Dell Axim X51v

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It's never easy bearing the mantle of flagship model for any brand or product line, let alone an operating system. And, as the first PDA powered by the new Windows Mobile 5.0 lands on our review table all ready for dissection, it's almost surreal that apart from what's running inside, the Dell X51v is superficially indistinguishable from past bearers of the Axim line. As it turns out, this pioneering product is also a very good one.

Design
It's common knowledge never to change a winning formula, and you'd be forgiven for thinking Dell has that motto pasted all over its walls. In no uncertain terms, the X51v is virtually identical to its equivalent high-end predecessor, the X50v. You still get the clean, sleek silver-black fa�ade that's classy and tech-sexy. Compared with recent pocket-friendly offerings like O2's mini and Palm's Treo 650, the Dell is noticeably bulky at 119 x 73 x 16.9mm, and 175g. Build quality is superb as usual.

Again, we have to applaud Dell's gorgeous 3.7-inch LCD screen. The Treo 650's outstanding display aside, once you've seen VGA panels such as this one, it's almost impossible to go back to current QVGA variants in the market. You get a sharper-looking interface, and viewing pictures and videos is a visual treat, especially for movie clips.

The X51v boasts a clutter-free button interface. Apart from the five-way navigation button in the middle, the standard quick access buttons for calendar, contacts, mail inbox and home can be found upfront. Along the left edge, you have a screen lock switch, wireless on/off and voice recording buttons, while the right side is clean. On top, tech purists would be delighted at the dual expansion slots (CF and SDIO/MMC), as well as a 3.5mm audio jack which should be the standard type for all PDAs so users can plug in their high-quality earphones without a converter. External volume controls would have been nice, though.

Features
So here we have it, the first Pocket PC based on Windows Mobile 5.0, the new all-encompassing OS for both PDA-phones and PDA-only handhelds. For most applications, two large onscreen buttons appear at the bottom of the display for program control and menu access. Besides the hard screen lock switch, users can also keylock the display with a quick tap on the option in the software. Although you can still switch between landscape and portrait modes, you now have to access the settings menu to do so.

A significant upgrade found in the new OS lies in its revamped Office applications. Instead of Pocket Word and Excel, you now have Word Mobile and Excel Mobile, with added support for embedded images, tables and charts. Furthermore, PowerPoint Mobile, combined with VGA-out capability, allows you to use the X51v as a portable presentation device for slideshows, rather than lug a whole laptop for the same purpose. The VGA cable comes separately, though, along with the software.

True to Windows, the more powerful a mobile OS gets, the more traits it possesses from its parents. Occasionally we encountered the all-too-familiar message that Windows had encountered an error and beckoned us to send a report. Thankfully, you can turn off this function, which we fancy most people will. Nevertheless, the PDA hung on us on a couple of occasions during tests, needing a soft reset each time.

Using the side wireless button, two presses in quick succession turn on Wi-Fi and start detection for nearby wireless networks. We found ourselves connected and surfing in no time, with the gorgeous display making it more enjoyable. Bluetooth and infrared are expectedly present and function fine.

With the Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, the X51v could serve as a PMP (portable media player) for users eager to watch encoded videos on the commute. Although the PDA boasts an in-built Intel 2700G graphics accelerator with 16MB of video memory, video playback is somewhat sluggish. Music playback, as expected, is of satisfactory quality without hitting the standards of some dedicated MP3 players.

With the X51v, you get a generous 256MB of ROM, double that of the previous-generation Axims. Taking a leaf out of Palm OS' book, Windows Mobile 5.0 now offers persistent storage support so your data doesn't evaporate into thin air even if the X51v runs out of battery.

Off the shelf, Dell has packaged an abundance of bundled software, including applications like Battery Pack Lite, eWallet and Calligrapher as well as 3D games such as GeoRally and Virtual Pool Mobile.

Performance
On normal usage, which included the odd game, listening to music and short spurts of Web surfing, the Dell X51v lasted us close to a day-and-a-half before its 1,100mAh, Lithium-ion battery called it quits. The battery itself is removable, and a higher-capacity battery is separately available as well.

Powered by the same Intel PXA270 processor as the x50v, the PDA can be set to automatically adjust the clock speed depending on the requirements of currently running programs to save precious battery life.

Conclusion
Despite the new OS, the Dell X51v is pretty much a doppelganger of its predecessor, which translates into a good thing. Granted, the price you pay for this PDA could also get you other convergent PDA-phones like the O2 mini or Treo 650. Within its category, however, the X51v is another excellent offering from Dell and well worth considering.