might buy axim x30 312MHz, any thoughts?

[IIIsynthtaxIII]

Hello all! I am new here, this is actually my boyfriend's account. He suggested I check here for some reviews of the units I am considering. He was the one who turned me onto PPC's and I am eternally grateful! I cracked the screen on my Casio em-500 about 4 months ago after having it for 2 years and I'm lost without a PPC. Unfortunately, prices have been prohibitive until recently when I made a bit of extra money, so now I'm ready to go shopping. I'm thinking about the Dell Axim x30 for several reasons:
-landscape mode
-comes in 312 MHz (cheaper and I don't think I'd notice the difference with a faster unit anyway)
-wi-fi
-can use an infrared keyboard and be able to type in landscape orientation
-reasonable price
Basically everything else is similar to the iPaq 4150, but it can't do landscape, but I can get a free keyboard from someone I know...

Any thoughts/recommendations from people who have these 2 units that I'm considering? Thanks a lot!

[Sven Johannsen]

Actually I do have them both. Just got the X30, the 312 version with radios. I'm quite impressed and have recommended it to others. The 4150 is quite a bit smaller and ergonomically just a bit better feeling in my hand. I really don't see that much speed difference doing my usual things. I'm not a big gamer or video watcher. The 4150 screen is a good deal brighter, and I'll warn you, not much even today compares to the old Casio screens. The Dell screen is not bad though. Even with the PPC size difference the screens are just about the same size.

I really like the extra buttons on the X30. They are record and radio-on buttons by default and you can reasign them. I've reassigned the record button to rotate my screen. Very convinient. There is a jog switch on the side as well, which the HP doesn't have. There is also an antenna hump which the HP doesn't have.

One disadvantage of the HP is that the IR is at the bottom. Makes it a bit rough to use an IR keyboard, unless you are working sideways, which it doesn't do natively.

If I didn't have both of them in front of me, I'd really like the X30. Right now it has the advantage of WM2003 SE, but I hope that will change. I still like my 4155 better, but I think if I had neither and had to make a choice... given the price difference, I'd go for the X30. Since I have them both, the HP is what I grab when I walk out the door. I hope you have the opportunity to actually hold each one. I know that means finding someone with an X30, or X3 actually, same case. The mm's in the specs don't always do justice to the reality. The HP is a very slick device. Only you can say how much slick is worth to you.

[IIIsynthtaxIII]

Sven,

Just how useful do you find the landscape mode? That's one of the major reasons I'm considering the dell, but if it sucks, then I'd like to know that in advance. I found that while using my old casio, I wished it could do landscape on several occasions, so I have the feeling that this feature is important to me, but only if it works as well as I expect it to!

For anyone who lives in Toronto and wants to see the axim in person, Dell often has a booth at the Scarborough Town Centre. Usually around Christmas... They have been there the past couple years from at least Sept. to at least May.

[Kowalski]

landscape mode has a couple of disadvantages. first the on screen keyboard kills half of the screen. second the screen quality decreases when viewing in landscape mode. but it comes very handy when you are reading some text or surfing.

i would definately go for x30 withouth any doubts. if it only have a CF slot x30 (600 mHz version) would be my dream device.

also one thing that is missing in hp is the jog dial. this is a big advantage of dell

[Sven Johannsen]

I find the landscape to work quite well actually. The caveat to that is that the built in programs work very well, third party programs are still a bit hit and miss. Some work fine either format, some seem to be OK if you start them after you switch to the orientaton you are going to use (don't forget that programs don't close, unless you 'close' them), and some just haven't a clue about landscape. I have a calculator program that just shows the top half on the left and blank screen to the right in landscape. It's old though.

I think that will certainly change as more vendors start considering landscape and VGA as a target.

Get that X30 624MHz today if you can. $294 is hard to beat. It's $45 more than the 312 but you are getting a $30 cradle, so you are sort of doubling the speed for $15 8O

[Kowalski]

as long as PIE and acrobat reader works well, i realy dont care about the other applications. i think landscape is very handy when reading or surfing but in other cases it is not important

[Sven Johannsen]

I did find that Acrobat Reader is one of those that works fine as long as you open it after you are in the orientation you wish to use. Switching while it is running doesn't work all that well.

On the subject of the keyboard taking up room in landscape, I don't find that as a big issue since I predominantly use Calligrapher. I haven't had any problems with Calligrapher in landscape. I have always liked it's pop up keyboard too, which allows you to move it where you want it on the screen, so most of the time, you can get it out of the way if you need to use it.

[IIIsynthtaxIII]

What's really cool is that being a University of Toronto student, I get a special deal on all Dell stuff and this week there's also free shipping in Canada on all peripherals, so I can get the 624MHz for $388.70 CAD! That's like $295 USD... Pretty decent. Thanks for all of your help! It's good to know that landscape isn't going to be a huge disappointment.

-Sarah

[Zab]

thats a nice deal...i payed 428.00 USD for mine with free shipping and no tax since im military. also added a bunch to the price due to getting a 3 year next business day warranty.