SD WiFi solutions - probable cost? E335 vs Axim X5 (300MHz)

[KMHPaladin]

I'm looking to get a Pocket PC for around $200, and I have found the Toshiba E335 and the Axim X5 (300MHz) for that price after rebates. Most of the other Pocket PCs either have shortcomings (V35 and H1910 have lesser battery life, others only have the 206MHz processor) or are bigger or out of my price range. I'm leaning toward the E335, because it fits my criteria that I be able to put it into my pocket and take it with me easily being that much smaller, plus it has twice the RAM of the Axim. Unfortunately, the side effect of the compact size is that it has no Compact Flash slot, and while it's not a deal-breaker, it would be nice to have WiFi expandability for my 802.11b home network. I know that there have been plans for an SDIO WiFi card in the near future, but I've heard all kinds of price quotes up to $300 and there's no way I'd be interested in paying that sort of money. Any input?

[Zuph]

The Dell Axim is not SDIO Compatable. You have to use CF for expansion.

[shawnc]

You have obviously done your homework. The V35 is going for around $300, not 200. I just received a Dell and it is NOT as large as people have been describing it, though definitely larger than the H1910, V34, Palm machines, etc. I find it amazing that this thing is about the same size as my naked ipaq 3650, and it has dual expansion slots!

For my money (and your budget), I like the Dell. From what I've heard the difference in processor speed will not be noticable to the average user. I purchased the 400 model because of all the talk I've been hearing about being able to upgrade the OS. Lack of SDIO should not be an issue because of the availability of CF accessories (Dell has dual slots).

Hope this helps.

[Xtreme23]

I purchased the 400 model because of all the talk I've been hearing about being able to upgrade the OS.


do u mean if you have the 300 model you won't be able to upgrade the OS? j/w

[Sven Johannsen]

do u mean if you have the 300 model you won't be able to upgrade the OS? j/w

No he doesn't mean that directly. With the 300 having 32M of Flash ROM and the 400 having 48M of Flash ROM, and MS having never released an OS smaller than it's predecessor ;), you hedge your bets on it fitting completely with the bigger ROM.

The iPAQ users understand this concept. While they were able to upgrade to PPC2002, the smaller ROM required some new features to be loaded into precious RAM, while others were not there at all.

For my $ the 400 is the better buy, for the additional RAM alone. 32M works. I had that for some time with my Jornada 548, but more memory is always better, and it is not possible to up it economically. Yes you can add SD or CF, but that is more 'hard drive' space, not more RAM.

[marlof]

I'm with Sven on this one. Next to that, there's always some programs that I want on my machine regardless of the card that's in it (Spb GPRS Monitor, Spb Pocket Plus, Resco File Explorer, Pocket Informant, nPOP, Inkspot CE etc. ). Those end up in RAM too. I've found 32 MB of RAM doable but limiting.