Dell Axim X3 Pocket PC PDA

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When Dell rolled out their Axim X5 Pocket PC model last year it made big waves in the Pocket PC community because it offered a lot of bang for the buck. The price you paid was having to lug around a relatively large and bulky Pocket PC. Now Dell has an answer for those who wish to have a more svelte Pocket PC with a great feature set: the Axim X3 line. However, unlike the X5, the X3 doesn't have a CF slot.

The X3 comes in three models: the Basic, Advanced and X3i which is the same as the Advanced model but adds WiFi 802.11b wireless networking. All feature replaceable batteries like dell Studio 1537 battery, dell Studio 1557 battery, dell KM958 battery, dell WU960 battery, dell TC030 battery, dell H9566 battery, dell Inspiron 1200 battery, dell UD260 battery, dell Vostro 1000 battery, dell Inspiron 1501 battery, an SD slot, fast processors and transflective displays. We received the X3i for review, and all comments are based on that model.

Though it lacks the pronounced curves and styling of some iPAQs and resides in the rectangular Pocket PC camp, the X3 is a handsome device that fits comfortably in the hand thanks to its rounded edges. The casing is made of plastic, and both the front and back faces have a silver finish, while the sides are black plastic. It won't weigh you down terribly at 6 ounces and is reasonably pocketable.

The X3 has the usual four application buttons surrounding the center directional pad. The 5-way directional pad is a small oval, which doesn't make it the best for gaming. Rather than placing the voice recorder button on the upper side of the unit, Dell has placed it on the lower front face where it's less prone to accidental activation when you pull the unit out of a case or pocket.

All X3 models have an Intel XScale PXA263 processor. The Advanced and X3i models run at 400 MHz, while the Basic runs at 300 MHz. The PXA263 processor is one of the newest XScale PDA processors, and our X3i proved speedy in all operations, including playing intensive games and watching videos. The X3 Basic should be reasonably fast as well thanks to the XScale processor and clock speed. The 400 MHz models have a control panel applet (under Power) that allows you to set the clock speed of the PDA. Settings are Maximum Performance, Normal, PowerSave and Auto. Auto ran at very close to Maximum Performance when running benchmarks— which means the processor really does step up for demanding applications. When set to Auto, the applet tells you the current clock speed: if the unit isn't doing anything it says "200 MHz" and when playing MP3s in the background using Pocket MVP it says "400 MHz".

All Dell Axims to date use Intel StrataFlash memory, which is the same kind of memory that has traditionally been used in older Pocket PCs and in current high end Pocket PCs. It costs a bit more than NAND flash memory and runs faster. Since NAND is slower, the OS has to be copied into RAM to ensure that the handheld runs quickly. This uses up RAM on the device, which means less is available for your use. With traditional flash ROM such as StrataFlash this isn't necessary because it's fast enough. The flash ROM area is where the OS is installed, and any unused space is available as non-volatile (it won't be erased even after a hard reset) storage. An example of another Pocket PC that doesn't use NAND is the iPAQ 5555.

The X3 Basic has 32 megs of RAM and 32 megs of ROM. The Advanced and X3i models have 64 megs of RAM and 64 megs of ROM, 32 of which are available as "Built-in Storage". All models have an SD slot supporting SDIO cards such as Socket Communications SD WiFi card and SanDisk's SD WiFi card.

The X3 comes with a user replaceable 950 mAh Lithium Ion battery. That's not terribly large, especially for the 400MHz and WiFi equipped models. You can get an optional 1800 mA extended battery which, as you'd guess, doubles run times. The extended battery is fitted in place of the standard battery, and creates a hump (see photos above). On our X3i using the Auto processor setting with the WiFi turned off while playing intensive games such as Anthelion and Hexacto Tennis Addict, the standard battery lasted about 2.25 hours. Using WiFi to surf the web continuously for an hour consumed 40% of the charge. For everyday use such as occasionally accessing calendar, contacts and editing Word documents, the standard battery proved adequate with 70% charge left at the end of the day. If you plan on using WiFi, playing intensive games or watching videos, do consider the extended battery or a spare standard battery.