X50V very sssllloooowwwwww.........

[hogger_jeff]

I just got my x50v and have been installing apps that I have been using with my old Ipaq 5455 (with WM2003 upgrade). With almost every app I install, I get the following message on the pda: "The program you have installed may not display properly because it was designed for a previous version of Windows Mobile software." I just click OK and continue. I even got this message when installing the newest version of Microsoft Reader. :? Now, I have noticed that all the games I have run extremely slow on the Axim. They are much slower than on the 400mhz Ipaq I have. Is that a function of the software not being written for a dedicated graphics controller? Or does it have something to do with that error message? Everything seems much slower. Even Microsoft Reader seems to lock up for a long time when opening an e-book. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? This is getting very frustrating..... :twisted:

[Sven Johannsen]

The warning message is more related to the software not being explicitly landscape aware. After all the installing have you tried a soft reset, and/or look at the processor setting. I have the feeling the auto setting tends to lean towards battery life rather than performance as the stock battery is a bit underpowered.

[Ripper014]

It could be a number of issues... but a good place to start would be to go to the Aximsite and do a search for Picard's VGA Gapi update...

[hogger_jeff]

The warning message is more related to the software not being explicitly landscape aware. After all the installing have you tried a soft reset, and/or look at the processor setting. I have the feeling the auto setting tends to lean towards battery life rather than performance as the stock battery is a bit underpowered.

These performance issues are occurring when plugged into AC power with processor set for full speed. I've made several soft resets during my installations - one was required after the MS Reader was installed. As for the battery being underpowered, you're not kidding - I barely get 3 hours out of mine without any wireless features turned on and screen dimmed as low as possible without turning it off.

As to Ripper's suggestion, I'll go the Aximsite and look for that update. I'll post if I find any relief. Thanks.

[hogger_jeff]

Picard's gapi update seems to help a bit - not much, but there is a difference in draw times for some games. Simple Astraware games like Bejewelled and Bounceout seem to have the most trouble... and those are my "damn, I'm bored" favorites... :?

[Sven Johannsen]

One thing I have lost the bubble on is the EventNotification DB problem that was slowing down a lot of PPCs. That was the thing where extra entries were being created in the notification DB everytime you did a soft reset, filling it up and slowing down processing. Not sure anymore if that still exists in WM2003SE. ScaryBear has a free fix for that, if someone confirms it may still be a problem. http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc_cn_overview.html

I would add that I am not displeased by the performance of my X50, nor has my wife complained about her's. We both came from HP4155s so that would be our expectation. I certainly don't thnk it runs 50% faster than the 4155 as might be expected going from 400MHz to 624. I didn't actually have that expectation though, because you don't get a 50% sped improvement on a desktop going from 1GHz to 1.5 in normal day to day operation. There are many other things that affect apparent speed, memory access speed, screen refresh, etc. Sometimes a faster processor just means it is going to have more idle time.

I should add that my wife and I are by no means gamers (well she plays freecell, but I don't think that is stressing the device too much), so my perception is based on more mundane tasks. I did load and play with Stunt Car Extreme for about an hour, and it seemed to perform very nicely.

[Menneisyys]

Even Microsoft Reader seems to lock up for a long time when opening an e-book.

It's because of MS Reader - it's slow on all machines. Use something better (e.g., Mobipocket) and, if you need, convert your LIT files back into HTML by using ConvertLIT (*** URL Removed by mod SJC***).

BTW, the processing speed of the CPU in current VGA machines _is_ higher than on a 400 MHz processor. I'm just benchmarking my Pocket Loox 720 against my iPAQ 2210 using real-world benchmarks (e.g., searching in a 223 Mbyte HTML using Mobipocket) and the PL720 is clearly faster.

[cikub]

I don't have an X50v, but I have been scanning the boards to find a replacement for my Palm T3. One thing I have noticed in all of the X50v reviews I've read is that the X50v, is just plain sluggish when it comes to graphics performance, despite the graphics accelerator. The non-VGA model, it is said, does not have this problem and is quite snappy. There's just something about Dell's graphics implementation that can't overcome the additional processing overhead of the VGA screen.

C

[hogger_jeff]

I don't have an X50v, but I have been scanning the boards to find a replacement for my Palm T3. One thing I have noticed in all of the X50v reviews I've read is that the X50v, is just plain sluggish when it comes to graphics performance, despite the graphics accelerator. The non-VGA model, it is said, does not have this problem and is quite snappy. There's just something about Dell's graphics implementation that can't overcome the additional processing overhead of the VGA screen.

C

That's the thing... from what I understand, most PPC apps are written to draw directly to the screen. They don't know how to use the independant video processor and ram, therefore they run slower. :?: I wouldn't expect this much of a slowdown from my 400mhz Ipaq 5455, though.... :?

[cikub]

That makes sense. I did read about how good the video was for a movie player that is written specifically for the accelerator. I wonder if the accelerator that Dell used will find itself in other PPCs and become somewhat of a standard.

C

[Menneisyys]

I wouldn't expect this much of a slowdown from my 400mhz Ipaq 5455, though....

I'd say VGA machines are as "fast" when handling menus as the 5450 with PPC2k2. (read: very slow.) Some games are indeed slow (use Picard's GAPI.) In-app performance (searching, displaying JPEG files etc.) is, on the other hand, much faster. See e.g. http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36376 on how current VGA machines fare against the 2210 in mundane, CPU + I/O combined tasks like text searching - the 520 MHz PL720 is some 56% faster at doing this than the iPAQ 2210! Amazing...