Axim X51v The High End Value Deal With A Few Caveats

Upgrading upgrading... with Dell offering substantial price discounts and coupons, it was hard not to upgrade my X50v for the X51v for the improved memory structure and improved battery life in the newest generation. Also, my brother was willing to take my older model off my hands. I got the X51v for a $399 after taxes with an extra battery, aluminum rhinoskin, and travel sync cable. Dell's full price is $499 for the basic Axim X51v with no additional accessories.

Currently, I believe the Dell Axim X51v main competition is the HP iPAQ hx2700/2795 model. Note that there are still some very large differences between these two competitors.

Short Take

The Axim X51v isn't a major upgrade from the X50v but it does add some notable improvements especially in memory management and battery life. Now that Windows Mobile 2005 allows for persistent memory (i.e. memory that doesn't erase when the battery power runs out), this change allows for more built-in memory on the X51v and the accompanying power improvements. The X51v is probably the best bang for your buck at $499 before discounts for a device that offers a 3.7 inch VGA screen, 64MB of SDRAM, 256MB of Flash ROM, dual card slots for expansion, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the Intel XScale 624MHz processor (the fastest for a PDA to date) with a graphics accelerator with 16MB of dedicated graphics memory. The standard battery life on a full charge is much less of an issue now than with the X50v with the battery life doubling in most applications.

Windows Mobile 5 also adds its share of benefits and problems which I'll get to later in the review.

Dell's customer service is still very uneven. Phone service is hit or miss in my experience although email customer support seems to be much improved from my prior experience in the past 5 years.

The Axim X51v is one to consider and like the Axim X50v for its time, the X51v deserves to be on your short list.

Pros
3.7 inch VGA screen, Built-in Wi-Fi, Built-In Bluetooth, 624MHz processor, 64MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, 16MB graphic accelerator, SD and CF card slots, removable battery, stylish, price! Despite similar hardware, the X51v seems faster than the X50v. Battery life significantly improved over X50v.

Cons
Somewhat weak battery life, a bit big in size but a minor issue, Windows Mobile 5 still isn't quite optimized for a VGA screen, some Windows Mobile quirks, the specs indicate a faster PDA than one with a lower resolution screen.

Some Basics

Honestly, the only real difference in outward appearance from the X50v to the X51v is the X51v logo. The X51v continues with the silver and black casing that looks professional and hip for a PDA. The X51v dimensions remain the same as the X50v at 4.7 x 2.9 x 0.7 inches with a weight of 6.2 oz with the standard battery. Like most PDAs, the X51v has the 5-way navigator with 2 application buttons on each side of the navigator (4 total). The fours buttons are preset to Calendar, Contacts, Messaging, and Dell Home but you can reassign the buttons to other applications/functions. Note that Windows Mobile 2005 allows for setting up the buttons for one handed navigation without a stylus although it would have been nice if there were dedicated buttons or a scroll wheel on the side of the Axim X51v... oh well. Above the screen is the central power button, an LED on the top right that signals use of the Wi-Fi (green) or Bluetooth (blue), and the microphone on the top left. Note that the LED also lights up with alarms and also indicates the charge status. The left side of the X50v has an eyelet for a strap and three more buttons. One of the buttons is a lock/hold switch that turns off the buttons and the touchscreen... great for MP3 playback or preventing the unit from turning on in your pocket. The other two buttons are preprogrammed to wireless on/off and voice record, but you can change the functions of these two buttons. Note that these two buttons are very easy to depress... too easy. The top of the X51v holds the SD card slot, the CF card slot, the infrared port, the 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the opening to the stylus silo. There are removable card slot covers you can use if you use one or none of the card slots. The bottom of the unit has only the cradle connector. Note that the unit has rubberized sides to help with gripping the handheld (although it seems to have less grip than the X50v).

I bought the Rhinoskin protector without the extended battery extension. It makes the X51v thicker by 15-20%. At least the belt clip extension for this case is removable and the case is rather rigid.

Note that the stylus is rather thin... almost like the ones used in the Sony Palm OS PDAs. Well the Sony ones were actually thinner. If you have big hands, the stylus will not be very comfortable.

Inner Workings and Some Changes

The X51v continues to use the most powerful processor available for a PDA at this time... the Intel XScale 624MHz processor. However, this processor can be found in many PDAs at this time compared to the time the X50v came out. The X51v also has a Intel 2700G multimedia accelerator with 16MB of video memory to help manage the VGA screen and other multimedia functions. You get a decent 64MB of RAM and a nice 256MB of ROM. About 49.5 MB of RAM is available for program execution and 195 MB of ROM is user available for storage. Because of the persistent memory system used in Windows Mobile 5, you don't lose any saved data. Changing the battery pack can lose unsaved data if you don't complete the battery swap in less than 5 minutes (the battery charge on the backup capacitor to keep the data in RAM safe... compared to the older Axim backup battery system).

Performance

On the whole, the X51v seems to be quite a bit faster than the X50v but slower than the HP iPAQ hx2700/2795 PDA. Movie playback seemed to be smoother. Wireless operation seemed to be perkier. Programs just seemed to be a little zippier compared to the X50v. That may be due to improvement from Windows Mobile 5 over Windows Mobile 2003 SE. However, the nice VGA screen seems to take a toll on the performance compared to the hx2700 (similar internal hardware but QVGA screen and no internal graphics card). At least non-VGA Pocket PC with slower processors were not faster than the X51v. I'm assuming that Windows Mobile 5 makes greater or more efficient use of memory and actually utilizes the 16MB graphics accelerator on the Axim X51v compared to Windows Mobile 2003 SE poor capitilization on these features in the Axim X50v.

I had no notable slowdown running multiple application in the background such as MP3 playback while viewing photos or writing on Word Mobile.

On the other hand, even Windows Mobile 5 doesn't really utilize the VGA screen true potential. The Pocket Internet Explorer shows far less of the screen than I would normally expect compared to the QVGA screen on other Pocket PCs. Otherwise the background picture/photos look great on the VGA screen, icons are sharp and very well defined, text is sharp and clear, and the programs that do utilize the VGA capabilites make it difficult to go back to a non-VGA screen.

More On The Screen

Although this option is a bit more common than when the Axim X50v first came out, the X51v screen holds up rather well. Colour accurracy was excellent and the screen is quite bright even at the lowest settings. At the highest backlight setting, I could light two steps on my staircase to clearly identify the loops of wool... and that's with the X51v held at hip level while I'm standing straight up (Not quite as bright I think as the X50v but the highest setting is still more than most would use)! The vast improvement in viewing photos from my Canon PowerShot S70 and Digital Rebel over my AudioVox Maestro was stunning... although the time to display them on the screen can be slow (due to the file size) but it was faster than the X50v sluggish load times. Thumbnail photos looked as good as full screen photos on the AudioVox Maestro. The games Dell provided with the X50v show off the clear and crisp graphics displayed on the VGA screen (The 3D puzzle game Enigmo for example). Still, most programs do not utilize the VGA capabilities of the X51v... Internet Explorer still shows a little bit more of the page than the QVGA screens.

The VGA screen is 3.7 inches in size. Not the largest screen out there in Pocket PC land but it is large enough.

VGA is a 640x480 pixel screen. QVGA is a 320x240 pixel screen. The more pixels the clearer the picture or the more data you can potentially display on the PDA.

Battery Life

For comparison, the X50v got me 2 to 2 1/2 hours of battery life with the standard 1100MAh lithium-ion battery. By pushing the handheld, I mean that I ran Windows Media in the background playing MP3s while performing other tasks... usually games while near medium brightness and the processor running full speed. The Axim X51v gets double that on those system settings... around 4 1/2 hours of battery life. If you allow Windows to trottle the speed of the processor to the tasks you are doing, you can gain up to an extra hour of battery power. You might gain 1 1/2 more on the power saving settings and the second lowest brightness setting. On pure MP3 playback at the lowest screen settings with lock switch on, the standard 1100MAh battery lasted 6 to 6 1/2 hours. The battery will drain faster with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth usage.

Note that I had a 2GB Secure Digital card inserted into the X51v. I did not install a Compact Flash card as of yet.

Standby time is downright horrible. Unless you completely turn off the unit, I haven't gotten more than 18 hours of standby with 1 hour of actual PDA usage. Note that since the unit stores the OS and base programs on the Flash RAM, the unit has a boot up time from 1-2 minutes.

Dual Card Slots

Having both a Compact Flash slot and a Secure Digital Card/MultiMedia Card Slot (SDIO Now! compatible... for expansion cards). You can easily add enormous storage option as well as expansion options to X51v. I added a 2GB SD card and saved the CF slot for non-storage expansion options. The X51v still accesses both rather quickly and shows no problems when the battery has a good amount of power on it.

The odd quirks I experienced with the X50v where it "loses" one of the expansion cards (usually the SD slot first) especially on low battery power. On rare occassions, both the CF and the SD card will disappeared. This often happens when you turn on the handheld with a run down battery. That problem was easy enough to correct... you have to take out the disconnected card and reinsert it. As of my use of the X51v, I have NOT YET experienced this problem... I hope that means the issues were resolved either due to Windows Mobile 5 or the hardware design.

Wi-Fi?

Although not as easy to set up as a Palm Wi-Fi enabled units, it was still fairly easy for me to set up a Wi-Fi connection to my router. I was able to access the internet with the X51v throughout my apartment and the connection was quite speedy. I loaded up sites like epinions.com, ebates.com, techbargains.com, webmail.juno.com, www.hotmail.com, www.worldofwarcraft.com, wow.allakhazam.com, and various yahoo pages including graphically intense pages. I was satisfied with the setup.

Bluetooth

I was told there are some compatibility issues at this time with Bluetooth and Windows Mobile 5 so I didn't test it. This is not an important feature to me however as I don't use Bluetooth enabled devices often.

Odd Power Problem

When I first received the Axim X51v, the ROM version (under Settings->System->System Information) is listed as version A01. I assumed this was the latest ROM/BIOS out there for the Axim X51v. After 1 week of using the X51v, I was unable to turn on the device after the device powered off due to inactivity unless I replaced the battery, performed a soft reset, or inserted the charger. This is very annoying.

I found out that the current ROM/BIOS version is A06. After flashing the ROM/BIOS (which erases all data in memory of the X51v... so backup any important data!), the problem resolved. So... please update the ROM/BIOS before you start loading any programs into the X51v. You can obtain the downloads through the Support page on the Dell website. The update is listed as the "Dell Axim X51v VGA System Update for Windows Mobile Version 5.0" or file "R114959.EXE" as of 1/30/06.

Multimedia

As I said earlier, the X51v seems to run noticably faster than the X50v when multitasking multiple processor heavy tasks. I was able to run solitare, word mobile, powerpoint mobile, and GeoRally FX at the same time... (i.e. Solitare, Word Mobile, and Powerpoint Mobile are in the background with GeoRally FX is the primary program) although this really slowed down the system to a crawl. The X50v pretty much blows a gasket at attempting this. This is most likely the improvements to Windows Mobile 5 than any hardware improvements.

Otherwise, as stated before, tasks like watching video and playing MP3 at the same time (with different programs) on the X51v was better than when I tried this on the X50v. This is a bit extreme but it gives me an idea of how hard I can push the X51v if I ever needed to.

Applications that I tried with the X51v

Again, the majority of applications I used on the X51v will focus on medical applications. Epocrates Essentials being a major one for me. This ran smoothly and looked great on the X51v. The slowness of the multicheck was non-existant compared to when I did this on the X50v... it is as fast as checks done on my Tungsten C. My UptoDate was not the current 13.3 version since I have not renewed my subscription as of yet. However, I have been told that the latest version of UpToDate Pocket PC do NOT work unless you obtain the updated version of 13.3 from the UpToDate company. There seems to be an issue with the visual basic program used in older Windows Mobile version and the new visual basic program used in Windows Mobile 5 that is causing the incompatibility. 5 minute medicine consult and 5 minute ID consult worked with no notable problems so far. Vindigo performed well and was much clearer on the screen than when I use it on the Tungsten C.

The current incarnations of Pocket Word and Excel are improved over the Windows Mobile 2003 SE incarnation but are still lacking overall. Documents To Go on the Palm handhelds are still much better at viewing and modifying Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files. Windows Mobile 5 only allows you to view Powerpoint slides and not modify them. If you plan to work on Microsoft Office files, look for a third party solution.

Note that several programs state a special Dell deal to buy the full version of the program. Only a few of the trial programs have a discount especially when you search through other online PDA software shops.

What Comes in the Box?

You get an USB cradle (that has an extra charge slot for additional batteries), the power cable, an adapter to charge the X50v without the cradle, a manual and CD-Roms. Oh yeah, you get a cheap case with it too.

I also added the travel sync cable (allows charging if you bring the power cable and mini-brick), an extra standard battery, and the rhinoskin aluminum hardcase with belt clip optional extension.

The CD also contains many demos and trials and a couple of full version software. I liked Battery Pack Lite and Dell Axim Diagnostics. The Resco file and photo viewers were helpful. Installing the trials of GeoRally and Enigmo really show off the 3D capabilities of the X51v. I also liked CityTime and the Calligrapher program. The calligrapher program did a good job with recognizing most of my handwriting (like 90%).

Need extras?

The things you may want to consider are the 2200MAh extended battery (however, it does make the handheld significantly thicker), a case (The Rhinoskin cases are quite nice), and a large SD and/or CF card.... you normally don't need both especially if you buy a 2GB card (often under $100 after rebates). Headphones would help too if you don't have a pair yet.

With the current Windows Mobile 5, the extended battery is not a must have accessory like it was in the X50v.

Last word?

A solid Pocket PC PDA at a low price for the power and flexibility especially with Dell frequent discounting of the unit for "special sales" which is quite often. However, non-VGA (QVGA) equipped Pocket PCs may still perform faster and multitask better in terms of speed although the gap is certainly much closer than with the X50v. Graphically, the X51v still blows away any QVGA equipped Pocket PC... bar none. Note that it may be some time before the few program that don't work under Windows Mobile 5 get updated. Prior Axim X50v users don't have much need to upgrade since the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade is available to you (either free or a fee depending on when you bought your X50v).

More Reviews

You can check my epinions profile page for additional reviews I've written in various Palm OS PDAs and a few older Pocket PC models.