Dell Axim X5

Dell Axim X5

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It has taken Dell a surprisingly long time to enter the PDA market, but at last it has taken the plunge. It's done a lot to differentiate itself from the established players - the Axim X5 uses Pocket PC 2002 and comes with lots of good features, yet has a price tag more akin to its Palm-based rivals.

Unlike the rest of Dell's PC range, the Axim isn't black - quite a shame, as it's likely it would have looked better than the silver exterior that has been chosen, and certainly would have separated it from the rest of the market.

It's quite an odd shape too, curving in towards the bottom, but this is presumably to keep its size (and therefore weight) down.

Speaking of weight, it's pretty light at 185g, and chunky enough to be comfortable in the hand without being too cumbersome. One major plus is the removable battery to the rear.

The USB cradle has a shiny silver finish, which wasn't particularly to our taste. The Dell logo at the front lights up a fluorescent blue when the PDA is plugged into the mains - we're not sure whether this is particularly to our taste either, but it is a good indication of whether it is actually plugged in.

The thing we liked most about the cradle is the slot for a second removable battery such as dell Inspiron 8100 battery, dell Inspiron 4000 battery, dell Inspiron 4100 battery, dell Inspiron 2500 battery, dell Latitude CPX battery, dell Latitude C600 battery, dell Latitude C610 battery, dell Latitude C640 battery, dell 1691P battery, Dell 1K500 battery. A spare isn't supplied, but a 1,440mAh one will be availalble for around £45.

One of the most impressive features of the Axim X5 is the inclusion of both Type II Compact Flash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) slots. This is normally found only in £500 PDAs, and can ultimately give up to 1.5GB of extra storage space at one time.

However, we weren't particularly keen on the position of the SD slot, on the top left-hand side - it's exactly where your thumb normally rests.

It's unlikely any installed card would pop out just by you resting your thumb on it, but we would have preferred to have seen the jogdial in its usual place, rather than a couple of inches further down the same side.

On the front are the four standard shortcut buttons for email, calendar, contacts and home, along with the five-way navigation button.

The Axim X5 uses an Intel Xscale processor. The model we tested had a 400MHz version, coupled with 64MB of SD-Ram. A 300MHz, 32MB version will also be available, and for significantly less (approx £180), though it won't come with the cradle.

The Axim X5 is pretty fast; in fact, only the more expensive Palm Tungsten T is significantly faster. Just over 21MB of the 48MB Flash Rom is free for use, so investing in a separate SD or CF card may therefore be wise.

The device uses Pocket PC 2002 Premium. The 'Premium' in its name means that it includes Pocket PC versions of Office programs, such as Word and Excel; the 'Professional' version lacks these vital features.

The 3.5in screen is transflective, meaning it works as well in poorly lit conditions as it does in sunlight. We thought the screen was fairly good, but it isn't as clear as those we have seen from Sony and Palm in recent months, particularly when it comes to text.

Video playback through Windows Media Player flowed well and therefore looked good, though that's more down to the speed of the processor than the screen itself.

Battery life is only okay, at 12 hours. We found it took an extraordinarily long time to recharge in the cradle - a full working day once the battery had been almost fully run down.

Using a second battery, and keeping the device in its dock as often as possible, is definitely recommended.

The Axim X5 does have flaws, but considering it's nearly half the price of similarly equipped Pocket PC rivals, it's excellent value. It does lack a wireless option or Bluetooth, which lets it down, but you really can't complain at less than £280.

Specs

•Pocket PC 2002 Premium

•400MHz Intel Xscale processor

•64MB of Ram

•48MB Flash Rom

•3.5in colour TFT screen

•SD slot

•Compact Flash Type II slot

•USB cradle

•Removable Li-Ion battery

•130 x 80 x 17 mm (h x w x d)

•185g