Dell's Axim range was a serious new entrant to the PDA arena and this fits with Dells approach to electronics mass market domination, they have recently announced plans for a Dell MP3 player and have started with Flat Screen TV's, but the latest Dell Axim X30 is a real eye opener.

Not happy with being equal with the best the Dell Axim X30 packs some awesome processing power, the headline in all of their trade press is the new Intel XScale PXA2702 "Bulverde" processor which in the tope end X30 is a whopping 312Mhz including the processor enhancing WMMX and the X30 is soon to get a 624Mhz version of the same processor.

This device is mid sized which means it is still pocketable if not the smallest available, but it will fit neatly into a shirt or jacket pocket without you feeling that someone has slipped a small lead weight onto your chest, in fact at 140 grams the X30 is a good power to weight ratio! The screen is a disappointing 3.5" 240 x 320 resolution TFT which is low for today's standards but its does have the benefit of providing real support for both portrait and landscape modes without needing external software.

This top end Axim X30 comes with a raft of connectivity options including Bluetooth 1.1, Wifi 802.11b and IrDA, these are configured easily through the Microsoft windows pocket PC 2003 operating systems and with the assistance of Dells own configuration, Bearing in mind that both WiFi and Bluetooth eat batteries like a starved gannet at a wedding reception the flashing LED's that let you know either wireless option is switched on are a good idea, as is turning off wifi when not needed.

Finding your way around the Axim X30 is aided by the navigation buttons on the shell, there are 7 in total most of which can have their functions changed in software, there is also the D shape navigator and a jog wheel which allow for one handed operation of many applications. Storage on PDA's is everything and the Axim X30 comes with 64mb as standard and can be extended by the use of the SD / MMC Slot you can also use the SD slot with any SIDO compatible application cards of course this means you can't have extra memory at the same time, well at least until the San Disk WiFi / storage combo card gets to the UK. There is a 31mb file store as well this is another area of memory on the device accessible to the user but you cannot run programmes from here.

The Dell Axim X30 comes with the usual bundle of software including MS Pocket word and excel and the cut down version of outlook to manage email, of course active sync makes an appearance and can be used with the supplied USB cradle and lead or via Bluetooth or WiFi.

Dell seem to have made a good crack at a high spec package in a small case, the memory totals 96mb on board which is one of the most generous offerings on the market plus the WiFi capability worked well much better than others tested recently, this is in part due to the use of an external antenna rather than hiding it away inside.

At £230 it competes well with the top selling Ipaq and offers something a little different for those who don't want to flow the crowd, the 312Mhz version tested is fast but we can't wait for the 624Mhz version which will make the Dell Axim X30 the fastest PDA on the market today.

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