Dell Axim X30 624MHz - The Exotic PDA Without the Exotic Price

Author's Rating:

Pros: Price, Speed, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, PPC 2003 2nd Edition

Cons: Mediocre battery life

The Bottom Line: 
Is it too good to be true? No, this is the real thing!

Author's Review
I have had the opportunity to try out the Dell Axim X30 624MHz. There are three models to the Axim X30 line, being the basic 312MHz without any wireless capabilities at $199, and then finally the 624MHz model with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. At around $349 for the top-end model, and $150 less for the cheaper, the wireless model really comes in at a bargain when you think about it. But wait, there's also the mid0range model with 312MHz 32MB and wireless, but that's $100 cheaper at the cost of half the memory and processor speed... So after using it for a while, here's what I found with the Dell Axim X30 Wireless.

This is a PDA if you didn't already know!-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz is a PDA. PDA stands for personal data assistant. This device allows you to have a computer in the palm of your hand. You use something called a stylus pen to tap the screen, and that allows you to navigate the device. It's really neat when you come to think of it! So if you are randomly searching up this device and don't know what in heck's name this is, it's a PDA!

-Sweet like a Ferrari... But the Ferrari price?-
*So here's what I'd like you to do... I'd like you to look at the specifications of the Dell Axim X30 624MHz and compare it to any other comparable Pocket PC from Hewlett Packard or anything else (Probably running an Intel PXA255 400MHz processor) and compare the specifications. The Dell Axim X30 624MHz clearly beats out everything whehn it comes to pure power and features... So can you pretty much see that this PDA is sort of like an exotic car. Far exceeding what the rest have to offer. But are you going to pay a premium for it? Let's say, $700??? NO WAY! The Dell Axim X30 624MHz only costs about $349! For what you get with this PDA, it's practically a steal at this price. This is by far the fastest and most feature-filled PDA you'll probably find. You're definitely not going to find anything much better in this price range... So if you need a really fast and powerful Pocket PC that you can take places, then the Dell Axim X30 624MHz is definitely for you.

-The battery has decent strength-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz offers something that a lot of PDA's don't... It has a user-replacable 950 mAh Lithium-Ion battery. This will allow you to get an optional extended battery which I didn't use... So here's how it goes... The processor is so powerful that it really does strain on the battery. So if you're using it for wireless networking such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or playing resource-demanding games, you can get a couple of hours out of the battery at most. I ran it for under two hours using Wi-Fi and running applications until I decided that she needed to be charged. If you're using the device for less straining things such as word processing or using PIM applications, then maybe you can get a few hours out of it... I was doing all of these functions at maximum power. If you run the PDA at lower processor speeds, you should get a better battery life. So I guess that having such a fast processor might have its few drawbacks... But if you decide to buy the extended battery or run it on lower settings, you should get some more longetivity out of the battery on the device. So if you're a business executive who is on the go a lot yet still needs these wireless capabilities, you might want to look at the mid-range model which has the slower processor thus giving a longer battery life... However, this comes at the cost of 32MB of RAM which could mean a lot to someone who is a heavy PDA user... So you have to figure out if you want to make that compromise or not.

*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz does however allow you to adjust the brightness settings... It allows you to control it to eight different levels which is definitely nice. Also, since you can run the device at slower speeds, you can also conserve battery. But remember, if you want to run it at the full 624MHz, be ready to charge the thing soon!

-What's under the hood is unbelievable. Seriously-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz is powered by a 624MHz Intel processor... That's extremely fast, especially compared to the 400MHz high-end PDA's that you'd find elsewhere. So is the 624MHz as good as it looks on paper? OH YES. The Dell Axim X30 624MHz proved to be unbelievably fast when running applications. There was absolutely no lag time just about... I know that some other PDA's had issues where they began to lag at times, becoming annoying... But the Dell Axim X30 624MHz didn't suffer any of that. When it comes to handling standard PIM applications such as Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, or anything like that, everything moved along very quickly. When it came to running Pocket Explorer, that also worked very well. The extremely fast processor should also give you an edge when it comes to playing the most powerful games available for PPC. Unfortunately, there weren't any games on the Dell Axim X30 624MHz so I can't tell you how that went. But if you're an avid PDA gamer, the Dell Axim X30 624MHz should make a pretty good device. So in comparison to the mid-range model, the Dell Axim X30 624MHz has twice the speed. The other model has 312MHz which should still be ample for many users, but I didn't use that device, so I wouldn't know... So if you don't need the extremely high speed or RAM for that matter, you can save some money by buying the cheaper model. However, as technology advances, I'm sure there will be more programs that would demand such a fast processor. But wouldn't it just be awesome to tell everyone your PDA runs at 624MHz??? ;-) So overall, the Dell Axim X30 624MHz does exactly what you'd expect it to do, offer you extremely fast performance!!!

-Phew... It's not offering an outdated OS-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz comes with Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 2nd Edition. This is the latest version of Microsoft Pocket PC being offered. The new version of the operating system does offer some pretty neat features. It first is the familiar operating system that Pocket PC users are used to, but there are also some nice improvements. I'm not going to go into depth with all of them, but it does allow for more efficient operation on the processor, some improvements in Pocket Explorer, etc... So it's pretty nice that Dell is offering the latest version of the operating system in their devices. This should give you an edge since you'll be having the latest version available... Yet another great thing about the Dell Axim X30 624MHz.

-Hmmm... It could be a little better protected-
*One drawback to the Dell Axim X30 624MHz is that it actually doesn't come with any standard carrying cases. So it's up to you to buy one. Remember, if you crack the stylus, you're out of a $349 device... So I'd highly recommend that you buy a case straight for Dell. There are a variety of carrying cases offered at the website when you go to customize your Dell Axim X30 624MHz. So this is a problem that's easily fixed... At least for an extra $15 or so.

-Built solid... Nice-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz proves to be a solid feeling PDA. It's not cheaply built, so it doesn't feel like it's flimsy or anything. This should be a pretty durable PDA as long as you take care of it. That's why I'd recommend that you purchase a carrying case with it. But when it comes to accidentally dropping the PDA or anything, it should be able to handle a little bit of that abuse. Overall, the Dell Axim X30 624MHz is built pretty well... Just what you'd expect from a respectable company.

-Excellent amount of storage space!-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz offers 64MB of internal memory. This is two times as much as the cheaper model which only has 32MB. When it comes to being a serious PDA users, 64MB is what you'd want. Many people who are serious PDA users have enough difficulty with 32MB. This is another thing which makes the top-end model better than all the others. Then of course you do have the SD/MMC slot which allows you to add flash memory cards which will allow you to store much more. Also, the slot is SDIO capable which will allow you to add any SDIO cards to the Dell Axim X30 624MHz giving it ultimate versatility.

-Executive Power... Executive Looks-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz looks like an executive-type PDA. Not so much something that you'd end up buying for your teenagers as toys. This means that it's not going to be as crazy looking as something like a Palm Zire... But instead, it holds out on having a very professional look to it. I think it's a pretty sleek looking device most definitely, so if you want something with a very serious look, then the Dell Axim X30 624MHz would be a pretty good choice. The Dell Axim X30 624MHz also looks the same as the older Dell Axim X3, just in case you were wondering how it compared to the previous Dell units offered.

-Nice screen! Nice screen!-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz has a 16-bit TFT 240x320 display. This is a very gorgeous display. I always loved the resolutions on Pocket PC's, and the Dell Axim X30 624MHz is absolutely no exception.

-Built-in Bluetooth... So awesome!-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz comes with built-in Bluetooth. But what's also really nice? This Pocket PC doesn't make a compromise between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi... So you can have the best of both worlds. With Bluetooth, you can wirelessly connect your PDA to other Bluetooth enabled devices so you can transfer files or do whatever you'd like to do. People who use Bluetooth devices would find it very nice and useful that you have it already built-in to this PDA! So you won't need to get a Bluetooth SDIO card if you really need it, since it's all already there. I connected the Dell Axim X30 624MHz to a Sony Vaio computer using Bluetooth, and it seemed to work seamlessly. So two thumbs up for the Bluetooth on this device!

-Built in Wi-Fi... Now we're cookin'!-
*So what's really friggin' sweet about the Dell Axim X30 624MHz? That you have built-in Wi-Fi! This will allow you to use your Dell Axim X30 624MHz with a wireless router or at any Wi-Fi hotspot. This is superb for any executive who needs the internet on the go and doesn't want to be carrying a huge laptop wherever he or she decides to go. I used the Dell Axim X30 624MHz with a Linksys wireless router and ran Pocket Explorer and AOL Instant Messenger 2.0, and had absolutely no issues. The internet and chat worked very quickly with no difficulties. So two thumbs up for the Wi-Fi on this device!

-Mulitmedia... Nice-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz obviously has multimedia capabilities. It has Windows Media player which allows you to play music files and watch videos. The audio quality is okay, the speaker is located in the rear of the device. I was sort of hoping that it would've been louder. There is also a built-in microphone which you can use to make voice memos. The sound quality comes out to being pretty satisfactory. It would've been nice if the Dell Axim X30 624MHz has a built-in camera, but you really don't find that on many Pocket PC devices... So if you really want a camera that badly, you can get an SDIO digital camera but those really suck in quality. So I'd recommend just using a digital camera, and synchronizing your pictures onto the device if you want to carry them around on it.

-Navigation... It works well
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz is fairly efficient at navigating. It has a nice D-pad which allows you to scroll and access things. There are short-cut keys on the front of the device which allow for quick and easy access throughout the device. Overall, the navigation on the device is pretty good and should suffice any serious user.

-Synchronization with the PC is excellent and easy
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz is synchronized using Microsoft ActiveSync. This is a pretty easy to use program which also allows you to sync the Dell Axim X30 624MHz seamlessly with Microsoft Office applications. So for a serious Microsoft user, this will give you the ultimate advantage if you use Microsoft Office for your needs. Outlook is a must have for the Dell Axim X30 624MHz since you can edit the address book, calendar, and other things for the device. It's also nice since you can transfer Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files onto the PDA and access them with their Pocket Counterparts... The Dell Axim X30 624MHz also comes with a sync cradle which gives you a nice place to put your PDA when you want to sync it and hold it... So that's all good... The synchronization process with the Dell Axim X30 624MHz is very efficient since it uses the ActiveSync software and also does come with a cradle.

-Software bundle-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz does come with a good bundle of software. It comes with many of the applications that are familiar on Microsoft Pocket PC. It comes with Pocket PC, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Windows Media Player, MSN Messenger, MS Image Viewer, and others... So you get a lot of great applications that come with your Dell Axim X30 624MHz. Also, you can always download more programs from sites such as Handango. Overall, the Dell Axim X30 624MHz comes with the good bundle of software that you'd find on Pocket PC.

-So what's NOT hot-

*Battery life - At the full 624MHz and running wireless or games, you can expect your battery to run out fairly quickly. So you should consider the optional extended battery if you're away from the charger a lot. So the Dell Axim X30 624MHz comes in at only having a mediocre battery life.

-The Verdict-
*The Dell Axim X30 624MHz proves itself to be one of the hottest performing Pocket PC's out there, if it's not already the hottest Pocket PC. While reading about it, you might think of it as being a Ferrari (At the time this review was written), but in actuality, it's not priced anywhere near what a Ferrari would be. Instead, you get an amazing PDA at a very affordable price. I don't know how Dell managed to do it, but they did! This isn't too good to be true, it's the Dell Axim X30 624MHz, and it's the real thing!