tightwad

This is my first post and also the first PDA I'm seriously consider buying, but not sure if this is the right choice. Any help, guidance and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

1. I know with every new technology, along comes with the bugs, is Dell pretty good about getting these issues resolved? Are they pretty receptive when you report a problem or are they just treated as if it's user error?

2. I was looking at purchasing one that came with the Dell GPS Navigation System with Cabled GPS Receiver. Since I already have a GPS in my SUV, I'm only interested in getting it if I can use it on a rental car when I travel. How hard is it to install it on a rental car and how portable is it? I can't seem to find any info on the Dell website.

3. Can you access any Internet website via the device without tethering to your laptop/PC? Can you access https sites?

4. Can I sync applications such as Access, Excel, Word, etc with this device?

5. Is there any known problems/bugs that I should be aware of?

Sorry for all these questions, I just want to make sure before I spend $600 for a paper weight. TIA.

grayfox5

I owned a Toshiba E335 for a couple years, and just went all-out and got an Axim X51v with ALL the toys. I've had it about a week now, and here are my thoughts for what they're worth...

1. I've had a lot of experience with Dell PCs and laptops, and their support has been good. PDAs? Don't know yet, but if their other support provides a track record, I'd say yes.

2. I got the Dell GPS system with my PDA, and I'm happy with it overall. It's very portable, so you won't have a problem with a rental. Mine does seem to 'hang' sometimes when firing it up, as in the hourglass icon spinning ad infinitum. The only thing that seems to work is a soft reset.

3. Yes, you can access the Internet as long as you're in range of a hotspot. The Wi-Fi software I ordered along with the PDA is out of date for the X51v, but a visit to the company's website to download the latest driver takes care of that.

4. Yes, you can sync the Microsoft Office (and other) applications. You may lose some formatting, depending on what you're doing, but the data files will sync, no problem.

5. Problems/bugs...I guess it's best to keep an eye on the forum. Myself, I'm somewhat disappointed in the performance, particularly in start-up, but I believe this is due to the latest operating system being stored in ROM instead of RAM. My Toshiba was very snappy in performance, the Dell feels sluggish in comparison. I've experienced some other minor annoyances, but overall I like the Axim.

tightwad

grayfox5, thanks for your input and response. I'm very new to the PDA arena and still not decided as to what I should get, the only reason I consider an Axim is Dell's reputation for their products, and I'm like you, I have owned laptop from Dell in the past and their tech support is quite helpful. I'm also glad to hear the portability of the GPS that came with the unit, I was really worry about it being portable enough to use on a rental car. I've also heard several complaints about the unit freezes and locking up, but I think that's pretty much with any new technology, have to wait for the bugs to be worked out. I think I may wait a little while longer to continue to monitor this board to see if there are other issues before I make such a hugh purchase, thanks again for your response.

ironhelix

like a pc and pocket pc does requires softwares.

some are free, most arent.

so say you spend $400 usd on the device,

you can easliy budget $800 for software alone...