Dell Axim X5 400 MHz Pocket PC

To start out, the Dell Axim X 5 is fantastic! 90% of the negative reviews for it have to be from people who shouldn’t have gotten a pocket pc in the first place. I ordered my X5 on a Thursday, and received it the following Tuesday with regular ground shipping. After charging it for the required four hours before turning it on, I had it up and running and synced with my desktop without any problems. I’ve been using it for a week now and am loving it.
The display is bright and easy to read, the battery life is everything it’s supposed to be and I’ve been perfectly happy with the included software. I’m actually writing this review on my X5 using pocket word!
The touchscreen feels sturdy, yet requires only a gentle tap to make an entry. I find the screen easy to look at, and usually keep the brightness level set at 50%. In direct sunlight the colors on the screen do appear washed out though.
I can’t say whether or not Dell customer service is any good or not, but then I don’t know that I’ve ever had a good experience with any companies customer service. I was impressed with how quickly I received my ppc, and how quick and easy it was to start working with it.
I’ve run several high-end multimedia programs on it without any hitches, and highly recommend downloading the free divxmvp program for running videos.
In CNET’s review, they complained about the protector case which comes with it being too large to fit in your pocket. The thing is, it’s not made to be put in your pocket while in the case, it’s a hip case with a sturdy, removable belt clip that holds my Axim securely and protects it from even moderate bumps, as I’m an engineer who has to do a lot of climbing in and around a lot of equipment.
The X5’s shape makes it a pleasure to hold, being slightly tapered at the bottom makes it feel more natural in my hand than a unit which is completely squared off. The rubber grips along the sides of the unit makes it feel very secure while holding it.
On the downside though, I can say that the X5’s navigator button is mushy as others have reported, making it nearly useless for gaming. The sound quality from the single speaker on the face of the unit is only adequate, but what can you expect from a mono speaker? The unit does include a standard 1/4 inch stereo headphone jack which provides excellent sound even with a pair of cheap headphones.
The record button on the left side of the Axim is very tiny, and has to be pushed in with the corner of my thumbnail, which is very hard to do, especially while moving or driving. I suppose on the plus side it does make it virtually impossible to accidentally press the record button.
I’ve found it a little difficult to slip the unit into the syncing/charging cradle, the receptacle on the bottom of the unit doesn’t quite line up as well as it should with it’s male counterpart in the cradle, making me nervous that I could accidentally damage it.
The included documentation, while adequate does seem sparse, mostly consisting of warnings about what not to do with the unit. More tips about what could be done with it would have been nice.
Overall though, the X5 is a great value for the price, which was $269 including shipping and handling direct from Dell. I wouldn’t get rid of it for anything and can’t wait to start getting some of the great accessories available for it. I highly recommend this pocket-pc to anyone in search of powerful windows computing in a compact package.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Compaq iPAQ 3650 Color Pocket PC

I got an iPAQ about 3 weeks ago. So far I’m very impressed with it, and starting to replace the 2″ thick “Brain book” I was carrying with me. The unit’s capabilites are very impressive — I use it for

- Schedule planner (synch with home and work)

- Read email, including Word and Excel attachments

- Address/ contacts data

- Notes (including free hand simple drawings)

- Business applications (mainly spreadsheet)

- MP3 player

- Personal pictures (JPGs) although this is a small screen

- Ebook reader using Project Gutenberg text files.

I have not owned a PDA before, and was not impressed by friends’ Palms since they appeared to be just electronic address and calendars. This is *quite* a bit more…

Good Points -

- Excellent screen — very bright and colorful (although other people have reported dust under the screen, I have not found any)

- Word and Excel. In my professional life I live on these. I have several self written Excel spreadsheet on the iPAQ which aid me greatly in daily working enviroments. And it’s really impressive to see a client’s reaction when I pull out the iPAQ and do a company valuation or financial model spreadsheet on my PDA. These are “Pocket” versions of Word and Excel, so they don’t have the full features of the desktop versions, but for something I can put in my shirt pocket and take with me, they are quite functional.

- Ezpandability. I picked up the Compact Flash sleeve and now have a machine with essentially 100 MB RAM, using a 64 MB CF card. Using a spare card I can swap out 64 MB of data at a time — mp3s for music or data for work. This has replaced me carrying a 100 MB zip disk around.

- Power. I’ve run test MPEG video clips on this in full color and sound. 200 MHz is more than my last generation desktop’s processor power.

- Excellent handwriting recognition without needing to learn a new language. Still not as easy as just writing and took me a day to get used to, but for taking meeting notes etc it is very good.

- Versatility. Excel, word, email, mp3, games, ebooks, voice recorder, jpg viewer — I’m very impressed to get this in one device. Some of the wireless connectivity options through the expansion sleeves (CF or PCMIA wireless modem and through the installed Internet Explorer) look very impressive, although I have not tried them yet.

Could be Improved — Most of these are quibbles or personal preference…

- Connectivity. I use the provided USB cradle at home and aserial cable at work. I had to buy the serial cable for the workmachine (no USB port) and I think Compaq should have provided it.Autosynch works pretty well, but I have had some duplicate meetingsshow up on my schedule. Part of that I think, it that I am learningto use it, and switching between Outlook at home and MS Exchange atwork. Other people have reported connectivity problems that I havenot encountered.

- Battery. The unit has an internal wired inbattery which is rechargable from either the cradle or an externalpower adapter. I would have preferred a replaceable (and rechargable)battery just in case. I get from 4-6 hours of standard usage out ofthe battery now.

- Software availability. There are severalhundreds of programs availabe and more being added each week — but Iwould like to see more available including standard business products.In particular, I am *VERY* surprized there isn’t a pocket version ofPowerpoint — although I understand one is near release.

-Earphone volume is loud with earbuds, so I run it at near minimumvolume.

- Case or cover for the iPAQ. Compaq provides a smallsimple case, and aftermarket vendors have others available. I’m usinga surplus HP65 calculator case which works very well. I would havepreferred a snazzy case from Compaq to show off the machine — butthat is my personal preference.

All in all, I am *very* impressedwith this machine. There are things that could be better, but overallit is very good. People who have seen this being used by myself droolover it…

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device with Lifetime Service Included (Grey)

My Peek and the fine folks at Peek-they call themselves Peeksters-have introduced a whole new side of the Internet to me which is revealing and disturbing all at the same time. I, as well as everyone else on the planet, have long suspected what highway robbers the major wireless carriers are and this was only truly understood by me when I first started to work with my Peek.

A text message is just an e-mail that is limited to 140 characters. You can send a text to your daughter or your husband or anyone by simply typing in their 10 digit telephone number in the to: box of your gmail or yahoo or hotmail account and pressing send. Chances are that you are now sitting at your computer: try it right now to your own cell phone. If your carrier is in compliance (and most but not all are) you will at this moment be freed from the hokey, shadowy, slimy world that are the wireless companies.

This is the premise that the folks at Peek have based their business model upon. They are the counter culture mobile e-mail and text message based company. But there is a price that you as a consumer must pay. If you own an iPhone or a Blackberry then you must play the Internet game under their rules and pay them money to do so at a hefty price.

With Peek the price to play the Internet is minimal but the learning curve to use text based e-mail can be a bit steep. Need to know movie showtimes, or traffic issues, or directions, or the weather picture off the satellite, or sports scores, or breaking news? You can do all of that in e-mail. You can even, in a very limited but useful way, surf the internet with e-mail, but you need to learn the language. You need to know what words to send to what addresses and once you accomplish that the Peek can do the absolute critical things that you really need in a mobile device.

The folks at Peek pride themselves in the fact that their gadget is bone simple, and it is. Your grandma can use a Peek in about two minutes. But you, the clever, savvy consumer, can take that simple gadget and turn it into a highly sophisticated information and communication device. All you need to do is learn the language of e-mail.

Buy this lifetime deal. It will start to pay you back in less than a year. You will be freed. You will never go back.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

PalmOne Vx Handheld

To be honest, for an average-income employee, this sucker causes an arm and a leg, and it is a bit hard to justify the purchase … at first. I did a lot of research, and I wanted to buy a useful and powerful PDA that I would be able to use constantly and consistently. I am aware of products like Palm IIIx, Palm V, Handspring Visor, or even Casio Cassiopeia. Based on the speed, memory, design, size, weight, software expandability, reputation, and usability, I have decided Palm Vx is the choice for me. If I had to choose between IIIx or V, I would have picked IIIx, simply because 2MB of RAM is just too little. Vx encapsulates the fortes of V and IIIx, and then some (e.g. Faster processor – 20 vs 16, more memory – 8MB vs 4MB vs 2MB.) Window CE PDAs are handheld computers, not pocket-size organizers which you can easily fit it in your shirts’, jackets’ or trousers’ pockets. It tries to do too much. If I want to play with Windows, I have my home PC, work PC, and my laptop available. Of course, if you like to use Excel and Words on a device so small that looking at a file which has more than 5 columns will give you a excruciating headache, though in color, sure, get the Casio Cassiopeia.

I just attended a business Christmas party, and I carried my brand-new Palm Vx with me so I could enter all these new acquaintances’ contact information and filed them probably in seconds instead of writing it onto a napkin. I looked trendy and professional. Can’t beat that! The sleek style would have been a bit more difficult to accomplish with larger size PDAs. (You don’t know the difference 2 ounces can make to the overall design of your evening-wear until you tried it.)

Palm Vx has everything I need. I really enjoy downloading my contacts, meeting notes, emails, and WebPages (AventGo is a very nice feature) onto my Vx and read it on my car ride home without killing a forest. Additionally, I can easily backup all the information on different computers that I have access to (you can’t trust anything these days.) The lithium ion rechargeable battery is truly a blessing too.

My bank account is running low after the purchase, but my personal well-being is certainly going up.

If you decide to get it, the traveler kit is a must. You can use it at work or when you are away without carrying the cradle around with you. Size does matter!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device (Grey)

I’ve owned my Peek for eleven days so far, and I like it so much that yesterday I picked up another one at Target for $15 to give to my girlfriend.

So far, my user experience has been excellent. I purchased an upgrade cable directly from Peek and upgraded both of my cheaper, “Classic” devices to the speedier “Pronto” firmware right away. The interface is generally snappy, the email delivery is quick in both directions, and the long battery life has surprised me on multiple occasions. (Two whole days of medium-heavy usage without a charge!)

In my opinion, while the low monthly cost is a very attractive aspect to the Peek, its greatest asset is the fact that it focuses on doing mobile email right. Email is the oldest and most mature Internet technology in wide use today, but people often overlook what it’s capable of.

1) Obviously, emailing back and forth with individuals is very valuable for staying in touch – especially when you have your inbox in your pocket.
2) Peek’s automatic Email<->SMS bridging can be incredibly useful for getting in touch with people who are stuck with SMS.
3) In my case, my phone service (an unbrand VoIP provider) automatically emails me all of my voicemails, so with my Peek I receive instant voicemail notification in my pocket. (Now all we need is a software upgrade to listen to the WAV attachment!)
4) I use Google Calendar, which provides event notification via email. Now, with my Peek, I can be reminded of my upcoming calendar events no matter where I am.
5) With email and a little bit of set-up, you can post to Twitter, your blog, and just about anywhere else. And with a Peek, sending that email has never been so convenient.
6) The Peek maintains a basic contacts list in its database, meaning you can easily store critical contact information (email and phone) for any or all of your contacts.
7) Note taking is quite convenient too, as you can email yourself a note or just save it as a draft.
Peek Pronto now comes with a number of AskPeek.com email services which allow you to request a map, perform a local search, see the weather forecast or traffic alerts for your area, and even request news headlines – all directly from your email only Peek!
9) … And more. (System notifications, information system integration, whatever. Email makes it easy.)

So before you overlook this simple device because it’s only capable of Email, remember just how powerful Email is.

Other miscellaneous points:

1) Peek’s customer service has been astounding so far. They have been prompt, helpful, and courteous. I have bugged them a LOT to help me set up connectivity with my personal domains and my work’s Exchange server, and they have been able to help every time.

2) Peek is incredibly progressive from an openness perspective. The device itself comes with a serial debugging/reflashing port, and Peek offers the special cable for $15 on their site. Much of the inner workings of the device are clearly visible and Peek actively encourages people to play around with them! In fact, they just posted a blog entry two days ago asking if anybody could help port Linux to the Peek hardware platform: http://www.geekypeek.com/?p=344

That spirit of progressiveness can also be seen in the number of firmware upgrades and feature enhancements they’ve released in such a short time, it can be seen in their approach to sharing uptime and infrastructure struggles with the public at large, and it can clearly be seen in their excellent customer support.

3) Over the past 11 days, my email connectivity with Peek has been very good. It’s been reliable and prompt. Today, however, it’s been slow and a little glitchy. Everything has made it through eventually, but I’ve observed some pretty crazy waits. (2+ hours at times.) Customer service admits that they’ve been having server slowdowns due to maintenance last night which apparently did not go exactly as planned. Presumably these service brownouts will not be the norm.

In all, I give the Peek five stars, primarily due to the quality of the hardware, the usefulness of the service, and the customer-oriented attitude of the company. There are (of course) minor glitches, but my enjoyment of the Peek has not been impacted by them so far.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

PalmOne m515 Color Handheld

Just like all of my other reviews, I am as honest as possible. I owned a Palm V (the 2 meg version, not Vx) for almost 4 years now, and decided it was about time to upgrade. I had originally purchased the palm V for its ruggedness and small size. I, like many of you need a small PDA else it will not be used. The Palm V is still in perfect condition, but I’ve always wanted a color PDA since I first saw the Palm IIIc (which was big and bulky and had an awkward looking screen).

After much research, I spent the extra bucks on an m515 because of the horrid reviews of the m505. This palm is truly amazing. It has three levels of brightness, off, low and high. To start, I’m a college student and have found that no backlighting (the off setting) due to the reflective screen that palm used works rather well under the flourescent lighting. Incandescent lights? — backlighting on low works best. High is too bright, although works great as a flashlight.

Like the Palm V, the m515 is rugged, sleek and perhaps even better built. It comes with PalmOS 4.1 including notepad and memopad – so now you can scribble quick notes on the screen for “translation” later . Some large perks were the vibration alerts and blinking light alert for reminders HOWEVER the vibration is dull at best. Granted, I can feel it in my pocket, but it doesn’t compare to some cell phone vibrators out there.

I instantly outfitted my m515 with a hardcase from iconcepts (because it was smaller/sleeker than the palm brand case — and VERY sturdy, and WriteRights. Get those two items, and your palm will last years like my old V did .

The screen is gorgeous, and I don’t care about hires 320×320 vs 160×160 (which this palm has) because all I wanted was a splash of color in my life, and here it is! Silverscreen (a launcher) works/looks great, and I have no complaints whatsoever. Anyone thinking of upgrading from a V, its truly worth it. Finally, as a side note, it is a tiny bit heavier than the V, but within the first week I have become acustomed to it. Hopefully this review will help your decision, happy Palming!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Dell Axim X50 Handheld Pocket PC 416MHz

After having my Palm go completely un-synchable, I was determined to find an easy to use, up to date PDA. Though my needs are generally for addresses and appointments, the Axim was so easy to set up and use that I will explore its other uses. The software offers continuous synching while it is attached to my computer, and simple drag-and-drop for moving files from the computer. In short, the Axim suits my needs perfectly and promises easy exploration of other, more entertaining functions.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Palm Z22 Handheld

Please note that I have given the Z22 five stars taking into account the relative value of the price and features. Obviously this is a low-end device, so it is rated accordingly.

I bought one of these for my mother, who is still using a heavily erased and crossed-out address book and paper calendar. She has been reticent to move to electronic organizers, and I eventually decided to get this one for her partly because of the following features:
1) it has NVFS, which means that when my mother invariably forgets to charge it she will not lose all of her information.
2) it is small, light, easy to use and has a color screen.
3) it is a palm, which i’ve used for years and can easily show her some helpful usage tips.

One feature that I didn’t know the Z22 had, and have found to be the real ‘hook’ as far as my mother is concerned is the ability to add images to contacts. Now my mother has pictures of each of her children and grandchildren, which are linked to their contact info. For her, that was the clincher. I think she will finally now give up her address book.

The Z22 has a great form factor, and it resembles the ipod in appearance and size – but the Palm is lighter. The screen isn’t hi res, so don’t expect hi definition with your photos – but it gets the job done. And the processor is certainly speedy enough.

One other nice touch is that a screen protector is included in the package – which I put on first thing. The software is pretty basic, and it includes a silly game called Crazy Daisy which will not likely get any usage.

There is one thing that I found frustrating, but it has to do with the packaging. They must be using a heavier gauge plastic for these packages, because it took me ten minutes to carefully cut through and open it without damaging the contents. Be sure you have a heavy duty exacto knife handy or a very large pair of shears.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Palm TX Handheld

This is, quite simply, the best gadget I have ever owned, and a miracle of technology. Who needs a laptop, an ipod, and a PSP when you can do it all with one device??
NOW WAIT – Before you think I’m just advertising for Palm or something, let me tell you this: After I bought the thing, I got so frustrated I almost returned it. Strange things would happen: programs would be corrupted, icons would disappear, and it would constantly go into an infinite reset loop, which is a common complaint around here. After checking with Palm, and searching around, the consensus seemed to be that it was a software conflict (Unlike most older Palms, the TX uses non-volatile memory, so info is not lost if the unit loses all power. But the creates conflicts with some older software). But I didn’t think it could be a software conflict, because the problems happened even when I wasn’t using any software.

Finally, I found a website that saved my sanity. It has a list of software which conflicts with the TX (something Palm should have put out). Previously, I put the link in my review, but Amazon erased it. I guess I’m not allowed to put hyperlinks here. Anyway, do a web search, it is worth it. In my case, it turned out the problem was my AOL palm software. Incredibly, AOL worked fine but was causing conflicts with everything else, even when I wasn’t using it! I deleted the AOL and everything has been just fine ever since!

Some comparisons:
I am currently in Iraq and wanted a portable device to keep me entertained. I almost bought a PSP, but I’m glad I didn’t. Yes, the TX costs $100 more, but it is still cheaper in the long run because many great games for the Palm are free, and even the ones you pay for don’t cost as much as PSP games. Some of my friends who got PSPs are jealous of my TX, since it is far more versatile, smaller, batteries last just as long, I can wirelessly surf the web, and it also has a bright beautiful screen. But unlike a gaming unit, I can also do office work on it.
I also considered the Lifedrive, but it is more bulky than the TX. Plus, with 4gb and higher SD cards now becoming available, the extra memory on the Lifedrive is not quite so much of an advantage anymore. The only real thing the Lifedrive has over the TX is the voice recorder, something I had no use for myself.

Some essential software that’s free:
TCPMP (The core pocket media player) will play movies much better than the Media player included with the bundled software. To use it, you will need software to convert your DVDs. If you google, you will find dozens out there, but VEMode is the best of the free ones. If you pay a little, you will find ones that are better at copying encrypted DVDs, and some other tasks.

Blackborder by Canuck – This simply puts a 2 pixel black border around the screen (as opposed to the default white border). Suprisingly, this small change greatly improves the look of the screen and makes the colors stand out better.

FileZ – A file management program, that works like windows explorer. It is much better at managing files than the file manager built into the Palm. Its absolutely necessary for seeing everything on your memory card.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

HP iPAQ 211 Enterprise Handheld (210 Series)

I’ve been using Windows Mobile and Windows CE products for almost 10 years. I’ve owned the 4700, 2595 and now the 211. My wife has the 110. I use these devices extensively and have an entire workflow planned around it. It goes everywhere with me. My requirements are such that a converged device doesn’t provide much use to me: processor usually too weak, memory too little, and definitely the screen too small.

I bought the 211 about a month ago. Here are my impressions:

- My first reaction was “BIG!”. It is bigger than all my other devices. It’s thick, more so than the 4700. The weight is ok, though. I don’t think about the size any more. I’ve gotten used to it.
- The screen does require more pressure to operate, but again, I’m used to it now and it’s forgotten. I haven’t noticed different pressure reactions on different screen locations.
- The screen is perfect. To address previous comments about being able to see more stuff: I scan all my documents and commit to PDF. Everything. Then I sync to the 211’s SD card. I have a lightweight PDF reader, and I can read PDFs easily without scrolling horizontally. I can’t come close to doing that with my wife’s 110, or my 2495. Yes, you can fit much more on the screen, and it’s much much sharper than any other device. Yes, the unit takes advantage of the higher resolution: it’s not just bigger pictures on a bigger screen, honestly. Having said that, it’s up to the application to do that. Most do.
- I have *not* noticed any negative performance difference between this and my previous devices. It’s as fast as my 2495 and my wife’s 110.
- I have approximately 30 applications(!) on it. None have had compatibility issues. And because of the impressive amount of memory, I still have approxiamtely 55% of storage memory left.
- Yes, there’s a proprietary cable for sync and power. However, there’s also a mini-USB port, so the proprietary cables aren’t necessary at all. I don’t travel with them. I only use a retractable mini-USB for charging and synchronization. It’s really not an issue.
- Battery life is better than the 4700 and the 2495.
- I love the buttons. I honestly don’t understand the criticisms I have read about them. I’m happy.
- Bluetooth and WiFi have worked without any issues. My only complaint here is for WM6: it can’t connect to my work WiFi network because WM6 doesn’t support WPA enterprise.

Sorry for the rambling review. Just wanted to give my opinion on issues raised here. It’s the perfect device for my requirements: no converged phone/PDA, and I don’t need a camera. BTW, my employer gave me a 8525. I don’t use it at all. It simply can’t do what the 211 does.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com