Are you satisfied with the X50v? - Page 3

FSRGuy · 02-23-05, 12:59 PM

I LOVE my X50v! I upgraded at the end of January from a Toshiba e335. The screen is amazing on this thing. I read a lot of ebooks and the clarity and brightness are a lot better than my old PDA. I love being able to surf the Web in landscape, full VGA, using my bluetooth keyboard, anywhere in the house. Movie playback is amazing on this thing. Games seem to work fine (especially with the tweaked GAPI driver...thanks Picard!).

I've had a couple of bugs with software, but most of that is due to Windows Mobile or the third-party developers.

Like everyone else seems to think, battery life could be better. The wireless issues could be straightened out, although I've never had a big issue with it--I just shut down all of my programs before I enable the bluetooth and WiFi and it works fine.

I agree that Dell's customer service could be better, but it hasn't been too bad. I'm waiting for my 3rd Axim to get here after receiving two defective units (the first I later determined wasn't defective, but the Dell tech support person didn't know what she was talking about and had me ship it back). The only thing that has bothered me about the support is the long wait to clear the last unit through the system and get a new one shipped. It seems that their whole system is a bit sluggish. I ordered my Axim almost a month ago now and I have yet to receive an Axim that I can call my own and use for years...

Marks for Dell as a company: 7 out of 10 (could definitely use some improvement in customer relations, QC, etc.)
Marks for the X50v: 9.75 out of 10 (almost the perfect Pocket PC, IMO)

bhartley · 02-23-05, 01:02 PM

Shouldn't this be a poll?

SquireSCA · 02-23-05, 01:43 PM

I have only had mine a day, but here is my take:

The good:

Awesome size and weight, nice display, nice OS, wi-fi works well.

The Bad:

Media Player does not play AVI or MPEG, the two most popular media formats on earth. They tout their new and improved media player and the fact that it has a new video chip to accelerate video and even games, and yet it cannot support the most common media standards? That's rubbish. Yes, I know you can get the support from a third party, but that's besides the point, it should do the basics out of the box.

Next, I agree with the other guy about the power plug. For something so ergonomically designed, I cannot believe that nobody noticed how much of a pain it is to use with the thing plugged in. Whoever is in the part of the design group should be fired for not doing his job.

Next, the battery life is pretty poor. For a machine with this much power and capability, the battery runs down very fast. I allow it to step down the CPU speed but I leave the Wi-Fi power up to get the best signal strength, and it is not very impressive.

The browser is a mixed bag. It is robust enough to handle SSL and encrypted sites like my bank's online services, but it cannot access email accounts like Gmail and Excite?? Weird.

The synch feature is cool, except that it is not backwards compatable enough for people that have laptops with IT departments still in love with Win2K and Outlook 2000. So one of the primary reasons for my getting this thing, won't work, as I do not have the option of upgrading Outlook on my company laptop.

Overall, I am fine with it, and while I am negative, the things I am negative about have more to do with the limitations of PPC's in general rather than Dell specifically...

I like that Dell sent a disc full of apps and stuff, but then they are almost all trial versions. Were you to use them all, they would cost you almost as much as the PDA itself.

I wish that the PPC could charge off the USB port the way an iPod does. Maybe it draws too much current, but if the cradle could use USB power and charge at a slower rate even, at least you could recharge without carrying around the extra cabling and stuff.

I guess, that I will install Outlook 2002 on my home machine, and then just type in notes, contacts and my calander appointments in there and synch them over, rather than typing them all in on the little on-screen keyboard...

FSRGuy · 02-23-05, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by SquireSCA

I wish that the PPC could charge off the USB port the way an iPod does. Maybe it draws too much current, but if the cradle could use USB power and charge at a slower rate even, at least you could recharge without carrying around the extra cabling and stuff.

FYI, if you buy the travel sync cable, you can charge the X50v on a USB port. The bummer is that you can't have it turned on and be using it while it's charging because it draws too much current to run and charge at the same time. This isn't a big deal at all for me because if it's plugged into a USB port, that means I'm at my computer, which I would use instead of my PPC anyway.

cnycompguy · 02-23-05, 05:10 PM

I like it more than my "old" clie th55, but i really would have appreciated a scroll wheel.

Munk · 02-23-05, 06:46 PM

I'm very satisfied. :approve:

I have had three Pocket PC's and the VGA screen addressed my dissatisfaction with the other units. I use my x50v every day for nonsense, work and as a tool and the extra clarity just makes it a pleasing experience. Plus, it's the cheapest VGA out there + the 3D 2700g + support for two types of memory + wifi and bluetooth + excellent sound output + + + +.

-Munk

rev_brykins · 02-23-05, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by SquireSCA

The synch feature is cool, except that it is not backwards compatable enough for people that have laptops with IT departments still in love with Win2K and Outlook 2000. So one of the primary reasons for my getting this thing, won't work, as I do not have the option of upgrading Outlook on my company laptop.

Here's something you might want to investigate. When you sign up to Yahoo Mail, you get access to an online address book and diary. You can download and install software to sync this with Outlook on your desktop. You can also sync to a PocketPC according to the site. I wonder if your syncing issues could be solved by syncing:

Handheld <-> Yahoo <-> Outlook

Might be worth looking into.

rev_brykins

Munk · 02-23-05, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by SquireSCA

I wish that the PPC could charge off the USB port the way an iPod does. Maybe it draws too much current, but if the cradle could use USB power and charge at a slower rate even, at least you could recharge without carrying around the extra cabling and stuff.

Actually, it does charge while it is docked. BUT, only if you have the power of the Pocket PC off. I use this method to charge my unit often. Try it. Unplug the power connector from the sync bay. Plug your Pocket PC into the dock, let it do its sync thing and then turn the power off of the PPC. You will see the orange light (charging) on the power button and then it will eventually go green (fully charged). :)

-Munk

gracjm · 02-23-05, 07:01 PM

Actually, my Xv sits on the shelf and I prefer my old Palm III. LOL!

Overall I'm pretty satisfied. :approve:

I do wish Dell would put some pressure on MS to fix the BT/WLAN issues with WM2003SE. They should have enough clought.

~Jim

Nspctr Gadget · 02-23-05, 07:09 PM

One small thing I would like is a spring activated stylus.
I am still in awe over my unit! It's an incredible machine.

doorkeeper · 02-23-05, 07:12 PM

I moved up from a Toshiba E-310 so I must say this was the a terrific change! The X50v does so much more and is even smaller in height from my E310. Brighter screen, wifi, bluetooth and lots more storage (E310 has only 32 meg internal memory! So you can see I am very happy!

axim1910 · 02-23-05, 07:20 PM

Hmm...

Am I the only one that thinks the new cradle looks like a $2 piece of junk? The cradle for my x5 was sturdy, heavy and good looking. I miss the little blue light up dell logo. The cradle for my wife's x30 is nicer than the one I got.

And how 'bout that stylus?!? I almost never use it because it is so thin. I'm 260 pounds and comfortably over 6 feet tall, I look like an ogre using that needle of a stylus...

The only other complaint is the slim amount of RAM that you get. I honestly am surprised how fast I can burn through what I expected to be enough memory (the base 64 mb).

I am living with these problems happily though - because everything else is so good.

02-23-05, 07:53 PM

I am satisfied. Not as much as I am with my ipaq 4155, but satisfied nonetheless. Could be more responsive. A little bugy.

DAMiEN · 02-23-05, 07:55 PM

The X50v is my first PDA and I'm pretty happy with it. Some small things anoy me but that's just beacuse I have to get used to them.

MAXimX50v · 02-23-05, 08:21 PM

I'm basically satisfied with my X50v, but I could be even more satisfied:

The overall feel is a little plastic and doesn't feel as solid as I'd like for something that costs this much. I'm not worried about it falling apart or anything, but I wish it FELT like more of a precision device.

The left side buttons are in the wrong place. I'm always pressing them by mistake.

The bottom front buttons look cheap and they're very small. I about never use them.

The lock button doesn't inspire confidence and it's difficult to switch on or off easily.

Nevertheless, I'd buy it again.