Axim Jog wheel and action button

[Stephen Beesley]

I am looking at replacing a dead :cry: HP568 with an Axim X5 Advanced, but not being able to actually play around with one leaves me with a lot of questions.

Coming from the Jornada which had a really nice little up/down jog switch on the left hand side and a seperate action button under the D pad I am a bit worried about the equivelant controls on the Axim.

From what I can see in pictures the Jog dial is actually more like a lever, while there is no seperate action button. How do those of you with Axim's (particularly anyone who might have had a Jornada in the past!) find these controls to use?

Goldtee

[Sslixtis]

Hi Goldtee,
Having had the HP568 myself I understand your concern, no jog dial was one of the things that annoyed me about the iPaq 3955 that replaced my Jornada!
The jod dial on the Axim is more like a lever than the very nice design of the HP568, takes a bit of getting used to but it works rather well and you can press the little lever in for an action button. I use it for eBooks and have it mapped for WMP as well. 8) You can use the D pad as an action button as well, but I just use the jog dial.

Overall, I like the jog dial on the Jornada better, but atleast you don't have to do without on the Axim like alot of other PPCs. :way to go:

You know I really wish someone would design another Jornada like device, I miss the flip cover and the sveldt design of the jog dial.
Bad HP! :twak:

[Stephen Beesley]

Don't get me started on HP and the dumping of the Jornada!

I am almost tempted to get myself a refurbed 568, but I guess I really do need to move with the times and move up to the Xscale. Boy am I going to miss the screen cover, Every PDA I have ever owned had a screen cover - although the one on the 568 did not save it from my right foot!

Actually the look of the Axim reminds me a lot of the Jornada (at least from the pictures) although more chunky looking.

One of my major uses of my PPC has been Ebooks so I am glad to hear that the Axim's "jog lever" works well for that. Can you map the application buttons like on a Jornada?


Goldtee

[Hx4700]

I also came from the HP568 to the Axim.
I agree the jog wheel works well, except its seems to be low in a normal grip. I wish Dell could have designed it so the SD slot and jog lever were reversed in position. I don't use the jog lever enter/push often, but have been using the d-pad center enter/push that works now with the new rom upgrade.
Ron...

[Sslixtis]

Yep, no problem mapping the buttons. :D

[TheWolfen]

I just converted to the Axim from a 568 as well. I wasn't as fond of the HP jog dial as I am of the Axim. It is different, but I find it easier to use. I too wish it was higher up on the device, but it is useable.

One note on size.. you'll find that the Axim is only marginally bigger than the Jornada. A lot has been said about how big the Axim is, but it really isn't when compared to other high end PPCs. As for the flip cover, that too is a feature I miss quite a bit. I did get a flip cover from Pocket Solutions that works ok, although not as nicely as the HP's was.

[TheBacklash]

Can't speak of the HP jog dial compared to the Axim's... But I will say this of the Axim's size.
Don't believe what everyone (magazine reviews and such) say about the Axim being a brick... It's really not that big, and not nearly as heavy as they claim it to be. sure, compared to the HP 1910, yeah it's bigger and heavier... compared to a HP jornada or Compaq Ipaq, which I switched from, it's not that big. and even smaller than my old ipaq that I *had* to use the sleeve with it.

[QYV]

Anyone else have problems with the jog lever scrolling twice really quickly when you just press it once? I've played with every possible setting in the Up/Down controls applet, and almost half the time I press down on the jog lever I get a double-scroll, so fast I don't even notice it until the sentence I'm reading stops making sense. It's irritating enough that even though I love using Internet Explorer without stylus-scrolling, I've had to stop using the jog lever and go back to the stylus.

As best I can tell, the jog lever (at least on my Axim) is extremely sensitive: as I apply the downward pressure and the sensor detects the press, there must be a slight release/reapplication of pressure that's so slight I'm not even aware of it that causes it to read twice. That would be why the repeat rate in the Up/Down controls doesn't affect this (I've turned repeating off entirely and still had the problem).

Maybe I should send my Axim back as defective so I can get the PXA 255!! :twisted:

[spursdude]

Maybe I should send my Axim back as defective so I can get the PXA 255!! :twisted:
You really should - to get your jog tab fixed, and also in hopes of getting the PXA 255.

[Stephen Beesley]

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

I am glad to hear such positive things from former 568 owners. I must say that the size thing does not really bother me. As some of you have said it seems to be about the same as a lot of other PPC and would certainly be no bigger than an Ipaq with sleeve. Anyway I used to carry around a Newton Mp2K in my pocket so any PPC is small to me!

On the cover front I was just looking at the Pocket Solutions web site and was wondering whether their cover flips all the war round to the back or just part of the way like the 568 cover?

Goldtee

[Andy Whiteford]

Go here for a review:

http://www.ultimatepocket.com/index.php?newlang=eng

Under Reviews / Accessories on the left.

[Stephen Beesley]

Thanks for the link to the very good review.

I like the look of the pocket solutions cover, but the fact that it does not open all the way, is attached by velcro and covers up the CF slot are all points against it. If I do go with an Axim (which is looking more and more likely!) then maybe a flip case might be the way to go. That said the pocketsolutions cover really does look pretty cool :!:

Another question for any ex 568 owners out there - what about battery life? I never found the battery life in my 568 to be more than 4 hours at the most with pretty extensive use. The reviews of the Axim indicate better than that - any comments?

Goldtee

[Andy Whiteford]

Well I use both a Jornada 565 and Axim 400mhz. You can read my review of the Axim here on Pocket PC Thoughts:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,7960


Let me know if you have any further questions or anything that is not covered by the follow up responses. The battery life is very good on the Axim.

[Kati Compton]

I'm afraid I can't pinpoint exactly how much battery life, but I've only drained it once, and that was with some use over a week.

I've used it to play games and listen to mp3's through a Chicago-San Jose flight without trouble, and there was battery life left over. This was after playing around with it at the airport waiting for the flight.

[Thefo]

You can also use the jog wheel and D pad in combination to adjust your brightness (like you can on the Casio E-series) Press in the action button (jog wheel) and use the D pad up and down to adjust the brightness up/down without having to use the settings applet.

[mc_03]

I moved from a 565 (OK, not a 568 but pretty much the same thing) and the Axim is probably the closest Pocket PC out nowadays to the Jornada line. The jog lever takes a while to get used to, but now it works fine. You just need to hold the axim so that your thumb rests on the dial.

Battery life is amazing, I use it for about an hour, playing games at full screen brightness and it is still in the 90s!

I will probably get the Pocket Solution flip cover, either that or the proporta/innopocket aluminum case. Which one is better?

All in all, my Axim does everything my Jornada did except better (with the exception of that flip cover!)