Dell Axim, RIP: 2002 - 2007

T'is a sad day for legions of Axim fanboys the world over -- yes, they really do exist, especially among PDA emulation gaming enthusiasts -- as Mobility Site is reporting that Dell has quietly removed the last x51-series models from its retail site, effectively spelling the end of the five-year-old brand as we know it. First released in 2002, the Axims were always considered vanguard devices among Pocket PC users, introducing features such as WiFi, VGA screens, and high-end processors as soon as they became available. It would be great to see Dell carry this tradition over onto an Axim line of smartphones -- 624MHz XScale CPUs plus 640 x 480 displays would be pretty hot indeed -- but for now it seems that the company is concentrating on its other businesses, so if you want to buy a PDA from Dell, it's ironically gotta be Palm or nothing or Acer or Pharos.

[Samuel McConnell @ Apr 9th 2007 1:50PM]

That's sad - I've had one of each form factor (an x5, an x30, and an x50v) and they've all been the best Pocket PC machines I've ever had.

[Richard Lai @ Apr 9th 2007 5:02PM]

Likewise, apart from the x30.

The Axim might return one day, who knows?

[js @ Apr 9th 2007 2:06PM]

I wouldn't be surprised if they move to the smartphone business.

[Yayaja @ Apr 9th 2007 2:14PM]

They should buy and absorb HTC. If they do that they will have access to the very best mobile technology and talent out there.

[Mickey Jones @ Apr 9th 2007 2:22PM]

NOOOOOOO!!!!

This was the best bang for the buck in PDAs for the longest time. I use mine for EVERYTHING ('cept calling peeps). MP3, Internet radio, password database, contacts, schedules, weather updates, lists, handwritten notes etc etc.


Oh well. Now I'll need to handle mine with kid gloves.

[Grizz @ Apr 9th 2007 2:36PM]

Hah, a fine tirdition indeed. If you consider 1 patch a year good support.

[P @ Apr 9th 2007 2:48PM]

Just to be clear,

Dell introduced none of the features you mentioned. WiFi and 400mhz processors were first available in the Toshiba e740. The first VGA PPC was the Toshiba e800.

That said, Dell was the first to bring these features to low cost PPC’s.

Non connected PPC’s are dead anyway.

[itguy07 @ Apr 9th 2007 3:04PM]

Sweet. More GARBAGE from Dell to bite the dust. And more WM GARBAGE to bite the dust.

A great day indeed.

If only the Computer division of Dell would be next it would be awesome indeed.

[jbulava @ Apr 9th 2007 8:00PM]

I feel like you have had an unfortunate experience with a Dell desktop computer and you're taking it out on all of Dell's products. I purchased my Axim 50v back in 2003 and have used it everyday since for notes, music (2GB - larger than a Shuffle), my calendar, and everything else. And now that I'm an Apple computer guy, I even have it synced with my address book, iCal, iPhoto, and iTunes (songs sans DRM). Plus for the resolution crazed people out there, it's a 4 year old device with a 640x480 screen while the yet to be released iPhone (which I have nothing against) is 320x240...that's a 4x difference.

Anyway, my point is own a piece of equipment before you trash it and if you did actually own it and had a bad experience, you are a rare case indeed.

[Vexorg @ Apr 9th 2007 3:04PM]

It's too bad the Axims are gone, but to be honest, I'm not sure if there's a whole lot that can be improved on over the existing ones without going the PPC Phone route (and I'm not sure the form factor would translate well to that.) I have an X5 and an X50v, and still use both on a regular basis (My X5 serves as my alarm clock and is used for reading, and my X50v gets used for GPS stuff and other tasks.) Haven't ever had a problem with either of them.

[BEETROOT @ Apr 9th 2007 3:04PM]

My x5 was a piece of crap.

[David @ Apr 9th 2007 3:06PM]

Technology is taking a dump on us.

[ventivent @ Apr 9th 2007 3:08PM]

The X5 was the first PPC I owned. Prior to that, PPCs were always significantly more expensive than their PalmOS-based counterparts. After a few coupon codes, the Axim X5 was mine for cheap. Granted it was a brick, but it had a fast processor, expansion card, wireless connectivity...all for under $300. The X5 started me down a long lineage of Windows Mobile devices: hp 1945, hp 4155, i-mate JAM, HTC Star Trek, and now Samsung Blackjack. Thank you Dell for bringing Windows Mobile to the masses.

[Eric Glassman @ Apr 9th 2007 3:09PM]

I don't understand this. These things always got great reviews.

[Eddie @ Apr 9th 2007 3:11PM]

You missed the section for Windows Mobile PDA's
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&category_id=6747&~ck=anav

[arman @ Apr 9th 2007 3:29PM]

haha, I just found my x50. Does anyone know how to make it...cool because I don't have wifi just bluetooth on it.

[jccalhoun @ Apr 9th 2007 4:09PM]

I love my x50(v?) I basically use it as a much smaller and lighter laptop. I hook it up to a projector and play all my lecture slides and videos from it when I teach. If I could find a smartphone with VGA out capabilities

[Conda @ Apr 9th 2007 4:25PM]

noooooooooo

a sad day indeed. I was going to pick up one of the last x51v's to replace my x30 too, since they don't sell replacement batteries for it anymore :(

[Stephan @ Apr 9th 2007 4:26PM]

I have the x50v, and love it, and never understood why dell wouldn't just add the radio for cellphone support. The x50v is large in todays standards, but it has bluetooth, wifi, 624mhz proc, Compact Flash and SD slots, VGA screen (with it's own graphics chip). The thing is two years old, and no smartphone comes close to it in specs (well maybe some of the HTC ones now). If they just put a stinking gsm radio it would be perfect. You could add on a thumb keypad if you hate the stylus for input.

Come on Dell don't you want to make some easy money?

[mooo @ Apr 9th 2007 4:30PM]

Now we can all buy UMPCs to fill the hole... except they are 5x the price.

[SteveMB @ Apr 9th 2007 4:50PM]

I owned an Axim X51V for awhile. It is a very solid device, and when it's bundled with Dell's coupons, you got yourself a nice device for a nice price.

[James @ Apr 9th 2007 5:28PM]

I have an Axim X3i... it was a good-ish value for the money, but:

* I had the SD slot just stop working one day, and was lucky that it was less than a month out of warranty -- the tech support guy said that the official (unpublished) policy is that they'll do warranty repairs for exactly one month past the stated warranty period, so they swapped it. I found out from the (very active!) Dell message board that this is a common problem.

* I bought an after-market USB charger cable, and after extensive use the plastic support portion of the connector socket snapped, leaving the docking port usable but very, very fragile. Again, this seems to be a common problem, and Dell's answer is a) don't buy 3rd-party accessories, and b) don't use it while it's charging (!). A replacement connector is about a hundred bucks, which is insane.

* My X3i has a Bluetooth logo on it, but no Bluetooth. No biggie.

* I got mine about a month before the release of WM 2003 SE, but even after several thousand people signed a petition saying they'd *pay* for an upgrade, Dell would not release one.


All in, it's a handy device, and you get a lot of meat for what you're paying, but don't expect world-class support. My Axim was my first introduction to the walled gardens of Windows Mobile, and it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

[Lojik Supreme @ Apr 9th 2007 9:07PM]

Yes, today is a bad day. I went from an HP Jornada 520 to an Dell X5, and whoa, what a difference. And just a year ago I grabbed an X51v and gave the X5 to my brother as a H.S. graduation gift. High end features for a low cost, no one else did that with the PPC Platform. Thank goodness I had Dell send me another one today. My warrenty expires in two weeks, so I opted for a replacement before they run out of stock.

[mike @ Apr 9th 2007 11:25PM]

wow, the hits just keep on comin' for Dell. You guys are kicking ass.

[Eric @ Apr 10th 2007 11:33AM]

My Axim X3 sits next to my computer now, unused for a while now, and it looks sad.

[Keirmeister @ Apr 10th 2007 12:13PM]

I eBay'd my X51v in December for a pretty good price. I really hated to part with it, but I needed a converged device (I ended up getting the TyTN). The X51v is fast and gorgeous, and was definitely the best PDA I've ever owned. It's sad Dell has stopped development on the Axim line. I hope we can look forward to more VGA smartphones (not just PDA's) in the future.

Axim, requiescat in pace.

[Stephen Sepulveda @ Apr 11th 2007 1:38PM]

I have an Axim X30 and it was under 200 dollars with a 624 mhz processor when I purchased it three years ago! To this day I haven't found a good reason to replace it with newer PDA. Other than its sub par screen (same as the iPhone), I can surfup the interweb, while listening to music, while having iGuidance GPS guide me, while tethered to my EVDO phone. It has been the best device I have ever invested in!

[adrockp @ Apr 24th 2007 12:03PM]

I love my Axim x5 and X51 and cant believe they are off the market.Wonder if i can get linux on both of them.Well sorry to see the Axim series at it's end.

[JohnTitor @ May 4th 2007 2:28AM]

If only people actually knew about it, it would have been more popular
my X50V can do the following;
SkypeOut Calls
Play all types of Videos and Music (and stream audio via Bluetooth if needed)
Play Emulators like SNES, Genesis and Playstation (FFVII)
Emulate a TI-89 Graphing Calculator
...

[Andrew @ May 12th 2007 9:43AM]

I have the X51V, and can not get a sync set up with my new lap running Vista. Any suggestions?