PDA

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have been in use for quite some time now. Technology giants such as HP and more specifically Palm Inc. dominated the market for these ‘mobile computers’ and it was only a matter of time before Dell jumped on the PDA bandwagon.

Dell Steps In

Dell (already producing world renowned laptops and notebooks) announced its entry into the pocket pc market in 2002 with the Axim X5. The standard model came with a 300MHz Intel PXA250 processor, 32MB RAM and Flash ROM, a 16 bit TFT display and microphone amongst other features. It was marketed for $249 while its high-end counterpart X5 (boasting 400MHz processor, 64MB RAM and 48MB flash ROM) went for $349. These early Dell PDA models arrived with Pocket PC 2002 but later ones had Windows Mobile 2003. The major downside to these models, however, was their bulkiness: weighing in at 6.9 ounces with dimensions of 5 x 3.2 x 0.7 inches.

The company understood the X5’s weakness and tried to reduce it through its next range of Dell PDAs: the X3 family. These were smaller, lighter, and came standard with Windows Mobile 2003. The high-end version of this family (the X3i) came with integrated Wi-Fi and all the models of the X3 family retailed for $400 or less. This family was followed by the X30 array of Dell PDAs, which were noted to be one of the fastest available PDAs at the time, in the case of the high-end X30.

This model had a processor speed of 624MHz and used Intel PXA270 processors (as compared to the earlier models which used PXA250 ones). All versions of the X30 came with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition and sold for under $350. Dell discontinued this family in January 2006 and replaced it with the X50.

X50

This group of Dell PDAs came in three models - the high-end one having a 3.7 inch VGA LCD screen, and an Intel 2700G 3D accelerator and video decoder amongst other features. These too came standard with Windows Mobile but could be upgraded to Windows Mobile 5.0. The high-end model retailed for $399 at the release, but it is easy to find one these days for about $150.

The Dell Axim x51 was the last Dell PDA to be released in September 2005. It came standard with Windows Mobile 5.0. This model was also found in three versions, and each came standard with a CompactFlash Type II expansion slot. Another upgrade as compared to their predecessors was the 256MB StrataFlash ROM and the windows media player 10 mobile. This phone was especially popular as many characters used it on Fox’s hit television show 24. Dell announced that it has discontinued the Axim X51 on February 17 2007, but it will keep on supplying the sold units till stocks last.   

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 11:26 am and is filed under PDA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.