x50v or HP 4700?

[Stephen Beesley]

Well now that I have finally accepted that I am not going to be getting the Dell x50v that I paid out for on ebay (and have lodged a claim to get at least some of my cash back) it is time to start thinking about whether the Dell is still the PDA that I want.

In the 6 weeks that my ebay saga has been going on the price of HP 4700s on ebay seems to have dropped quite a bit, while x50v prices have remained pretty stable. That combined with the odd situation that hardly any of the x50v sellers on ebay US will accept paypal from international buyers (and after my last experience it is paypal or nothing for me) while a seller that I have used before (and who accepts paypal) has the HP going for about US$450 – about the same as a lot of the x50v deals.

So my question to myself, and to anybody else who cares to give me their views :D is which one do I want. Now the HP really appeals to me with the bigger screen (I do a lot of writing on my Pocket PCs) and the overall “look” of the HP. On the negative side is the touchpad – I am still not really sure whether I could work with that. I do not really play many action games on my PPC, preferring strategy titles, but the touchpad just seems such an odd approach – especially when there is no jog dial on the side I can imagine scrolling through an ebook being fairly difficult.

On the other hand the Dell does have a standard button layout and the graphics chip might still open up some interesting possibilities in the future.

Hmm – much thinking to do while I wait for my ebay partial refund to find its way into my paypal account…

[Kowalski]

well, from my point of view hp beats dell. lack of jog dial and strange d pad seems disadvantage but 4" screen will surely be a big advantage.

[jimbo]

I haven't laid hands on the dell, but I have a 4700 and it's fantastic. The touchpad, although I don't use it much is just as easy to use as one of those little multi directional buttons. In fact it works the same. It just doesn't rock when you touch one of it's sides.

[Menneisyys]

You may also want to read http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117248 on the subject.

[disconnected]

I bought a 4700, primarily for the screen size. It did take me a few days to get used to the touchpad. At first I was turning several pages of my ebook at once, sometimes backwards instead of forwards. Now that I'm used to it, it works just fine; in fact, turning pages is easier than it was with the d-pad on the 5500.

[ADBrown]

I've had both, and I prefer the Axim. The size, directional controls, and styling are just much nicer and feel better than the HP.

[Patrick Y.]

x50v feels a lot nicer than hx4700. Though, hx4700 is definately the model to consider if you don't mind the look, size, etc.

[Stephen Beesley]

x50v feels a lot nicer than hx4700. Though, hx4700 is definately the model to consider if you don't mind the look, size, etc.

I do really like both the x50v and the 4700 which is why it is such a tough decision.

That said it seems that availability might end up being the deciding factor. Whereas I know that I can get a 4700 on ebay from somebody that will ship it to me in Oz and is prepared to take paypal, it seems that none of that the Dell sellers who are shipping worldwide will only take paypal from US bidders.

After my last experience - no paypal, no purchase.

Once bitten twice shy as they say...

[Patrick Y.]

In my opinion, hx4700 offers much more features and better performance. (better benchmark, battery life, etc.) If you can get it around the same price as x50v and don't mind the size and ugly look (sorry) , get it!! :)

[Darius Wey]

In my opinion, hx4700 offers much more features and better performance. (better benchmark, battery life, etc.)

Of course, it depends on which benchmark you're looking at. A CPU index shows the hx4700 having only a marginal performance boost over the X50v. Now if you look at a storage card read/write index, the X50v wins hands-down. Integrated graphics index benchmarks show the hx4700 coming out on top (only slightly), but this is attributable to the fact that the benchmark does not utilise GAPI. Now a GAPI benchmark sees the X50v punishing any other VGA Pocket PC in sight (thanks to the 2700g). Quite a few applications don't make full use of high-level graphical APIs which is why some applications may run a little slower on the X50v than on the hx4700. Having said that, with the introduction of a new graphical platform in Windows Mobile 5.0, things are likely to change, and I see the X50v having a clear advantage in this arena. For example, putting GPU-enhanced versions of BetaPlayer to the test, the X50v beats the hx4700.

So at the end of the day, it really depends on what you want out of your mobile device. Needless to say, both the X50v and hx4700 are power-hungry devices, each with their own pros and cons. (Uh... I'm starting to sound like Phil from The Amazing Race). :worried:

[Ward]

It is indeed nice to play 640x480 divx video without a single frame dropping and have the CPU clocked to its minimum. Battery life is a pain easily eliminated by having a secondary battery.

The four biggest considerations IMHO are the battery life, the screen quality, graphics performance and the D-Pad. Thats 2 for HP and 2 for Dell. Both look to receive the WM2005 update, so graphics becomes more important swinging it for the Dell.

[Stephen Beesley]

Honestly, although I really like the styling of the 4700 I think I would probably go with the Dell if I the choice. It will really just come down to what costs what when I have the money to buy it.

Speaking of which Dell Oz is actually having a 20% off sale on their x50vs at the moment which make them only AU$680 which would be quite a good deal if only ebay would hurry up and come through with processing my claim...

[Patrick Y.]

If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is GAPI? Personally, I prefer x50v because it LOOKS A LOT better than hx4700.

[Darius Wey]

If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is GAPI? Personally, I prefer x50v because it LOOKS A LOT better than hx4700.

GAPI (Game API) is a small, powerful library which allows direct access to the screen buffer. It's not the newest technology, but for the Pocket PC's sake, high performance applications which require a great deal of graphical grunt see GAPI as being a suitable choice. There's a whole bunch of code behind it but it's not worth delving into. ;)

Now with Windows Mobile 5.0, there are a whole bundle of new native APIs such as Direct3D, DirectDraw and DirectShow - all of which make use of device hardware to deliver the best 3D environments possible. It'll allow developers who are proficient in Direct3D on the desktop to start taking advantage of graphical hardware on mobile devices and thus write graphic-rich mobile applications, which in the long run, the X50v will be able to handle well. That's why a lot of Windows Mobile 5.0's enhancements are more deep than superficial, and once new Windows Mobile 5.0 devices start shipping, we'll begin to see just how much of an improvement the new platform is over the older ones.

[Stephen Beesley]

Well despite myself, I seem to be leaning more and more towards the HX 4700 now. I have been busy reading every review of the Dell and the HP I can find (re-reading actually, because I read most of them when I first decided to get the Dell) and I am more and more intrigued by the 4700.

One of the things I really like is the bigger screen - important when you do a lot of writing on your PPC. I also really like the idea of the flip screen - the only PDA I have owned without a flip screen was the Toshiba e750 and the first thing I bought for it was a Pocket Solutions "cover-up" flip screen cover.

Of course this is still just wishful thinking until my ebay refund comes through....

[Dalantech]

I have to agree with Darius Wey on this one -the x50v is gonna be a screamer on MD3D applications due to the 2700G graphics accelerator. If you're looking toward the future then the clear choice is the Dell Axim x50v. It's not perfect, but it will allow you to run all of the 3D applications coming up while you wait for something even better.

[Stephen Beesley]

Well thank you all for your comments and advise.

I guess all things being equal I would probably stick with my original thought and buy an Axim x50v, with the HP being my second choice.

Unfortunately, however, it is looking increasingly likely that neither of these are going to be featuring in my immediate "gadget" list.

As you will see from the secon thread referenced in my sig I am now casting around for a cheaper alternative to "get me by" until my finances have a chance to recover.

If you happen to have an old device laying about that you might like to sell (or have any further advice about what I should be looking for) check out my thread.