09-03-05, 02:11 PM

yes i believe palms only allow you to run one program at a time (with an exeption for music in the backround)

javadevil · 09-03-05, 02:26 PM

Good evening sir! I think you have made a mistake on your perception of the pocket pc. pocket pc is not to be compared to the old palm use were using before of memory use and management by the OS.

you happen to be using one of the best pocket pcs i have come across, which is the axim X30 with embedded wifi and bluetooth and a 312Mhz processor. I also use the same device so i can tell you that there is nothing better than that in the market. all you need do is just a hard reset, get a memory card, and stop installing your programs to the default location which is the main memory. you eihter install on the Built-in-Storage or a memory card.

please i advice you to use it for like a month that way and you will be convinced that what you have is lot better than the same version with 624Mhz processor.

one more thing..................
That device has the farthest range of wifi than any other device.
aximx30...............100meters
others................10meters
CONFIRMED
pls call me if you have any other problem
+2348023226583

Dumbman1991 · 09-03-05, 02:38 PM

ur wrong biut it beeing the best for the x30 high has the same stuff but much faster and the x50v well the only bad thing bout it is low wifi range other than that its much much much better than the x30

sblive · 09-03-05, 02:56 PM

Dear aximusers,

Thank you very much for your replies. There were 4 replies in the last hour alone! I didn't think that many people would reply so quickly on a saturday morning

I wanted to let you know that I usually run only one program at once. I use sbp 3.0 and dell switcher bar to close all others (even activesync). I do occasionally run IE and Aim at the same time, but aim doesn't consume much resources. I also install all other programs to a 256 mb SD card, with the exception of Avantgo which would take ages to sync using SD card.

As far as Memory Management, I have 13.66 mb used (when no programs are being used) and 18.64 mb free. I sometimes move this closer to 20 mb. I also used to use auto-processor speed which usually ran at 208 mhz - but I found this to be too slow, so I went back to maximum 312 mhz. Sure the battery life isn't great, but it's nicer to run full speed. :) I also clear IE files quite often, maybe once ever 2 uses of IE.

I actually did like the palm's running only one program at once because even if you switched to another program, when you went back to the first all of your settings were saved -- and it was quick to goto the next program. Does anyone have experience with newer Palm OS's? I used version 3.5 back in the day. How "fast" do you feel the Tungsten E,E2, or T5 is?

One other bugger -- On the axim x30, the graffiti area is a digital box. I'm not sure why pocket pc has to trace out all the letters. I'm quite often frustrated that the OS can't keep up with my writing (which is very below average by the way). The Palm Tungsten E2 still keeps the old graffiti look without tracer (See this pic http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/tungsten-e2/). I know the screen size isn't as big as axim x30, but this graffiti area is soo much more convenient, and it has 4 additional shortcut buttons which i miss from my old palm days).

Sorry, I'm so frustrated. I have used lots of different today screen programs, and read lots of Faq's on memory management, but I feel that Windows 2003 SE is so inefficient and crashes too much

A couple nice things of Axim X30. The wifi range is quite good, I like that there is a headphone port on the left side and a decent scroll button. The screen is beautiful - it beats even dell ultrasharp 19"! I was so afraid of leaving my B&W w/backlight Palm 3xe. I thought color would look like sh#$2 but I was gracefully proven wrong.

I will give it another month, but I think i might have to sell it

Dumbman1991 · 09-03-05, 03:09 PM

why would u think that color would look like sh@$i mean color always looks better than black and white (and if u think that looks good u should see the x50v screen i mean BIIIIIIIIIIG defference

sblive · 09-03-05, 04:51 PM

Well because it's a lot easier to read monochrome with backlight then many colors. I mean think about it, on your microwave I bet the characters on the display are green or it's backlight green with black text. Imagine if they put a color display there, it would be harder to read from 2 meters away.

Also the B&W palm's had a very highly reflective display which means no problems outdoors. In some ways, the axims are hard to read outdoors.

The X50 looks like it has quadruple the number of pixels. This might be interesting but way out of my budget

By the way, i do research with high speed imaging. Although displays and digital camera sensors are a lot different in terms of technology, there are some similarities. The quantum efficiency for B&W is about 3 times higher than color. That's why all the videos you see from the bomber planes in the past 2 Iraqi wars are B&W :approve:

Originally Posted by Dumbman1991

why would u think that color would look like sh@$i mean color always looks better than black and white (and if u think that looks good u should see the x50v screen i mean BIIIIIIIIIIG defference

**Rishad** · 09-03-05, 05:24 PM

seems to me that you really didn't need an ax. Its all about what you want out of your PPC. If you are satisfied with the basic and simple tasks that the palm can perform then thats good for you. but if you want to run more advanced and complicated applications then its a different story. Getting an ax for performing the basics is like getting a 3GHz computer for word processing.

Dumbman1991 · 09-03-05, 05:29 PM

ya my old palm used to be really easy to erad and also b&w screens r easyer to read w/out backlight than color MUCH EASYER

sblive · 09-03-05, 08:14 PM

So are you guys getting a lot of OS crashes too? Wish I knew about this before I got a PPC

Originally Posted by akheron

seems to me that you really didn't need an ax. Its all about what you want out of your PPC. If you are satisfied with the basic and simple tasks that the palm can perform then thats good for you. but if you want to run more advanced and complicated applications then its a different story. Getting an ax for performing the basics is like getting a 3GHz computer for word processing.

**Rishad** · 09-03-05, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by sblive

So are you guys getting a lot of OS crashes too? Wish I knew about this before I got a PPC

well I was.. when I was still experimenting with it with a lot of applications without knowing how the memory works etc. Now that I know more about how my ax works (thanks to the very kind and friendly ppl here at aximsite) I rarely get any OS crashes. And the ones I get are due to my own wrong doings I'm afraid.. :hide:

just today I installed some SUPERB applications on my ax..
http://www.conduits.com/products/player/
http://www.conduits.com/products/artist/
http://www.conduits.com/products/album/

..I love my ax.. :love: