Excellent, Affordable Pocket PC with Wireless! - Dell Axim X30

Author's Rating:

Pros: Reasonably Priced, Full-Featured, Integrated 802.11b & bluetooth wireless networking

Cons: Wireless configuration can be confusing and difficult

The Bottom Line: 
The Axim X30 is an excellent value and should satisfy most users looking for a handheld Pocket PC

Author's Review
An excellent alternative to the more expensive Pocket PC models from other companies, Dell’s Axim X30 offers built-in wireless capabilities, the newest Windows Mobile operating system, a beautiful color screen, expansion possibilities and more.

Axim X30 Basics

Hardware
Dell’s Axim X30 offers built-in wireless (both 802.11b and Bluetooth capable), along with a 312MHz XScale processor from Intel, 64 megabytes of built-in RAM memory, 32mb of ROM memory, and a secure digital/multimedia memory card expansion slot.

Display
The X30 features a bright and appealing 16-bit, 3 ½ inch color screen with a 240x320 resolution and 65,536 colors. Colors are bright and clear, text is easy to read. Even during web browsing, the screen is detailed enough so that you can easily go through a website. The X30 also offers the option of switching the screen orientation, from the standard portrait mode (which is the default) to either a right-handed or left-handed landscape mode. The landscape mode is excellent for web-browsing as the sites, when they are shrunk down can just about fit on the width of the screen.

Software
Windows Mobile Edition 2003 runs the X30. This is the newest mobile operating system from Windows and while it does have a few quirks, is generally very easy to use and makes it easy for you to connect yourX30 to wireless networks. In addition to Windows, the X30 has “pocket” versions of Microsoft’s Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, and Outlook) that can directly synch with the normal applications on your desktop computer. A normal version of Outlook 2002 is provided with the Axim for your desktop or laptop, should you not already have a copy.

Beyond the operating system and the office applications, the X30 includes programs to help manage your wireless connections, a calculator, a note taker, a mobile version of internet explorer, a few games and more. Plus an almost unlimited amount of shareware and commercial software is available for the PPC platform that you can download an install onto your X30. There are also other program “samples” and “try-outs” on the installation CD, which generally require you to purchase them to continue to use them.

One I would recommend is the Norton Anti-Virus for handhelds, especially if you will be browsing the web and checking email with your Axim.

Power Supply
The X30 is powered by a removable and rechargeable lithium-ion battery. This battery is charged by using the included AC adapter and can either be charged alone, or while it is connected to a computer for synching. The battery must be fully charged the first time you use the X30 (about 8 hours) and a charge afterwards will take significantly less time. A full-charge, under constant usage should last for several hours. Using the built-in wireless receiver reduces the amount of battery life, as it uses a significant amount of battery power.

The X30 can also be run directly off of the AC adapter without reducing the battery’s charge (and will actually charge the battery while you are using the Axim). An optional AC adapter is available for the X30 for use in your car, to further reduce battery usage.

There’s also a built-in, rechargeable nickel metal hydride backup that will provide back-up power for the X30 should the main battery fail and you have data that you do not want to lose. A fully-charged back-up battery will give you about 30 minutes to get your X30 hooked up to an AC adapter or to start charging the main battery. The backup battery charges whenever you are charging the main battery.

Expansion
Expansion opportunities for the X30 are provided with the Secure Digital/Multimedia Memory Card slot. SD/MMC cards are available in a range of sizes, from about 32mb up to over a gigabyte. You can use the SD/MMC cards to store extra programs, data, video and music files.

Video & Music
The X30 can play both videos and music. Videos and music can be stored in memory or on an expansion card or be streamed off of the internet. Sound quality on MP3s is quite good (the X30 offers 16-bit full-stereo playback), especially using headphones (which are not included). The external speaker provides enough volume so that you can comfortable listen to the X30 when you are holding it close to you. Volume on the headphones can get quite loud.

Power Management
Windows Mobile and the X30 have several built-in methods of reducing power use. This includes an auto-shutdown feature, processor management and more. These features are all adjustable through the Windows Mobile settings section.

Active Sync
Because the Pocket PC platform runs windows products, sync’ing the Axim with a desktop or laptop computer running Windows is significantly easier than when you try to sync a Palm OS device. Because the programs on the Axim are “mini” versions of the larger Microsoft products, sync’ing is basically straightforward and very easy.

The Axim includes a full version of Outlook for your main computer to make the sync’ing even easier. Outlook can handle all of your email, appointments, scheduling, notes, and contacts and it will all be sync’d directly with your Axim.

Sync’ing can be done either through a direct connection to the base computer (via the USB traveling cable or a “dock” for the Axim) or via a wireless connection to that base computer.

Everything Else…
There are a ton of options, buttons and connections on the X30. This includes:

- A 5-way navigation button that allows you to scroll through pages and take actions
- 4 dedicated program buttons that bring you to the calendar, contacts, your inbox and to the “home” section of Windows Mobile
- A voice record button that allows you to record your voice for storage and/or as an attachment to an email
- A wireless on/off button that allows you to quickly enable or disable the 802.11b and Bluetooth services (allows you to easily conserve power)
- A backlit power button that can change colors depending upon power source and charging status

There’s also a standard headphone jack, a volume control dial that also doubles as a brightness control dial, a standard IR communication port, and the cradle/synch cord connector.

What’s in the Box

When you purchase your X30 from Dell, you’ll get:

- The Axim itself
- The rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- The AC adapater
- The charger adapter to connect to the Axim
- A companion CD that includes the ActiveSync software and the full version of Outlook 2002
- A detailed users guide
- A quick “start-up” poster
- A basic slip-case to store and protect your Axim in
- A stylus for using the Axim
- And either a USB cradle or a USB travel cable, depending upon your choice when you purchased the Axim

Everything is clearly labeled and it’s easy for first-time users to set up and start using the X30. It took me about 5 minutes to get everything settled and to start charging the Axim for its initial first-time charge.

Wireless

The main reason I purchased the X30 was because of the built-in 802.11b wireless network capability. I’ve recently installed a wireless network in the house and I wanted to be able to take advantage of it by having a Pocket PC device to use both at home and on the road.

This was also the most frustrating part of the setup on the Axim. At the beginning, I was running a 802.11b wireless network (one wired base desktop with a wirelessly connected laptop) with standard WEP encryption. The initial wireless setup on the X30 was straightforward. It initially detected my wireless network, asked for the WEP key and appeared to connect. My router assigned the X30 an IP address and it appeared that everything was all set to go. However, no matter how I tried to configure it, the X30 would not connect to the internet.

It took a couple of hours of fiddling with each setting on the router (along with some reading of support forums) to figure out that I had to change several settings on the router to allow the X30 to communicate with the network and connect to the internet.

Now that I know what to do, the connection was easy – but for most novice home users, I imagine that this reconfiguration of the router, along with reconfiguring the Axim several times would be a bit overwhelming.

Once I was connected, the connection speeds obviously depend on my distance from the router, but are generally quite quick and while it’s not like browsing the web on my desktop, the X30 is responsive and it is easy to use to and go to various websites.

When traveling with the X30, if you are in a wireless “hot-spot,” the Axim should automatically detect the network and ask you if you want to connect. Thus you can be browsing the web wherever there is wi-fi access provided. These public wireless access points are easier to setup on the Axim and really only involve checking off “yes” when it asks you if you want to connect.

Experiences

Compared to much more expensive models from HP and other manufacturers that I was reviewing, I was delighted when I stumbled across Dell’s Axim X30. It offered what I wanted (mostly the built-in wi-fi access), in a price range I could afford. So even though I was supposed to be shopping for the Boyfriend’s birthday, I figured what the heck, I deserve a present too and got myself the X30.

Like I said, the initial setup was as easy as pie. Dell clearly labels all the components in the box and the start-up poster makes it clear what you need to do to start using your Axim.

After the initial first-charge period, I installed the Active-Sync software onto my desktop and sync’d my Axim with the computer no problem. The trouble came along when I tried to setup the wireless connection to my network. It took several hours of troubleshooting and fiddling with the router and the Axim before I was finally able to connect.

Since then, I haven’t had any troubles with the wireless connection and I’ve been satisfied with the X30 in general. It’s a great replacement for my ancient Handspring Visor and basically, it’s a little computer in its own right! When my partner is on the computer or I don’t feel like going and sitting in there to use it, I can just pull out the Axim and get on the web. I can even edit and manipulate files, listen to music and watch a movie if I wanted to. It’s pretty cool and for me, even though it does have that “toy” factor, it has turned to be a very useful addition to my network.

I’ve also found that I carry it with me much more often than I ever had the Visor with me. Between having MP3s to listen to, games to play and downloaded emails that I can review and respond to, and appointments to manage, I find myself using the X30 all of the time.

Considerations

I’m pretty sure that the wireless network problems I experienced were not something unique to my network. When I was reviewing the help forums, there were many users with similar problems. This is really the only place that the X30 fumbles. Wireless connections should be easy and fool-proof and should not require endless reconfigurations of the router and the Axim itself.

I know for some, it will be as simple as turning on the X30 and connecting to the internet, but for others, you’re going to be delving deeper into the world of wireless networking than you probably ever wanted to in order to get your Axim up and running on the network.

So while even though I’m going to give the Axim X30 4 stars, I was seriously considering marking it down based on the wireless connectivity alone. A device like this, marketed to the average user, should basically be foolproof and between my experience and what I read of other users’ problems, it really isn’t. Most users probably won’t know how to adjust a router and getting the Axim up and running on the network might be a big hassle for them.

Final Thoughts

If you can get past the difficulties of the wireless configuration, Dell’s Axim X30 is an excellent all-purpose handheld Pocket PC. You get plenty of connectivity options, a beautiful color screen, a good selection of software and a powerful processor with plenty of storage expansion options.

Overall, the Axim X30 is an excellent value and should satisfy most users looking for a handheld Pocket PC.