This Dell Axim X50 is near the top of the Axim family it's built around a 526Mhz XScale PXA270 processor which uses both speed step and wireless MMX technology to eek the maximum out of the 1100mAh rechargeable battery although there is a 2200mAh option for those of us who live by the PDA.

For some reason which has so far escaped us the X50 range has 3 models 2 of which have the same model number, there is an entry level X50 with a 416Mhz processor, the X50 on test here with the 526Mhz and the X50V with the 624Mhz chip, so be careful as the first 2 have few identifying marks!

As the mid range model you'll be surprised to learn that the X50 has both Bluetooth and Wireless connectivity built in which can both be used at the same time, there is also a good dose of memory with 128mb of flash ROM and 64mb of SDRam and about 140mb of these are user accessible. Plus the X50 has support for both compact flash and SD/MMC cards further enhancing the Axims ability to carry out both business related tasks like storing large spreadsheets and documents or running the odd game for the commute to work. All this is squeezed into a 73 mm by 119mm by 17mm shell which will dent your pocket by 167grams which is more than most smartphone but less than many of the older generation of PDA's.

Of course gaming brings out the best in the QVGA screen which has 65k colours and a 240-by-320 on the 3.5" panel, unlike some PDA's it had a good backlight and gave a good performance even in direct sunlight (which took us ages to find in November!). Gaming did show some rough edges to the X50 but this can be overcome with the top end X50V which is due for release soon with an upgraded VGA screen and graphics accelerator and a bundle of games but then for that kind of money (£350) an X box would make more sense.

The mid range X50 on test here is a best of both worlds device it can handle games and even video replay on windows media player 10 (we managed a ripped DVD on Divx) although the inbuilt speaker isn't exactly super cinema sound! The inclusion of WM10 is a good move for Dell as anyone who has downloaded the full PC version will have noticed that windows media has finally become a useable software application with extra info from Musicmatch and an option to switch the DRM off!

Plus at the same time it runs the windows mobile office suite with favourites like outlook, word and excel, the choice of windows mobile 2003 second edition also gives landscape mode which finally makes excel useable eliminating scrolling left and right just to find the figure you are looking for.

We had a good play with the wifi options as these are our main reasons for buying a PDA, there is a sync cradle in the box but we tried both bluetooth and wifi 802.11b for connecting to our host PC and had no issues with exchanging data and surfing the web. Configuration of the X50 with bluetooth and wifi is fairly simple we even managed to hook up TomTom navigator though our Bluetooth GPS receiver.

The wifi does however dent the Dell Axim X50's battery life and with wifi enabled and watching a movie we managed to kill the battery in under 4 hours, on a wifi off test we almost got to 5 hours which isn't bad but is still short of the latest Ipaq's capacity.

The X50 is a big change in style for dell, the edges are more rounded and the colour screen a little more exciting than the all over grey of the X3 and X5, this is possibly the first Axim that you can't call utilitarian and while it does perform its functions with efficiency it doesn't look like a geeks doorstop.

Priced at a shade over £300 the Dell Axim X50 is a very competent PDA, it doesn't quite offer the power of those units based around the class leading 624Mhz chip but instead offers a balance of power and usability that makes it attractive to both business and gadget users alike.

Its a tad bigger than the X5 and even a bit heavier but the styling is much improved, so you'll be happy to be seen with it in public, plus every time you see a Ipaq user you'll know that they paid more for less power and functionality.

More PDA reviews

[ Up ] [ Sony Clie TH55 ] [ iMate Pocket PC and Phone ] [ HP 2210 Ipaq ] [ PalmOne Zire 72 PDA ] [ Palm Zire 31 ] [ Tungsten T5 Review ] [ Acer N30 PDA ] [ Tungsten E2 Review ] [ Dell Axim X50 ] [ Fossil Abacus Review ] [ PalmOne TX Review ] [ Nokia N800 Review ] [ Dell Axim X30 ] [ Sony Clie TJ35 ] [ Dell Axim X3i PDA ] [ Lifedrive Review ] [ HP 4150 PDA ] [ Palm Tungsten E ]