Wonderful!

Author's Rating:

Pros: - Durability - Expandability - Expansion memory/functionality - Downloads - Compatibility

Cons: - Not a cell phone - Not the most recent release

The Bottom Line: 
Great for beginner to intermediates. Optimal functionality for minimal price. Durable. You won't be disappointed.

Author's Review
I upgraded to Dell X30 from a Sony PDA. This has been a well worthy upgrade! I sold my Sony for $100 online, and bought the Dell for about $225. This was a MAJOR upgrade.

The dell offered everything the Sony couldn't. The built-in blue tooth and Wifi is wonderful! The standard features are calendar, notes, and task list...you'll find this in ANY PDA, no matter how cheap. The other features are email, internet, MP3 player/picture viewer/video player, included games, SD card slot, syncable (right out of the box) with Microsoft Outlook), customizable background, extremely clear and responsive touch-screen, AC/DC power adapters, USB sync, and so much more! I use my Dell EVERY day without fail. My life resides on this handheld computer and my PC, and neither have let me down...both are Dells. I absolutely abuse both devices and they keep fighting through and coming back to life to serve me well. I am consistently impressed...EVERY DAY!

You don't get much better than Dell for quality for price. This device has just about everything you want for the price, plus it is expandable for more features if you need more in the future. If more features come out in future releases, you can get them added on through the SD card slot, and probably more in the future.

The size of this device is almost exactly the same as my Sony, which was perfect for my pocket. I could carry this around without inconvenience. I commonly carry a Samsung C417 cell phone (comparable to Motorola Razr), bulky keys, wallet, and this PDA everywhere. If you HATE bulk, find a PDA that doubles as a cell phone. If you can't afford to risk having ALL your data on ONE device, this is an optimal solution to separate cellphone and PDA. I recommend separating them, especially if you are accident prone or don't purchase insurance or extended service plan. As I said earlier, I put my electronics through LOTS of abuse. It's a good idea to separate your necessitates so you don't lose everything all at once. Through all my abuse, this device has revived itself MANY times. I use this for common scheduling, to-do lists, MP3 player in the gym and while running outside, picture viewer, video viewer while on long trips and so much more. I've spilled soda on it, dropped it, dropped weights on it, and even submerged it. Every time, it's revived itself, sometimes it took longer than others. This is a quality product that, with a little work, will outlive any electronic you own (unless you own all dell's because they always find a way to recover from disaster). If you don't want to separate your PDA from your cellphone, I recommend the Ipaq. It's only advantage over Dell is that it offers cell phone functionality. Other than that, it's either the same or not as good.

I plan to use my Dell for as long as it survives my abuse. This should be at least 5 years. Once my abuse destroys this PDA, I plan to purchase another Dell PDA, whatever the latest, most recommended model is with the most new (and old) features. Most likely, I'll purchase a service plan this time, since I'm VERY abusive to my electronics.

For optimal performance, I recommend the following additions:

accessories:
-PDA keyboard
-Long lasting battery
-Leather/Aluminum Rhino case

Downloads
-small menu
-power gauge
-lots of other fun stuff you can find at tucows.com and other websites that offer free PDA software.

Not recommended:
Add-ons
- SD GPS card - beware
- This requires a great deal of additional downloads that I don't recommend putting up with. It's much easier to buy a PDA with GPS included or an auto-GPS system.