04-18-2006, 09:30 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Farewell Dell?
"I have been very reluctant to accept facts and rumors presented that lead to the Dell Axim's death. There have been many reports of business and Dell Sales rep discussing the death. One of the companies had an employee make it over to Aximsite armed with info given to them by their Dell Sales rep. Shortly after he published it, some official from that company franticly asked me to remove these posts from Aximsite. That incident should have opened my eyes to the fact that these rumors had substance."
Fellow Mobile Devices MVP and Aximsite owner, Chris Leckness, spotted a post at PDA Live that may not sit well with all you Axim owners and fans out there. According to a DL.TV show that aired last week, Dell may soon be retiring (or has already retired?) from PDA-based R&D. If this is fact, not fiction, then where does Dell go from here? Based on little market experience with converged devices, there is little to suggest that Dell will move from standalone PDAs to phone-enabled PDAs and smartphones. Instead, there is a chance that they may simply refocus their efforts away from mobile devices and stick to what they do best - that is, catering for homes and businesses with their fantastic line of desktops, notebooks, servers, TVs and monitors.
Remember, it's all rumours at the moment, but if indeed the day comes when Dell announces the death of the Axim line, what will be running through your mind?
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04-18-2006, 09:40 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 113
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Death of Good Products!
Well, my first PDA was a Toshiba E-310 and I thought I would upgrade it to their new model, that's when Toshiba stopped selling in the US and apparently got out of the market.
So I went with the Axim X-50 and figured I would upgrade to a new Axim in a few years. Now it seems Axim will be no longer.
When I read about the Treo 700 compared to my X-50, I will do without the phone portion for the better processors, RAM, graphics chip and VGA screen of the X-50V.
Just when things seemed to be getting better, the PDA is becoming a dinosaur. Smart phones seem the future for handheld technology. Bah humbug!
Is it time to start the conspiracy theories? :twisted:
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"This is nothing like anything we have yet to experience." - Bob & Ray
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04-18-2006, 09:52 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,520
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My bet is that if they are leaving the PDA market, then they're investigating the UMPC arena.
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Phone: Nexus one Backup Phone: AT&T Samsung Jack; Future Phone: I'm Watching WP7; Media Player: Platinum Zune HD 32GB; Home Server: HP MediaSmart Server LX195 Console: XBox 360, PS3, Wii |
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04-18-2006, 10:22 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 38
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I agree that the stand-alone PPC will probably be replaced by the UMPC. After all, if we could upgrade our PPCs to WinXP wouldn't we all jump in and do it!? I am sure there will be size, power, and speed issues at first, but in the long run, my dream is to have a true full Windows PC in my pocket.
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04-18-2006, 10:24 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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I've been predicting this would come for two years now. The PDA sector is a dying market, so it makes little sense to Dell and HP to continue supporting this space. Palm will eventually follow suit as well.
Any company still building old school handhelds has no future in todays market.
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04-18-2006, 10:43 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,221
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Well, I've been hoping to replace my aging Jornada. I was considering getting an Axim. Now, I'm not sure. Of course, if Dell has some great blow-out sales at the end...might be a good time. It would fit my buying pattern of my Compaq C140, my Philips Nino, my Jornada, hmmm...I'm sensing a trend here. :mrgreen:
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04-18-2006, 10:54 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 191
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If this true I will be in mourning. I will have to wear all black. I have an Axim X51 and unless my knowledge is incomplete I don't think there is truly any comparable PPC's at a similar price point, size and feature set.
And no I don't want full Windows in my pocket. Those UMPC's don't even come close to the pocket size of a PPC. Even if they did,Windows was designed to be used w/ a mouse, keyboard and full screen and would be a pain I the butt to use in a small sized device w/ a pen. Try using terminal services on your PPC and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.
My last hope is for Apple to create a Newtonesque iPod which is inevitable as devices converge and the iPod becomes more powerful
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04-18-2006, 11:04 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 414
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Smiling!
I have waited and waited for a best price on an Axim. I was ready to buy three months ago, but was not willing to pay more than $300 for an x51v or $200 for an entry level Axim. With comparable Palm TX going for less than $250, I simply not willing to spend more so much more for an Axim than others paid late last year when Dell sold x51vs quite often for less than $300.
So, last week I got a Toshiba e800. I have twice the RAM of any Axim and a larger VGA screen. I don't need wifi and think WM 2003SE is more reliable than WM 2005. So far it seems very stable and the screen is the most georgeous display I have ever seen on any device, desktop-laptop-or PDA.
I didn't want an orphan model and would have bought a foreign Loox or Fujitsu with camera if I could have gotten a good price. I also looked at HP RX3715, but could not get a good price on one.
I called Dell three times to dicker on price (did you know you can just call and ask and they will give you a better price than even the sale price listed on their web site?) and typed in codes several times (often they didn't work at all, but even if they did I never got to those prices I was willing to pay), but Dell was not competitive.
So, I was happy when Geeks ran these Toshibas for $259 last week.
So long Dell. There were some real good times for you in this market, but it looks like it is over. Wonder who if anyone will offer PDAs in volume any more?
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04-18-2006, 11:11 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 65
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I just got my wife an x51v last week. I think that it is a great device and I will be sorry to see them leave the market if this is final.
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Dilbertism: I don't have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem.
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04-19-2006, 12:43 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 309
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Why in the world dell would do that? PDA�s are not dinosaurs! i still love my iPAQ. I know my next iPAQ will be a phone/Pda combo, but it will be still an iPAQ! 8O
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This site should go the way of msmobiles.com. Forget WM and start talking android. Androidthoughts.com
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