A Physician in Need of an X50V Doctor..

[Rawumber]

Hello all, a longtime reader & first time poster, you know the story.

I have in front of me both an X50mid and X50V, and I cannot believe the considerable difference between the two models.

In brief, I use a PPC for one reason - immediate access to vital information. I do not watch movies, view pictures, play games (occasional word games), only occ mp3 listening.

I bought my current PPC, the ipaq 3955 entirely due to the fact that it has a crisp, bright 3.8" screen, the largest available at the time.

I need to upgrade because some of the medical software I use will not function well (or at all) on PPC 2002. My first choice was the X50V, not for the VGA, but because of the 3.7" screen. Really, the 0.2" makes a big difference if you are reading text off of a pda all day.

I have large databases installed, most of the Lexi-Comp library and many Skyscape apps.

Side by side (I bought the X50mid for my sister), I immediately noticed that the X50V screen is noticeably larger, whiter, brighter (at same brighness setting) and the today screen fonts were crisp and easy to read.

But then for a big suprise, I have only installed the Lexi-Comp library and a few Skyscape apps. Guess what!?! Although the system font is crisp, the text of the program is fuzzy!, yes, damn-near blurry I tell you! 'Diabetes Mellitus' looks more like Mexxxus, because the 'L's and 'I's blend together from the fuzz.

Also, the screen response is extremely slow (yes I set it on 624mhz at setup and tried increasing the glyph cache) I can watch the screen redraw in waves. Not so on the X50mid, it is very quick. Using both handhelds together for awhile, I noticed that I was starting to read faster than the X50V's sluggish screen could scroll.

Wow, what a dissappointment.. I have read quite a bit here and elsewhere re: a separate gpu, four times the pixels, etc. But in the end, what does it matter?

Fuzzy and Slow - Geeze!

Just for fun I tried the native vga mod, etc. Makes no difference with the programs I am using.

If only there were a PPC2003SE with a 3.7-4.0" QVGA screen, for me as an individual, that would be bliss.

So, as I see it, my options:

1. Return the X50V, get an X50low (I dont need wireless and I have noticed the ROM is no faster than my panasonic SD card) - but live with a 3.5" screen.

2. Wait for code updates of the medical apps I use so that they can use the system font or at least not add the pixels to make it so fuzzy. But still, the screen redraws will be slow, right?

3. Buy 14 pocket-sized handbooks and have a corresponding number of new pockets sewn onto my white coat...

If anybody has ideas, please let me know. I really rely on my PDA every hour of every workday. Thanks to advance to all!

One last question - I have been unable to find the memory bus speed for accessing the ROM or the SD/CF cards. At what level of fast SD card do you experience diminishing returns? For instance one of you guys here at aximsite says that his "Kingmax 80x SD card" is the way to go. But if the card speed is in substantial excess of the access speed, it should not make a difference. I gave up my original Sandisk SD for my current Panasonic SD because the Panasonic was faster, both objectively and subjectively (in my ipaq 3950)

Thanks again, Rawumber

when you say "tried the native vga mod" you mean SE_VGA? That should allow you to view way more information than any QVGA screen.

I would apply the GAPI tweak and see if that solves yor speed problem.

As for the text, Under start->settings->system->screen->clear type is clear type enabled?

Is there a way to change fonts in the program?

Sounds like your applications aren't HiRes aware and your best bet is to contact the software vendor(s) to find out if they have plans to upgrade their software in the near future before you decide which way to go.

[Mjj288]

Rawumber

This scares me.

Have you tried Epocrates Essentials and had the text problem? Since some of Epocrates (Dx) runs off a 5MCC foundation, I have the fear.

I'm going to have to email Epocrates and Skyscape about this because I'm trying to decide between a X50V and X50.

[Rsaturn9]

Im sure you must have checked to see if clear type is enabled?

[magnolia]

Have you tried the VGA Brute Force hack on the software? I'm STILL not sure exactly what it does, but it's worth a try.

I need to get around to trying out some of the skyscape stuff again. It's been a while since I used it and I wasn't too impressed back then (about 3 years ago).

[lynnallen00]

Epocrates is fine on the x50v without any tweeks.

[dellayed]

o Try Cleartype
o Try GAPI
o Try SE_VGA

Otherwise buy the HPs 4705 with a 4" VGA screen (it is more expensive, the screen doesnt accuretly depict colors, has a touch pad instead of a directional pad and is not as good as the x50v IMO) :approve:

As far as SD/CF vs ROM goes... Benching with betaplayer I get a 3,5MB/s read speed from the ROM and 1,7 MB/s from a CF card where the read speeds are up to 10MB/s and writes are at 8MB... It really shows when I use USB2 to transfers file directly to the card, but the PDA seems to have limited the transfers speeds and from what I have read the concencus is that it doesnt matter what card you use because they are all limited by the transfer speed.

[no8rainer]

i had the same problem with lexicomp on my x50v but i turned off clear type and the font isnt fuzzy no more..

[Choirguy]

[F]rom what I have read the concencus is that it doesnt matter what card you use because they are all limited by the transfer speed.

From what I have seen in actual performance numbers, is that the stated "consensus" above is not true. There is a significant difference between different cards, particularly in regards to write speed.

[vjack99]

Epocrates is fine on the x50v without any tweeks.

Yes, Epocrates works perfectly on the X50v. Text is clear - no fuzz or blurring.

[Mjj288]

For those who are physicians or in the medical field, do you find that the Axim X50V has enough battery life to make it through an 8 hr day of using a diagnosis tool occasionally and reading medical text.

What about a 30 hr shift?

[Raynne413]

It sounds like the program is not VGA. You may want to contact the developer and ask if they plan on updating.

[longle]

My Lexicomp was fuzzy too until I used VGA Brute force from Tweaks2k2

i am in the medical field and use skyscape programs all the time...all you guys are right---they are not vga aware, in other words they are not made for vga screens, but qvga screens. brute force does not work on these programs as i have tried already. there is no choice but to live with this until skyscape releases vga aware programs. several other programs function in this way too, ex. zagat to go, which i love.

i love my x50v more than anything...it is best tool in the world, and so versatile. i have lots of databases stored in several database programs, ex. handbase and isilo. i can read the entire neters anatomy on isilo along with other photo books.

can the battery last 8hours? i guess if you are not using labor intensive programs, and assuming u turn it off when not being used. i do not push mine to the limit that much, so not sure.