11-26-2002, 10:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Dell Axim X5 (400MHz) Gets CNET Editors Choice
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-2709830-404-20636982.html?tag=dir
I am more and more pumped about these Dell Pocket PCs the more I hear about them. I still haven't seen one though. The kiosk at Opry Mills in Nashville had them in boxes locked under the counter and were going to be put on display earlier this week, but I'll be darned if I am going shopping for anything after Thanksgiving. If I can't get it online, someone is getting cash for Christmas. 
"Dell cooks up a recipe for success with a feature-rich product that sells for less than its competitors.
The good: Inexpensive; packed with features; outstanding battery life; snazzy cradle includes extra battery charger; removable battery.
The bad: Fairly bulky." There is more at the CNET site. They have some pretty attractive 128MB SD prices in the Accessories section. And to think I paid $115 back in February for mine. 
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11-26-2002, 10:34 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 312
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The battery seems to be impressive:
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Using Microsoft Media Player with the screen set to halfway bright, the X5 played MP3s for 6 hours, 22 minutes before the music cut off. However, the battery still had 16 percent of its charge left, and even though the unit could no longer play tunes, the battery lasted another hour before shutting down. The total battery life added up to be only about 40 minutes shy of Dell's rated time.
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And i can hardly get 5-6hrs on my iPAQ with a CF+ expansion sleeve!
__________________
"Life is a dream. The only real thing is you." -unknown
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11-26-2002, 10:41 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by bdeli
The battery seems to be impressive:
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Using Microsoft Media Player with the screen set to halfway bright, the X5 played MP3s for 6 hours, 22 minutes before the music cut off. However, the battery still had 16 percent of its charge left, and even though the unit could no longer play tunes, the battery lasted another hour before shutting down. The total battery life added up to be only about 40 minutes shy of Dell's rated time.
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And i can hardly get 5-6hrs on my iPAQ with a CF+ expansion sleeve!
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Since when I'm listening to mp3's I plan to freqently turn OFF the screen, I can only think that the battery life would be even longer for my main mp3 use... Decoding & playing mp3's has to be a power hog, so I would also expect a longer battery life when not hitting the processor and audio so hard...
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11-26-2002, 11:00 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by kati42
Since when I'm listening to mp3's I plan to freqently turn OFF the screen, I can only think that the battery life would be even longer for my main mp3 use... Decoding & playing mp3's has to be a power hog, so I would also expect a longer battery life when not hitting the processor and audio so hard...
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Actually, the display is by far the most power-consuming. If one gets as much as 6+ hours with the backlight on, I'd expect 10+ hours easy. More if you use a CPU-efficient MP3 player (iPlay, political considerations notwithstanding, uses ~ 10% of the CPU for MP3's on a 206MHz StrongArm, 20% for Ogg's). My iPaq 3870, from a Microdrive (but with in-memory caching via iPlay), takes maybe 8-9% of battery per hour--I'd expect maybe 6-7% per hour from SD.
--bdj
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11-26-2002, 11:13 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 601
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Re: Dell Axim X5 (400MHz) Gets CNET Editors Choice
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
...removable battery.
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Homer Simpson says.....mmmmm.....replaceable battery
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CTSLICK - ROCK ON
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11-27-2002, 12:18 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 226
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Games games games...
One thing I haven't seen in a review yet is how the Axim does at gaming. I'm a pretty cheap guy myself  ops: and am looking at the 300MHz version, but I wonder how it does for games, which is a huge factor for me. I've heard so many bad things about the (faster) 400MHz X-scale that I wonder if the 300MHz is going to feel worse than my iPAQ's 206MHz StrongARM. I'm also curious if multiple hardware buttons can be pressed simultaneously (a must for proper emulation of consoles like Pocket NES) and if the directional pad is eight way, not just four way.
Anybody had their hands on a unit long enough to verify these things, or seen a review that mentions these aspects?
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11-27-2002, 12:31 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 268
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Re: Games games games...
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Originally Posted by QYV
One thing I haven't seen in a review yet is how the Axim does at gaming. I'm a pretty cheap guy myself ops: and am looking at the 300MHz version, but I wonder how it does for games, which is a huge factor for me. I've heard so many bad things about the (faster) 400MHz X-scale that I wonder if the 300MHz is going to feel worse than my iPAQ's 206MHz StrongARM. I'm also curious if multiple hardware buttons can be pressed simultaneously (a must for proper emulation of consoles like Pocket NES) and if the directional pad is eight way, not just four way.
Anybody had their hands on a unit long enough to verify these things, or seen a review that mentions these aspects? |
Apparently one poster has tested it for games at a kiosk and the buttons are excellent for gaming, full functionality! I am in the same boat as you in regards to being frugal, I've actually ordered the 300Mhz version hoping it won't be so bad. One of my main uses of the unit will be to try out and hopefully play with the various emulators available for PPC, I can only keep my fingers crossed.
http://www.ppcsg.com/pages.php?page=Toshiba+e330
There's a comparison there of similar units with the three different main versions of processors.
I'm betting that under ppc2k2 that there won't be very much variance at all in performance from one another. The next release of the OS may be a different story all together however :?
Curious as to your thoughts... thanks 
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11-27-2002, 01:22 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,023
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Quote:
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One thing I haven't seen in a review yet is how the Axim does at gaming
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from the Dell section in the forums. It'll answer most of your questions posted about gaming on the Axim.
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I've heard so many bad things about the (faster) 400MHz X-scale that I wonder if the 300MHz is going to feel worse than my iPAQ's 206MHz StrongARM
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The 400mhz aren't bad processors like they're made out to be. They do quite a great job I hear in most every app, losing by a few fps at most. On apps that are able to take advantage of the Xscale, like PocketTV, they perform wonderfully. Still, you can't really expect to get a 300mhz processor and not have it perform under the 400mhz of the same make.
In general it should still perform at the 200mhz ARM level, but I suspect the Xscale enhanced software will run slightly slower on the 300 vs the 400. We'll have to wait for more info. Personally, if I had my choice between a 400mhz Xscale Axim and a 206mhz StrongARM Axim, I'd take the Xscale. It's not so much that the Xscale is slow, more that the reviewers are being a little simple minded and setting themselves up for letdown by playing the numbers game.
Enemy2k2, great link.
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11-27-2002, 01:37 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 289
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nice device but it is U G L Y. i like the look of the 1910 myself
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11-27-2002, 01:45 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 69
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Ed - I got to try out the Axim at Green Hills ... you should check it out if you get a chance. It completely sold me when I was able to play with it for about 5 minutes.
QYV - the buttons work great ... they even feel good when you press them. Full diagonal+A+B simultaneous support. The only downside is the close proximity of the D-pad to the "B" button ... this could present a problem if you have large fingers.
As for the speed ... it was perfect with Super Mario 3 (with sound), but it was also the 400mhz version. However, I did notice that about 12 apps were open after playing for a bit, so I'm betting that the 300Mhz will be just fine for Nintendo games.
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