Larry Garfield gets up close and personal with the MHz-monster that is the Dell Axim X30 Advanced 624 MHz, also sporting dual wireless and SDIO: read on to share his impressions.
Dell came late to the Windows Mobile party, but fashionably so. Its Axim line has had a respectable showing for its low price, Dell's standard modus operandi, and with its latest three-model X30 series pushes high-end specifications at reasonable prices. This review deals with the high-end version of the three: the Dell Axim X30 Advanced 624 MHz.
 | The X30's case is not the best, but it covers an impressive handheld
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Design
At first glance, the X30 is almost identical to the X3i, with silver plastic front and back faces and black sides in a somewhat box-shaped design. Measuring 116 x 14.9 x 77.2 mm with antenna and weighing 139 grams, it is comfortable in the hand aside from a slight lip on the sides that if held wrong hurts the hand. The screen is a bright, 16-bit TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels that is crisp and clear except for an over-aggressive ClearType that created bit of fuzziness. We got used to it after a while, but a ClearType tuning tool would be welcome.
Buttons on the X30 abound. The 5-way D-pad is a bit small and has limited travel, but the other four round application buttons were fine. Flanking those on the left and right are two small buttons that are only labeled with etchings on the sides of the device for the voice recorder and wireless toggle, respectively. The left side of the handheld includes a headphone jack and jog wheel, while the power button sits dead center above the screen. The top of the device includes an IR port, SDIO capable SD Card expansion slot, and the multi-colored antenna. The bottom of the handheld includes the usual serial port.
The X30 has plenty of indicator lights, but they are all well-placed. The wireless antenna includes a dull but steady blue light to indicate that the Bluetooth radio is active as well as a green light that flashes to indicate Wi-Fi activity. Both are within the antenna itself, making them dull enough to not be annoying but bright enough to be clearly visible. The power button also glows orange when on AC power and green when fully charged. Kudos to Dell for making a visually-useful but not visually-annoying device, something many companies need to learn.
The stylus is of Dell's usual flat aluminum variety, and this model also includes a large - yet attractive - cradle with an extra slot for a spare battery. Audio quality through the unit's headphone jack was fine, however the loudspeaker as expected provided signature tinny audio.
Connectivity
As mentioned the X30 sports the usual IR port, SDIO card slot, and serial port, all standard on even entry-level handhelds today. There is more, however, as this top model includes dual wireless support via Bluetooth and 802.11b Wi-Fi. A good set of Bluetooth profiles is included, and unlike its predecessors the Wi-Fi connection supports both WEP and WPA courtesy of Windows Mobile 2003 SE.
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