Dell Axim handhelds are closing in on the competition
Dell is a buy-direct PC company that has expanded to create various types of computing devices including, most recently, Pocket PCs. The Dell line of Pocket PC has long been the ugly duckling of the Pocket PC world. If a boxy-looking handheld device sporting a design reminiscent of Cold War-era Soviet electronics was your esthetic of choice, the Dell Axim X5 line of Pocket PCs were made just for you. Unfortunately for Dell, these have never caught on so their designers went back to the drawing board and came up with some newer, sleeker designs that look and handle every bit as elegantly as anything in the HP iPAQ or Asus line of Pocket PCs.
The latest Pocket PC offerings by Dell include the Axim X50 line. The newest Dell line has achieved recognition as not only sylish by design but highly expandable with compact flash and SD slots to increase the memory and storage of your Dell Pocket PC. With integrated 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless technology, the Axim X50 handheld can connect to a wi-fi network and other supported devices. The 3.7" color transflective LCD display supports 240 x 320 pixel resolution and 65K colors, not the brightest and best display but it's definitely clear and looks as good as any in its class. Asus and iPAQ each make competing Pocket PCs that can go higher resolution.
The upper end X50v model gets a graphical boost from the Intel 2700G multimedia accelerator to unleash the most stunning graphics at speeds rarely seen in handhelds. The 2700G is a companion chip that pairs with Intel processors made for handheld devices that assists specifically in graphics, like a video card's graphic accelerator is designed to interpret graphical APIs. However even with the graphics chip it doesn't increase the screen size or resolution, but it certainly is faster.
Users of the dual-processor wireless models have expressed grief at the longevity of the user-replicable 1100 mAh Lithium Ion battery. The best advice to new buyers might be to go with an optional 2200 mAh battery which can double the battery's life expectancy between recharges.
Dell has come a long way since the original Axim Pocket PC but still has some work to turn attention away from Asus and iPAQ. It's difficult to point out positive advantages to Dell's current offerings unless you're a budget-minded Pocket PC buyer, in which case they seem to target the "bang for the buck" factor rather than offering any real technological advantages. Any positive conclusions of Dell's Axim line will inevitably end with the phrase "for the price."