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 - No true mobilityI have had it for a few months after having IPAQ 2210. X50v works great , however, has shorter battery life. Another BIG reason for my disappointment is that I wanted to use it with a CF slot based GPS in my car. The problem is, all car chargers I could get for this model simply do not charge the unit when it is on. So, if you are driving with x50v on for a few hours, the car charger does not help, the PDA eventually dies on you leaving you without further directions. :( I bought a few different car chargers (one is USB based, another one with a cable that "support high current", and a regular simple car charger), none of them could handle this problem, so I gave up. It is worth to mention that IPAQ 2210 that I used previously with the same GPS parts for long time, never had this problem. Given that GPS navigation was one of the main reasons I bought this PDA, I downgrade it to tree stars. Rating:  - One of the Best AvailableI've also been using this device for a month and it meets every reasonable expectation. Compared to my old Toshiba 355, it is lightning quick, including ActiveSync connections (the Toshiba took several seconds, but this one connects near instantly), which is nice for quick syncs. I've played DVD movies on it using the format provided by a pocket DVD conversion utility and they run great. Built-in storage isn't huge (80 MB), but considering I didn't even have that option on the Toshiba, it is a great addition. What is hands-down the best addition to this PPC is the VGA screen. I use the device mainly for scanning through, reading, and storing research papers and books. Using RepliGo (as Adobe doesn't have the sense to release a VGA-compatible Reader), I can read long documents MUCH more comfortably than I ever could on my old PDA and without the mess of paper that comes with printing every one of them off. Not to mention I can pull up old materials for quick reference on-the-fly. To give you an idea of how you could use the power of this device: I store 400 MB of music on the CF card, 180 MB of documents (including novels, scientific papers, and maps) and a single compressed 256 MB DVD movie on the SD card, and a satisfying ensamble of programs on the Built-In storage (I still have about 50 MB left, which I have been shaving off with hi-definition Today themes). I use the Main Memory storage to house quick access to SlovoEd's exhaustive dictionary/thesaurus. I very rarely have trouble finding the meaning of a word (and in academia, you run into some doozies) quickly. This increases my speed for assimilating papers and books that use unfamiliar terms. I use a bluetooth keyboard, so if I need to type something up on the bus, I can initialize the keyboard, start up Pocket Word, place the cursor where I want it, lock the screen input, put the PPC safely in my pocket, and type out my thoughts with the keyboard sitting on my lap. Before, constant bumps in the road imperilled my Toshiba as it rocked back in forth atop its plug-in keyboard. The bluetooth range is considerable so you can even type documents and messages on the PDA from across the room for parlor tricks if you so desire. As the previous reviewer stated, wireless access is simple to use and works great. EDIT: Gosh how much can change in 3 years! This was great for its time but I really wouldn't recommend it anymore. Just get an iPhone! It does everything I mentioned in this review and more. You do have to pay a monthly fee but it is worth it. Rating: - OnboardHaving used a myriad of PDA's (in various flavors of PPC/Palm) I can honestly say that this is among the best of the bunch if not the best I have used. Onboard audio is good; no need for an outside program (for the most part - if so, go get betaplayer [search google] as its a free program that will play pretty much any media file). Storage is a bit on the shy side, yet with the dual capability of both SD and CF cards this really isn't a problem. Wifi works good, I get signals all the time - even in places where I probably shouldn't. Some theaters and grocery stores really need to ramp up their wireless security. The screen is bright and sharp, running one of the true-vga programs makes for a neat change (especially with some of the enhanced calendar programs). The first of two downsides to this PDA is that old programs that are not compatible with the new hardware - yet you are going to run into this with any PDA eventually. The second is the arguably slow IRDA port. It will work for browsing television but you will not want to replace your remote control with it. Bluetooth is solid but I really don't recommend it for file transfer; there is a bug (arguable as to which end it is on) that can limit the file size or transfer capability. Rating:  - Pretty darn goodI've been using the Dell for about 1 month. I think it's great. It run faster than my old Tungsten t5, and very rarely (only once that I know of) has had to be reset. I haven't lost any data. I like having the ability to change batteries, and it play movies like a dream. I do wish it had the palm style flip cover, and it is a bit of a pain using a card reader to load large files onto an sd card, but the device runs fine. Rating:  - If it's anything like the 425 MHz model ...Okay, I admit I don't own this newer, faster X50. But unless Dell has made major improvements, you shouldn't own it, either. The Axim X50 that I own, which clocks at 425 MHz, is a very bad piece of equipment. How would you enjoy transcribing notes by hand for an hour and a half into your Axim, only to lose the ENTIRE FILE when you attempt to transfer it to your PC? (An unrecoverable error - the file is just gone from the Axim forever.) Or how would you like finding out that even though Dell and MusicMatch have a much publicized partnership, MusicMatch downloads don't play on the Axim X50 because the gadget's firmware is incompatible with MusicMatch's DRM licensing? (The same is probably true of most other music download services, since MM's DRM tags aren't any more restrictive than anyone else's.) Basically, you can't use this thing for work because it will eat your files, and you can't use it for play because it's not compatible with online download services. So what CAN you use it for? Well, you can play Jawbreaker on it. That's about it. As a result, I've gone back to my HP Jornada, which is old, battered, and out of date ... but, unlike the Axim, it WORKS.
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