Dell Axim X50v, Toshiba e830, Asus MyPal a730w, or Loox 720?

[mtnbiker-13]

Hi There,

I am new to the group and have been spending a lot of time researching what PDA to buy. I have been looking at the Dell Axim X50v, Toshiba e830, Asus a730W and the Loox 720 (both very pricey, but would be nice to have a camera and USB capabilities). I think I have settled on the X50v because of performance and price (if anyone has points to convince me otherwise I am still open). The Asus seems to be VERY popular and there is nothing here about the Loox, but it seems to be a better performer than the Asus.

It sounds as though performance of the X50v is pretty good comparatively and once more software comes out to take advantage of the graphics accelerator, it will be killer.

I was wondering about USB capabilities. The MyPal a730 and Loox 720 have the ability to use other USB devices (ie: keyboards, external hd, etc...). Is there any type of adapter to be able to do the same with the X50v?

Has anyone used the VGA presentation capabilities of the X50v? Does it work very well?

How is the software bundle that comes with it? Some of the reviews seem to think it is a little weak. Too many trial versions and not enough full versions. Any recomendations for have-to-have software?

Is a virus program necessary?

I know this is a lot but any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Jason

[Ripper014]

If you have the money... and the inclination the Loox 720 is the best of the listed devices... All pocketpc's have their weaknesses... the largest one for the Loox is that it is not supported in North America. With that being said it it does just about everything better than the other two units.

The Dell's two main weaknesses... are the small battery.. and the lack of ram... it only has 64mb onboard... which translate to 61.75mb usable. The price point is good... and the GPU is a toss up... it will depend if it will get the support from the software community.

The Asus a730W... also has a small battery... with a rather thick profile... and adding a bigger battery would only make it thicker. Other than that... it is not a bad device... But at the same price point you can get a Loox...

Given the choice I would go with the Loox... if you want additional information from users.. go to www.firstloox.com

If you want a general overview... checkout this site.
http://www.vgapocketpc.com/vga-pocket-pc-comparison.php

[ADBrown]

Hi There,
I am new to the group and have been spending a lot of time researching what PDA to buy. I have been looking at the Dell Axim X50v, Asus a730W and the Loox 720 (both very pricey, but would be nice to have a camera and USB capabilities). I think I have settled on the X50v because of performance and price (if anyone has points to convince me otherwise I am still open). The Asus seems to be VERY popular and there is nothing here about the Loox, but it seems to be a better performer than the Asus.

I personally would dismiss the Asus. Its battery life is very poor, and I find its build quality to be lower than the Dell. Also, I recommend against deciding based on an integrated camera. Their pictures tend to turn into a big black blob in anything short of full sunlight, and even then they're poor quality.

It sounds as though performance of the X50v is pretty good comparatively and once more software comes out to take advantage of the graphics accelerator, it will be killer.

True. The X50v has the best gaming graphics performance of any VGA PocketPC, when using the GAPI tweak, and the things that the 2700G chip can do are amazing. It's already supported by BetaPlayer and some people are building games for it.

I was wondering about USB capabilities. The MyPal a730 and Loox 720 have the ability to use other USB devices (ie: keyboards, external hd, etc...). Is there any type of adapter to be able to do the same with the X50v?

There's a CompactFlash card that can do this. It's a little pricey, but certainly no more so than the additional cash for an Asus or Loox if you're really into the idea.

Has anyone used the VGA presentation capabilities of the X50v? Does it work very well?

I haven't personally used the VGA-out, but I'd like to clarify one thing. It's not just presentations that this works for--the VGA-out duplicates the entire screen, so you could watch movies, type documents, or play games on the big screen too.

How is the software bundle that comes with it? Some of the reviews seem to think it is a little weak. Too many trial versions and not enough full versions. Any recomendations for have-to-have software?

You're going to find that everywhere these days. The practice of including full software with a new PPC is almost defunct. Generally you get a few nuggets like a picture viewer and a backup application. I recommend you peruse FreewarePPC.com, paying particular attention to Conversion, uBook, BetaPlayer, WinamPAQ, and PocketRAR. On the for-pay side, I'm a fan of Resco File Explorer and Tomeraider.

Is a virus program necessary?

Not at all. There aren't any PocketPC viruses.

To present a counter-argument, 64 MB is far from being a 'lack of RAM.' It's quite sufficient as long as you're not trying anything crazy like installing 20 applications to RAM, opening 8 megapixel digital photos, or trying to autopilot a jetliner. There's a small but fervent group who believes that everyone needs 128 MB of RAM, but the reality is that most people don't. Some do, absolutely. But most people don't.

[Menneisyys]

64 MB is far from being a 'lack of RAM.' It's quite sufficient as long as you're not trying anything crazy like installing 20 applications to RAM, opening 8 megapixel digital photos

Actually, 64M RAM is well eough for even opening 14 Mpixel photos at their original size with, for example, WM2003's built-in Pictures app (or with Pocket Phojo / PQV 3.0). It's just that you won't able to save them on a 64M machine after a bit of adjusting. (for a comparison: on a 128M machine, even the additional saving will work.)

[MROX]

If it can help you, that's from another topic: http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35492&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=100
It (video on the x50v's VGA output) works with the screen off. With it on the performance is equivalent to the vga cf card (skipping every frame). I wonder what the performance of the vga card would be with the screen off also. My benchmarks with betaplayer are certainly a lot better if nothing has to be drawn on the screen.
Surur

Actually, that's AFAIK not really true - Picard has just emphasized at http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=751428 that BetaPlayer plays everything great on x50v's VGA output, w/o (many?) frameskips:

"I was comparing only the video playback capabilities of the FlyPresenter card and the build-in VGA output of X50v. It's player independent (assuming it can take advantage of hardware acceleration). The X50v VGA output has VGA resolution and the speed is almost same as with the LCD. The FlyPresenter is only QVGA for movies and slower as QVGA LCD."



Personnaly after a month of research, I stoped on the X50V. I think I can buy a more powerfull batterie (Mugen model soon) and the screen quality is more then enough for me.

Good luck!

[Ripper014]

Hmm... I agree that 64mb ram is not a requirement for everyone... But unless you are the lightest of users... it will present a problem. I had been using a Hp2210 for almost 2 years now and it has always been an issue for me. Not that I play a lot of games... but some of the newer games are requesting 20mb free... Also... intensive programs such as Planmaker and Textmaker run much better and more trouble free out of ram. In addition applications such as Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion should also reside there as well as any Today Plug-ins you wish to run. So unless you really wish to run a lean system... go for the additional ram.

If you look at the Hx4700 baords... at any of the forums you can usually see a thread talking about upgrading to more ram... they too only have 64mb aboard and users are realizing they need more. Some of these users are going to the extreme by having PPCTechs add an another 64mb... which by the way voids their warranty.

The Dell has some strong points going for it... mainly pricing... and its gpu... but unless it garners the full support by the software community... it will not realize its potential. Being that it is the only unit using this gpu... I would wait to see how that transpires...

For less money I was able to get a Toshiba e830... and feature wise... I believe it is the best buy for the money. But my first choice for a unit would as I said... still be the Loox 720.

I apologize... but this 64mb is enough ram is a touchy subject with me and I don't want any newbies to be misled at all... Like I said... if your a light user... or you do not mind managing your ram... then.. MAYBE.