Finally....................

[mirkazemisaman]

After about two weeks of patiently waiting for my Axim, it finally shipped today. The order status site says that it's still "In Production" and the tracking number on the UPS website doesn't show anything. But I think (or I want to think) that the Phone Tracking is more reliable and that it's just too early for the UPS website to have it, the package is supposed to ship tomorrow, since I have Next Day Air on it.
Anyways, I am just a little too excited about my first PPC (as you can see) and can't wait until tomorrow. Now the bad news is that I have a major biology test on Thursday, which means that I have to be studying Tuesday and Wednsday nights. May god help me go through these two days... hehehe, or I could type the whole biology unit up and then transfer it to the PPC and read it using MS Word!
I hope the poor thing doesn't break the first day since I am going to be really and I mean REALLY abusing it during the first few days. (Constatnly install/uninstall software trials, play games, playback video, mp3s etc. 24-7).

[spursdude]

Pretty impressive....118 posts before your PPC has even shipped! :D

May God grant your Axim speedy shipping. :D

[PetiteFlower]

It will be 24 hours before your tracking number will show up on the UPS web site. Basically, Dell printed your shipping label today, UPS will pick it up tomorrow, and estimated delivery time should show up on the web side the day after that. Tomorrow on the web site it will say "we have received the shipping information electronically" or something like that. But if you have overnight shipping on it then you'll get it the day after tomorrow, same day it will really be able to be tracked :)

And I abused my Dell in such a way when I first got it(a week and a half ago) and it did not break, so I think you'll be ok :)

It won't hold much in the way of MP3s or videos without a memory card(which I can't afford yet, alas) but I've got a nice cache of games on there already :)

[TheBacklash]

don't count on the 24 hour thing though...

Dell sent me the notice that I could start tracking my Axim.... 3 hours AFTER it arrived... Gee that helps. :roll:

Dell needs to get it together.

They tell you a far away est ship date...
they ship early (most times)
they tell you that it shipped, late...

Guess that's what happens when they get that popular, quicker than they expected I bet.

[mirkazemisaman]

I am really disappointed, i thought I was going to get it today...

[PetiteFlower]

don't count on the 24 hour thing though...

Dell sent me the notice that I could start tracking my Axim.... 3 hours AFTER it arrived... Gee that helps. :roll:

I bet you waited for the email notification. If you'd checked the order status on the automated phone system, you would have known the day before it shipped. Their email notification system is lame; I got mine after it arrived as well. Though it's an improvement from when I ordered my desktop PC in december, I never got that shipping notification at all. I just check the automated order system every day, makes me feel like I'm doing something useful :)

Mirk--check the UPS web site, you never know, but as far as I can tell Dell shows the item as "shipped" the day before UPS actually has it in their posession; this is more a limitation of the shipping system then anything though; they PAY for the shipping the day before UPS actually picks it up via a label-printing computer at the warehouse and I'm sure that is where the order status system reads from.

I used to work for an internet retailer and that's how the system there worked as well :)

[Kati Compton]

I am really disappointed, i thought I was going to get it today...

Sometimes they tell you a day ahead - they might have printed the stickers that had the tracking info that day, but didn't get it to the shipper until the next. You should get it tomorrow if not later today, I would think.

[mirkazemisaman]

Yes, you were right. Didn't get it today. But I just checked the UPS website and it it's on it's way. It shows a couple of location scans already. So FINALLY I'll have it tomorrow, I am really tired of looking at my friends' Axims' screens and want to have my own as soon as possible. Can't wait to get back from school tomorrow. BTW I usually get home at around 4:00pm. Now when the UPS truck comes, I don't know.
I don't know how I am going to wait for it to charge for 4 hours either!!!
I'll post again later tomorrow with some first time PPC owner opinions or maybe questions...

[MPSmith]

Instead of waiting 4hrs for it to charge, simply put the battery in the back-up charger slot of the cradle and put the axim in the cradle under AC power. You should be able to use the axim as long as you keep it in the cradle and all the while can keep charging the battery.

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't know how I am going to wait for it to charge for 4 hours either!!!..

This is an observation, not a recommendation, and other standard disclaimers. You put the AXIM on a charge and some time later it indicates, by the battery meter and the green light, it is fully charged. After that, IMHO, you are supplying a trickle to keep it that way. I have never heard anything about LiIon batteries that say you need to trickle charge a full battery for any period of time to make it happy. Once it is charged, it is charged. I don't think there is any electron-packing equivalent of carbo-loading.

My personal opinion is that four hours is about what it would take to fully charge a fairly completely discharged battery, hence a standard suggestion/direction, charge for four.

If someone wants to dispute this, have at it, I'm a EE, but that doesn't make me a battery expert. I'd charge it till it says it is charged and go for it. ;)

[mirkazemisaman]

Just opened the box a couple of hours ago, very impressive. Haven't even turned it on yet, just waiting for it to get charged and meanwhile studying for my test.
Any tips on installing the Dell Screen Protectors (please no suggestions on other brands etc.) will be greatly appriciated. I have never installed one before (didn't use one for my Clie). Is it easily removeable, so that I can take it off or redo it if I mess up during application?
BTW, once I start using it, how would I know if my D-Pad is "clumsy" or not since I have not used a PPC before and my palm didn't have a D-Pad?

UPDATE:
I heard that the PPC syncs with Outlook or something the first time you sync. I DO NOT want that to happen. How do I prevent it? (Sorry if this is too obvious, but I haven't turned the device on yet!)

[PetiteFlower]

When I took my Axim out of the box and installed the battery for the first time, it was fully charged. FULLY. Like I put it together and it turned itself on, surprising me, and I checked the battery indicator and it said 100%. Very cool, I thought! I plugged it in anyway but the light went green after a very short while, just a few minutes.

You have to install ActiveSync on your desktop before you plug the Axim in. When you configure Activesync it asks you what items you want to sync with the desktop, just uncheck Outlook. Pretty self-explanatory once you see it.

I haven't used the Dell screen protectors, they're too expensive. However I bought some off ebay for cheap, the non-sticky kind that's supposed to just slide under the plastic around the screen. The deal was 3 for $2.99 plus $2 shipping. If you see this deal, DO NOT BUY. They suck to the point of being unusable, they are totally not clear and just too hard to see through. I'm worried about my screen but I'm going to pick up some of the sticky kind when I can afford it.

As for the d-pad....I'd never used one before but I don't like the responsiveness when I'm playing games on the NES emulator I downloaded. The button doesn't give good "feedback" as they say and I find that I go in directions other then the one I pressed sometimes. I'm still considering calling and asking for a replacement...but with the problem so common I'm not sure if it's worth it since I might get another messed up one. At any rate, I don't use the D-pad except when I'm playing games or occasionally to move the cursor so it's not THAT big of a deal....but the problem was very obvious when the pad is being used for games. So if you get a bad one, you'll know.

Don't be afraid, turn it on!

[mirkazemisaman]

Wow, this thing (Axim X5 Advanced) rocks! I have been playing aorund with it all day long. Even in school DURING CLASSES. Here are a few first time PPC user impressions (most only apply to the Axim):

The OS is pretty impressive, certainly better than Palm OS. A few minor problems, nothing major though, things that can be easily fixed by Microsoft. Examples: No back botton on most of the windows like File Explorer etc. WMP is very limited in terms of options. I know that ALL of these can be fixed using 3rd party software, but it would've been nice if they were built in considering the fact that they are very simple GUI stuff and don't take a lot of time/memory to add or develope.

The size is not bad at all. You people who are using words like "brick" in your reviews, please stop. The device itself has a solid feel to it. My d-pad in OK, although I have an occational problem with the left direction. It doesn't responce sometimes.

I was impressed by the volume that little speaker creates and the brightness of the screen, colors of very "true" and vibrant. The battery life is also pretty good, even when compared to my monochrome Clie with the backlight on.

You know how it says in the specification that you have an IRDA. Well, that's wrong. You have no infrared or should I say "usable infrared". It can barely manage to beam a 100K file. (a little exageration, but it is certainly not what I expected.)

I like the idea of Transcriber very much, but IMHO it needs a little more work before being perfect (or useable?).

And finally there are no "free", "good" games out there for PPC. If there are please give me some suggestions.

Overall I am again very impressed, the above issues are certainly not big enough to give a reason not to buy such a good product for such a reasonable price.