Specifications

JANUARY 2005 MAXIMUMPC 23
The Upshot
I
t was tough watching the competent and innovative Tungsten
T5 take such a brutal beating from the exceptional X50v, but
that’s life. It appears that as palmOne’s most advanced hand-
helds have become more sophisticated, they’ve begun to lose
their edge in terms of ease of use, and still can’t approach the ver-
satility of Pocket PC. Will palmOne ever be able to catch up? We’re
not sure, but we’re waiting ringside.
Hardware: Intel’s 624MHz PXA270 XScale is the fastest proc on the block.
The X50v makes 62MB of memory available to the user, and another
nonvolatile 91MB is available for file storage. We’re delighted to see the
return of a CompactFlash slot alongside the SD card slot. But the big
story is the X50v’s bold and super-bright hi-res 480x640 screen. This is
backed up by Intel’s 2700G graphics accelerator, which has its own 16MB
of VRAM. Even though applications and games will have to be recoded to
take advantage of the 3D acceleration, this is a welcome step forward for
handhelds. The battery lasted 2:20 (hours:minutes) playing looped video at
75 percent brightness; In everyday use, the X50v lasted longer than its X30
predecessor, so we suspect the graphics accelerator is a bit of a power
hog. But the removable battery allows you to carry a spare or swap in the
optional high-capacity unit.
Winner: X50v
Connectivity: The X50v connects via a
proprietary connector-to-USB cable, and you
can access the internal flash memory on
any PC with ActiveSync installed. The X50v
integrates Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, although we
noticed that the X50v’s Wi-Fi has slightly
less range than the previous model, the X30.
Winner: X50v, by a mile
Ease of use: Dell has wisely improved upon
Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition in a number
of ways. The Switcher Bar allows you to completely
close applications with two clicks instead of just
minimizing them, and a power adjustment applet
allows you to easily throttle up and down the proc
speed to extend battery life. Hopping onto Wi-Fi
networks is a breeze.
Winner: Tie
Dell Axim X50v
Software: Runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second
Edition. Bundles Outlook 2002
, Pocket Word,
Pocket Excel, and a version of Windows Media
Player 10 optimized for the X50v’s graphics
acceleration. The results, at least with files
supported by
WMP, are stunning. We’re talking
unbelievably smooth video with no stuttering.
Also includes optimized versions of two games:
Enigmo and Stuntcar Extreme. Winner: X50v
Beautiful video playback, graphics accelerator,
and hi-res screen.
ACTIVESYNC
COLONEL KLINK
Slightly less Wi-Fi range than the X30, and
power hungry with games.
$500, www.dell.com
9
MAXIMUMPC
VERDICT
Hardware:
The X50v makes 62MB of memory available to the user, and another
nonvolatile 91MB is available for file storage. We’re delighted to see the
return of a CompactFlash slot alongside the SD card slot. But the big
story is the X50v’s bold and super-bright hi-res 480x640 screen. This is
backed up by Intel’s 2700G graphics accelerator, which has its own 16MB
of VRAM. Even though applications and games will have to be recoded to
take advantage of the 3D acceleration, this is a welcome step forward for
handhelds. The battery lasted 2:20 (hours:minutes) playing looped video at
75 percent brightness; In everyday use, the X50v lasted longer than its X30
predecessor, so we suspect the graphics accelerator is a bit of a power
hog. But the removable battery allows you to carry a spare or swap in the
optional high-capacity unit.
Dell Axim X50v