Quite a few people have voiced concerns upon getting new Axim X50's that their cradles would exhibit the kind of nastiness seen in a few cases and documented on this board (e.g. spontaneous reboots of computer upon inserting the X50 in the cradle which may have led to blown usb controllers).
To determine whether or not a bad batch of cradles was released which has now been rectified, or whether the problem is onging, I am creating this poll.
The poll is simple: in what month did you receive your Axim X50; and did plugging your Axim into it either cause your computer to reboot spontaneously more than once or actually result in your usb port no longer being functional?
Please make sure that you are answering this question based on experience with the cradle alone. The synch cable has not yet appeared to be associated with this problem (and is therefore the safest solution if you are unsure about your cradle)
I would really appreciate it if everyone responded to this. Thanks! I'd also appreciate it if this post could get a temporary sticky. Thanks again!
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"How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?" Homer J. Simpson
Silly question but I just want to make sure I understand the problem. Is the problem caused when:
1) Plugging the USB Cradle connection into a PC?
or
2) When docking the x50v in the cradle base?
In either case I haven't experienced a problem and I do leave my main cradle plugged in my USB port at all time.
Brian
Silly question but I just want to make sure I understand the problem. Is the problem caused when:
1) Plugging the USB Cradle connection into a PC?
or
2) When docking the x50v in the cradle base?
In either case I haven't experienced a problem and I do leave my main cradle plugged in my USB port at all time.
Brian
When plugging the Axim into the cradle - actually it appears that docking the device in the cradle and then plugging the cradle into the computer avoids whatever nasty short occurs (however it is a pain in the butt). The best workaround if you know you have a bum cradle is to use the sync cable (and contact Dell immediately).
While I know that this poll will be more likely to select for those affected, so far it reveals a 1/5 chance of getting a bum cradle. I hope as many people as possible can reply so we can get a representative poll so that this could be shown to Dell.
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"How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?" Homer J. Simpson
I voted. Got mine in December for Christmas but only the other day got ActiveSync installed. My second sync (yesterday), caused my computer (Asus P4P800E-Deluxe) to freeze on the spot, video frozen on the screen. When I reboot, all I get is the lights come on and the fans come on, and from what I can tell all HDs and the CD-Rom (the cd will open when I push the button). However, I get no boot screen, nor any beeps during the post. Guess I'm out $120 for a new mobo and the hassle of putting my comp back together... ugh.... this is depressing...
Has Dell offered to reimburse anyone for the mobo? Also, has the cradle problem been known to mess anything other than the mobo up? Don't really want to get a mobo and find that a new one doesn't work still.
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“Thank you, Mario. But the Princess is in another castle.”
I voted. Got mine in December for Christmas but only the other day got ActiveSync installed. My second sync (yesterday), caused my computer (Asus P4P800E-Deluxe) to freeze on the spot, video frozen on the screen. When I reboot, all I get is the lights come on and the fans come on, and from what I can tell all HDs and the CD-Rom (the cd will open when I push the button). However, I get no boot screen, nor any beeps during the post. Guess I'm out $120 for a new mobo and the hassle of putting my comp back together... ugh.... this is depressing...
Has Dell offered to reimburse anyone for the mobo? Also, has the cradle problem been known to mess anything other than the mobo up? Don't really want to get a mobo and find that a new one doesn't work still.
Dell hasn't even taken responsibillity for the problem - a manager ducked my calls for a couple of weeks.
So far, based on this less-than-representative poll, we have a 14% rate of problems with the cradle that don't seem limited to the first month of the device's release. Not a good sign.
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"How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?" Homer J. Simpson
Everyone who reads this - please vote as to whether or not plugging your axim into the cradle has caused a spontaneous reboot or, at worst, resulted in a damaged motherboard. Thanks!
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"How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?" Homer J. Simpson
I've rebooted my computer at work at least three times this way.
My theory is that with the tiny pin size on the connection, inserting the X50v at any kind of an angle will allow pins on the X50v to short across pins on the cradle, connecting some voltage pin to ground and rebooting the host computer.
I find that you can completely avoid the problem if you're worried about it by plugging in the USB cable *after* putting the X50 in the cradle, so long as the usb socket is something really accessible on your computer. For those who leave the cradle permanently connected, that's not much help, however.
My experience of this goes way beyond the even slightly annoying.
I used to have an HP Jordana, plugging that into a Dell Optiplex GX270 caused the Mobo to blow, this happened on two seperate Optiplex machines. Dell replaced the PC's but did not offer any explanation.
I then got an X50v, plugged that into the third Optiplex, low and behold it blew aswell. Since then Dell have replaced it with a different model, it appears that the GX270 is no longer in production due to design problems.
I am no longer allowed to plug my cradle into a PC, i have to sync by Bluetooth.
Personally I think it it a problem with power going from the cradle back into the PC and causing the Mobo to blow, but I am no electrical engineer... I leave that to the experts !
i leave my cradle connected to my laptop all the time... had it since early January and haven't had a bit of trouble.
thanks for the headsup, though
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Still hovering at 14% - that is not a good thing. Could the incidence of this problem be as high as half of that? If so, that's a pretty nasty statistic However, the frequency of cradle problems, according to this poll at least, halves in January which could indicate that an initial batch of cradles had some design flaw. I guess we'll have to see.
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"How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?" Homer J. Simpson
My bad experience is not with the cradle but USB sync cable. And it is exactly the same as Mr. Oddballodd. I plugged my x50v to a USB sync cable already connected to a Dell Optiplex GX270 yesterday. Once connected, I notice the monitor went black(no signal). Upon further diagnostic, the chipset on PC motherboard was fried. The problem is not limited to just the cradle.
However, the frequency of cradle problems, according to this poll at least, halves in January which could indicate that an initial batch of cradles had some design flaw. I guess we'll have to see.