mariahlullaby

Hi,
I've had my Axim X50v since January and have had many problems with it. I use my Axim at most 1 hour a day (I use it at school to put assignments, due dates, etc. in it), unless I am on a car trip or something (rare), and it's not on full brightness or processor speed. Anyways, I charge it up about every two days and always check my battery level. Now, sometimes when I go to turn on my Axim, I find the battery dead, which is odd since the day before when I turned it off it had about 50% battery or more. I always put the lock on, keep it in a case, and don't set any alarms/reminders so it won't turn on by itself. Anyone know what is happening?
Today, the same thing happened, so I put it in its cradle to be charged up only to find it had done a hard reset (I hadn't done it). So, all my data is lost (some of it is backed up, but it's been a good month since I've done a full back up).
Should I return the unit?? Other problems I've had is the system locking up constantly (even though I have only two programs installed, oz_VGA and Beta Player), and difficulty connecting to the Internet via WiFi.

Oh, and I've installed (via Noisy Crow method) and reinstalled my Boxwave Crystal a million times, and it still is filthy, air bubbly, and crooked. :realmad:

Any help + advice would be appreciated!

ikehiker

The data loss is to be expected if the battery runs down. The built-in backup will last less than an hour once the main battery is discharged.

I understand the length of time you can use the X50 on battery is pretty short and it sounds like your standard operating procedure is not very good. Li-ion batteries will have a longer usable life if they are kept fully charged. Every time you let it run down low, you weaken it and shorten it's effective life. It would have been better for the battery if you plugged it into the charger overnight, ever night. In fact, if you really just use the PPC at school, plug it into the charger when you get home and leave it there until the next morning when you are ready to leave for school again.

As for returning it, I assume you realize they will just exchange it for a refurbished unit.

__________________
-Ike-

swacksman

I've had similar problems. I have no idea why it happened. Now I have also upgraded to the new ROM, and when I press the wi-fi button, it asks me to hit it again within 5 sec. When I do that, it does not turn on. I have to do it using the icon at the bottom right of the Axim. I don't understand what this device is doing. I love the Axim, but it's not very dependable. I'm getting really tired of having to reload all my apps and go back to my e-mails to put the registration numbers back in, not to mention all the time wasted setting things up again. Now I'm finding myself using it less because I don't trust it.

mariahlullaby

But why would the battery run down 50% or more when it is OFF? And also, now that I have it charging (for about 2 hours now) it says the back up is low (but it STILL hasn't charged).
I hate charging my Axim overnight because the little light is so bright (though I try and cover it with a t-shirt) and I hate sliding it out of the Rhinoskin all the time b/c it scratches the side.
This sucks; this device has given me nothing but trouble.

CRXGSR

Check if you have any running programs drainging the battery. You know that the axim really is never "off". It's always on standby, and for some stupid reason, the little "x" in the corner doesn't really close applications, it just minimizes them. An easy way to avoid this is to do a soft-reset before pressing the on/off button.

radish28

either that or it could be a defective battery.

JakeRich

Originally Posted by swacksman

I've had similar problems. I have no idea why it happened. Now I have also upgraded to the new ROM, and when I press the wi-fi button, it asks me to hit it again within 5 sec. When I do that, it does not turn on. I have to do it using the icon at the bottom right of the Axim. I don't understand what this device is doing. I love the Axim, but it's not very dependable. I'm getting really tired of having to reload all my apps and go back to my e-mails to put the registration numbers back in, not to mention all the time wasted setting things up again. Now I'm finding myself using it less because I don't trust it.

The wifi button only turns on what was last on. If you turn it on/off with the little icons, it may be losing that reference. Try this: Turn wifi or bt ON with the icons, then OFF with the wifi button. Then try turning it ON with the button and the same one should come on. Hope that helps some.

zerograviti

Originally Posted by mariahlullaby

But why would the battery run down 50% or more when it is OFF? And also, now that I have it charging (for about 2 hours now) it says the back up is low (but it STILL hasn't charged). I hate charging my Axim overnight because the little light is so bright (though I try and cover it with a t-shirt) and I hate sliding it out of the Rhinoskin all the time b/c it scratches the side. This sucks; this device has given me nothing but trouble.

You could use the connector that was included with the axim. It attaches to the dc plug (the one that plugs into the cradle) and then into the axim. This way you wouldn't need to remove the axim from the case and the case would cover the charging light.

Rice Lover

I have had probs with just deleting data even when battery is full.

bhairving

Originally Posted by Rice Lover

I have had probs with just deleting data even when battery is full.

I have been having the same problem except that my data loss has occurred while changing batteries. For example, this last time it happened, my battery was down to 20% charge and I went to replace it with a freshly charged battery. In the 10 seconds the battery was removed from the Axim X50 to replace it with the freshly charged battery, I lost all my data.

I called Dell support. The first guy I spoke with thought the problem was with the auxilliary battery that is supposed to keep data for up to 30 minutes while one changes the battery. Actually, this is what I told him I thought the problem was. Without going into details, I didn't want my Axim replaced with someone else's junked handheld that may have been mishandled, abused, dropped, or submerged in liquid.

When I called Dell again, the woman I spoke with said that the data loss is a well known problem with Axim. She didn't say why, but said that anytime the rechargeable, removable battery gets discharged below 50%, there is a possibility that the internal auxilliary battery will get drained down too. I saw one post here that suggested that SD cards may be draining the auxilliary battery. The problem is that this has happened to me THREE times now. Each time I have to get the university reinstall my access to Wi-Fi and a particular network program.

Why can't Dell make a product that works? Then they turn around and make it sound like it's an accidental problem and that a replacement of the Axim would solve the problem. How stupid do they think we are?

bigdave240

Well, you might want to check the backup battery before changing the battery next time to see what it looks like. Also use the backup utility on the pda. it works great and restores quickly. As far as the problem of getting someones abused return as your replacement, you will find that most people are very happy with their replacement unit. Dell has not been sending out bad units as replacements. there have been a few that got a bad replacement but the majority have been unable to tell that the replacement was even used let alone abused. a search will show you that this is true. good luck.

shsmith

Originally Posted by bhairving

In the 10 seconds the battery was removed from the Axim X50 to replace it with the freshly charged battery, I lost all my data.

Did you turn the Axim OFF before taking out the battery? The standby battery will run down very quickly if the Axim is ON when you take out the main battery. It is intended to give 30 minutes only in standby mode...

RunningBear

I have had the same issue. Many times the "memory corruption" is fixed and I don't need to reinstall any applciations, but recently I have had to reinstall everything. In the pasted it would happen when I had not used it for a long period of time.

But recently that is not the case. This morning, I took it off the charger (it had a full charge), went to work, and there was a corruption and I had to reinstall all of the apps. So I don't think that it is directly related to the level of charge in the battery. Could be a bad battery, but I'm just guessing? It is becoming very frustrating.

mtquattro

Not knowing that AXIM is "designed" (!) to execute HARDWARE RESET, when battery runs out, I have assumed, at first, that I somehow managed to HARDWARE RESET the unit.
Then it happened 3 times, after I have not used it and not charged it for a while.
So, is this "feature" a genric problem with all x50V or just some? What guarantee does one have, that the replacement unit has the "feature" fixed?
What if my unit is out-of-warranty (expired December, 2005)?

nathanwj

Originally Posted by mariahlullaby

But why would the battery run down 50% or more when it is OFF?

sounds like you have wm5... if not, get it exchanged.... it may be refurbished, but it is better than a broken one...

backup, backup, backup!!!